SAN DIEGO – San Diego State resumes its Mountain West schedule this weekend when its plays host to Nevada in a three-game series, March 8-10, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Friday's opener is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PT, while Saturday's clash is slated to get underway at 6 p.m., followed by Sunday's finale at 1 p.m.
In addition to live stats, all three games will air live on the Mountain West Network, with links available on GoAztecs.com. Fans can also catch all the action on their TVs or smartphones by downloading the MW app.
Those fans presenting their ticket to the SDSU-Boise State men's basketball game at the gate will receive free admission to the Aztecs-Wolf Pack baseball contest on Friday. Free sunglasses will also be given away to the first 250 fans prior to Sunday's game.
SETTING THE SCENE
SDSU (4-8, 1-2 MW) dropped two of three games at Fresno State last weekend in its first MW series of the season before suffering a 9-2 setback to San Diego in a crosstown battle Tuesday night on The Mesa.
In that contest, the Aztecs nursed a slim 2-1 advantage until the seventh inning when the Toreros plated two runs to take the lead for good. USD then added a pair of three-run homers in the eighth to pull away for the victory.
Freshman third baseman Colby Turner went 3-for-4 with a run scored vs. the Toreros, raising his batting average to a team-high .426 for the season, which ranks second in the Mountain West. The Huntington Beach, California, native also shares the top spot in the conference with 20 hits and 33 total bases and is tied for fifth with 12 RBIs.
On March 4, Turner garnered his second straight MW Freshman of the Week accolade after a four-game stretch from Feb. 27-March 3 during which he led the Aztecs in most offensive categories, including batting average (.500), on-base percentage (.579), slugging percentage (.875), total bases (14), hits (8), runs scored (6) and RBIs (4).
The Aztecs have also received a boost from another freshman, Jacob McCombs, who leads the team with 12 RBIs and three homers, which is tied for fifth and sixth in the conference, respectively, as of March 7.
McCombs made huge splash during SDSU's season-opening homestand, launching a pair of grand slams vs. CSUN (Feb. 21) and CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 24) for his first two collegiate homers.
As a staff, SDSU pitchers lead the Mountain West in strikeouts (129), opponent batting average (.234) and innings pitched (108.0) while occupying the third spot in in team ERA (4.44) and fewest hits allowed (94).
Offensively, the Scarlet and Black tops the conference with 31 doubles, which is tied for 21st in the nation, while ranking third in the MW with 111 hits and 73 runs scored. SDSU also shares the third spot in the league this week with 64 RBIs and occupies the fifth position in team batting average (.260).
AZTEC STARTING ROTATION
This weekend, SDSU is projected to utilize the starting rotation of right-handers Jacob Riordan (1-0, 4.40 ERA, 16 SO), Omar Serrano (1-0, 2.55 ERA, 13 SO) and Xavier Cardenas III (1-1, 5.65 ERA, 13 SO).
A transfer from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Riordan will be making his first start in an Aztec uniform on Friday after pitching five games as reliever to begin the season. The SDSU graduate student picked up his first victory on The Mesa against Missouri at the Tony Gwynn Legacy on Feb. 23, offsetting five hits and one walk with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
In 2023, Riordan started 11 of 15 games at UAPB, logging a 3-5 record in 67.0 innings pitched with a school-record strikeouts, which ranked sixth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Serrano is expected to take the hill for the Aztecs on Saturday, looking to build on his gem at Fresno State on March 2, when he tossed his first career complete game. The SDSU junior posted a season-high six strikeouts while yielding just one run on five hits without a walk for his first win of the year and second as a collegian.
Like Serrano, Cardenas is slated to make his fourth straight start when he takes the mound on Sunday. The Aztec sophomore was tagged with the loss in his last outing at Fresno State on March 3, when he surrendered five runs on six hits and two walks to go with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
Serrano and Cardenas have made just one previous appearance against Nevada, with both hurlers pitching in the series finale at Tony Gwynn Stadium last season when the Wolf Pack claimed a 10-4 decision.
Serrano started that contest and absorbed the defeat after giving up four runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout in 3 2/3 innings, while Cardenas was SDSU's sixth reliever of the day, entering in the ninth to retire the final two batters via strikeout.
STREAKING AZTECS
Irvin Weems owns the team's longest active hitting streak at six games, raising his batting average from .238 to .293 since the Utah game on Feb. 25. In addition, the Aztec outfielder has reached base safely in his last six starts.
In addition, Colby Turner reached base safely in the first 10 games of the season before coming up empty in the second game of a doubleheader at Fresno State on March 3.
Turner tops the squad with multiple hits in five games this year and has totaled two or more RBIs in three contests, sharing the team lead with Jacob McCombs, Jake Jackson and Brady Lavoie.
