SAN DIEGO – San Diego State's Jacob McCombs was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week for period spanning April 8-14, as announced Monday by the league office in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
A native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, McCombs earned four starts at designated hitter, batting .467 (7-15) with one double, two RBIs and three runs scored.
For the week, McCombs finished second on the team with a .556 on-base percentage and seven hits, the latter of which was tops among Aztec freshmen. His .467 batting average also ranked second on the squad, while his three runs scored was tied for fourth.
Additionally, McCombs advanced six runners in eight opportunities, marking a 75.0 percent success rate. In two encounters with UC San Diego (April 10) and UNLV (April 14), he matched his career high with three hits.
Against the Tritons, McCombs went 3-for-5 at the plate in the Aztecs' 18-8 rout, helping the Scarlet and Black compile season highs of 22 hits and 18 runs. In that contest, he ripped an RBI single and eventually scored during a five-run outburst in the fifth inning that gave SDSU a 13-3 lead. McCombs was later hit by a pitch in the ninth and ultimately crossed the plate to close out the scoring.
In the Aztecs' series opener vs. UNLV on April 12, McCombs drove in a run after reaching on a fielder's choice in the second inning. Two days later in the weekend finale, he collected three more hits in four at-bats, highlighted by a second-inning double before scoring on Josh Quezada's home run.
With his award, McCombs gives the Aztecs eight MW weekly accolades for the season after Colby Turner earned the same honor on five previous occasions (Feb. 26, March 4, March 18, April 1 and April 8). In addition, Jake Jackson collected the MW's first Freshman of the Week certificate on Feb. 19, which Jacob Riordan was named the league's Pitcher of the Week on April 1.
For the season, McCombs has played in 23 games with 15 starts, hitting .286 (18-63) with three home runs, four doubles, 16 RBIs and 12 runs scored. The SDSU newcomer owns a .366 on-base percentage and a .492 slugging percentage, ranking second among the Aztecs' talented freshman class in homers (3) and RBIs (16) while occupying the third spot in total bases (31).
Earlier in the year, McCombs hit a pair of grand slams for his first two collegiate home runs vs. CSUN (Feb. 21) and CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 24).
McCombs and the Aztecs return to the diamond on Tuesday, April 16, when they travel up the freeway for a rematch with Long Beach State at historic Blair Field in Long Beach, California. Game time is set for 6 p.m. PT.