Turner (third base) and Shaun Montoya (right field) are the only two Aztecs to play one position in the field this season. Weems has also appeared in all 12 games this year, making eight starts in center field and four in left.
Elsewhere, Finley Bates has missed just one game this season, starting nine games at second base and two at shortstop.
NEVADA AT A GLANCE
Predicted to finish last in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll, the Wolf Pack (4-6, 0-0 MW) have lost five straight, including a three-game sweep at the hands of CSUN in Northridge, California, Feb. 29-March 2.
Nevada has yet to play at home this season and will face UC San Diego in a non-conference clash on March 11 following this weekend's series with the Aztecs, before returning to Reno for a three-game set vs. New Mexico, March 15-17.
The Wolf Pack are expected to employ the starting rotation of right-handers Jason Doktorczyk (2-0, 2.89 ERA, 19 SO), Easton Marks (1-1, 6.57 ERA, 10 SO) and Payton Fosher (0-1, 6.14 ERA, 8 SO) in succession.
As of March 7, Doktorczyk finds himself among the conference leaders, ranking third in innings pitched (18.2), fourth in opponent batting average (.185) and strikeouts (19, tie) and eighth in ERA (2.89). In addition, Marks is slotted eighth in the MW this week in opposing batting average (.267).
Offensively, Nevada boasts six players with batting averages over .300, including Jake Harvey (.393) and Nolan Wilson (.390), who rank seventh and eighth in the Mountain West, respectively, followed by Jesse Pierce (.375), JR Freethy (.342), Michael Ball (.324) and Justin Acal (.317).
Wilson is tied for third in the conference with a team-high 13 RBIs, while Pierce shares the seventh spot with a .490 on-base percentage. In addition, Freethy is tied for third in the MW with five doubles and is slotted eighth with a .632 slugging percentage.
Collectively, the Wolf Pack rank third in the MW with a .291 batting average and a .471 on-base percentage but occupy only the sixth position out of seven teams in runs scored (62) and RBIs (61).
On the mound, Nevada is slotted fourth in the conference with a 5.76 team ERA and .267 opponent batting average while ranking fifth with 81 strikeouts.
Head coach Jake McKinley is in his second season at the helm of the Wolf Pack program after spending four years in various roles with the Milwaukee Brewers organization from 2019-22. He also served as head coach at Menlo College (2014-17) and William Jessup (2018) after a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Sacramento State (2010-13).
SERIES RECORD VS. NEVADA
Despite taking two of the three games in the lone series between the two squads in 2023, SDSU still trails the all-time series vs. Nevada 27-40. The two programs first met in 1986. The Aztecs are 14-17 vs. the Wolf Pack in San Diego, 9-20 in Reno and 4-3 at a neutral site.
SDSU played a game for the ages in last year's series opener at Tony Gwynn Stadium when former Aztec All-American TJ Fondtain tossed the eighth no-hitter in program history, lifting the Scarlet and Black to a 4-0 victory on April 21, 2023.
Fondtain, who struck out a career-high 14 batters in that contest, came tantalizingly close to a perfect game, issuing one walk to lead off the ninth inning. With his performance, the SDSU hurler collected multiple national honors, including Pitcher of the Week distinction from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and D1Baseball.com, along with his selection as Peak Performer of the Week from the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.
Following the season, Fondtain was named Mountain West Pitcher of the Year and garnered All-America accolades from four different outlets, including a trio of second-team plaudits to go with a third-team nod.
In game two of that series vs. Nevada, Chris Canada picked up the victory after striking out eight batters in six-plus innings to offset three runs on three hits and two walks.
Among Aztec returners, Shaun Montoya batted .286 (4-14) with two doubles, one RBI and a run scored in three games vs. the Wolf Pack last year.
MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO SAN DIEGO IN 2024
The Mountain West Championship returns to "America's Finest City" this season and will be conducted at Tony Gwynn Stadium, May 23-26. The top four teams in the MW regular-season standings will qualify for the double elimination tournament, with the winner receiving an automatic berth into NCAA regional competition. NCAA Regionals will be held May 31-June 3.
SDSU has hosted the MW Championship on five previous occasions, most recently after the 2022 season. The Aztecs also welcomed the event in 2018 when the Scarlet and Black claimed its fifth tournament crown in a six-year span.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's series, San Diego State closes out its homestand with a non-conference game against UC Riverside on Tuesday, March 12 at Tony Gwynn Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. PT. The Aztecs will be looking to avenge a wild 13-9 setback to the Highlanders in Riverside on Feb. 27.
Aztecs Welcome Nevada for MW Series This Weekend
