Aztecs Set for First-Ever Series at Washington State

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State jumps back into Mountain West play this weekend when it makes its first visit to the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest to battle conference baseball newcomer Washington State, March 21-23, at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Washington.

Friday’s clash is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. PT, while Saturday’s encounter is slated for a 2 p.m. start, followed by Sunday’s finale at noon.

Along with live stats, all three games will air live on the Mountain West Network, with links to both platforms available on GoAztecs.com. Fans can also catch the action on their TVs or smartphones by downloading the MW app.

After capturing a series victory at home over San José State to open their Mountain West schedule, the Aztecs (6-15, 2-1 MW) stumbled at California Baptist on Tuesday night, surrendering five home runs in a 13-3 defeat.

Meanwhile, the Cougars (6-14, 1-2 MW) were idle during the midweek after dropping two of three games at Air Force, March 14-16, in their league lid-lifters.

WSU has joined the Mountain West as an affiliate baseball member for the next two seasons.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday, March 21, SDSU: Omar Serrano, RHP (1-2) vs. WSU: Griffin Smith, RHP (2-1)

Saturday, March 22, SDSU: Marko Sipila, RHP (1-1) vs. WSU: Nick Lewis, LHP (2-2)

Sunday, March 23, SDSU: Garvey Rumary, LHP (0-3} vs. WSU: Gavin Derr, LHP (0-0)

Omar Serrano and Marko Sipila are projected to make their sixth consecutive starts on Friday and Saturday, respectively, with Sipila moving up one day in the rotation for the third week in a row. Meanwhile, Garvey Rumary is pegged for his fourth straight start on Sunday.

Serrano pitched his second career complete game in his last start vs. San José State, yielding just one run on five hits and three walks with a season-high eight strikeouts, as the Scarlet and Black rolled to a big 16-1 run-rule victory.

In his longest stint of the 2025 campaign, Sipila collected a season-high eight strikeouts in eight-plus innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk, as the Aztecs notched a 6-4 triumph.

In addition, Rumary fanned a career-high seven batters in 5 2/3 innings during his last outing on March 16.

SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
As of March 20, Aztec pitchers lead the Mountain West in strikeouts (195) and innings pitched (186.2) while ranking fifth in both ERA (6.75) and opposing batting average (.296).

Offensively, SDSU is tied for the conference lead with nine triples and ranks fourth in both RBIs (110) and runs scored (121). In addition, the Scarlet and Black is slotted fifth in hits (190) while occupying the sixth spot in both batting average (.265) and on-base percentage (.361).

Individually, Issac Araiza is tied for the MW lead with 11 games pitched, along with fellow relievers Chris Canavan and Evan Miranda, while Peyton Rodgers follows in fifth with 10 appearances. Additionally, Rodgers is tied for third in the conference with two saves.

Elsewhere, Marko Sipila leads the league in innings pitched (28.2) while sharing the third spot in strikeouts. The junior transfer from UC Colorado Springs also ranks fourth in opposing batting average (.277) and fifth in ERA (4.40).

Garvey Rumary also finds himself among the MW leaders, tying for fourth in fewest hits allowed (24) while occupying the sixth position in opponent batting average (.282) and the seventh slot in ERA (5.01).

Not to be outdone, the Aztecs boast two other hurlers among the conference top 10 this week, including Omar Serrano (T-6th, 26) and Miranda (9th, 24).

At the plate, the Aztecs have been paced by freshman CJ Moran, who is tied for seventh in the conference with 27 hits and ranks eighth with a .456 on-base percentage and ninth with a .356 batting average, while Daniel Arambula shares the seventh spot with 17 RBIs.

Moran and Nevan Noonan are tied for fifth in the league this week with eight doubles as well.

In addition, Drew Rutter leads the league with five sacrifice hits, while Evan Sipe is tied for second with four. Rutter also shares the second spot with three triples, alongside teammate Jake Jackson.

Jackson tied a program record with two triples against Seton Hall on Feb. 14, becoming the first SDSU player to accomplish the feat since James Guerrero against New Mexico on April 9, 2005.

AZTEC NOTEBOOK
CJ Moran owns the team’s longest current hitting streak at nine games and is tied for the No. 1 spot on the squad with multiple hits on eight occasions alongside Nevan Noonan. Additionally, Moran shares the top perch with Finley Bates, posting two or more RBIs in five starts.

During his nine-game hitting streak, Moran is batting .500 (16-for-32) with three doubles, seven RBIs and nine runs scored, raising his season average from .262 to .365.

Moran, Daniel Arambula, Nevan Noonan and Drew Rutter have started all 21 games for the Scarlet and Black this season.

Arambula is lone SDSU player to start every contest at one position (third base), while Bates (leadoff) and Moran (cleanup) lead the team with 19 games played in the same spot in the batting order.

The Aztecs are 6-1 this season when leading after six innings and 5-0 when out-hitting the opposition.

San Diego State has emerged victorious in 82 of its last 128 games dating back to 2019 when hitting a home run, including a 4-2 mark this year, a 14-13 ledger during the 2024 campaign and a 14-12 record in 2023.

Since 2019, the Aztecs are 76-62 in their last 138 games when striking out 10 or more batters. SDSU pitchers fanned 17 hitters in its season opener against Seton Hall at the MLB Desert Invitational.

The Aztecs are 173-64 over the last seven-plus seasons when scoring five or more runs, including a stellar 38-6 record during the 2017 campaign.

Against Nebraska on Feb. 16, the Aztecs employed 21 players on the night, including five true freshmen who were making their first career appearances (Evan Escobar, Cody Liscio, Dillon Marrisett, Alito McBean, Hank Tripaldi). Tripaldi singled in his first collegiate at-bat with a grounder through the right side in the eighth.

In all, 16 of SDSU’s 17 true freshmen have seen action this season.

Escobar made his first three career starts as a shortstop at Cal State Fullerton and the first two games of the Northeastern series.

SERIES RECORD VS. WASHINGTON STATE
The Aztecs maintain a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series, including a 14-1 setback at the Tony Gwynn Legacy in 2023.

Prior to that engagement, San Diego State captured two of the three games in a weekend series at Tony Gwynn Stadium during the 2000 season.

The teams split their first two meetings at the Riverside Invitational in 1984, with SDSU posting a 12-0 shutout after dropping a 5-4 decision.

The Aztecs, who have never faced WSU in Pullman, are 8-5 against the Cougars all-time in San Diego and 2-2 on a neutral diamond.

San Diego State last faced a team from the Evergreen State when it lost two of three games to the Washington Huskies at Tony Gwynn Stadium to open the 2012 campaign.

The Aztecs will play host to WSU, May 15-17, to close out the 2025 regular season.

COUGARS AT A GLANCE
Washington State endured an inauspicious debut in its inaugural Mountain West series last weekend, dropping two of the three encounters against Air Force in Colorado.

The first two games were contested at Rawlings Field in Pueblo due to snowy conditions at the Academy as the Cougars rebounded with a 10-4  victory after losing a 15-14 slugfest in the opener. However, Air Force secured the series win with a 14-9 triumph on its home turf at Erdle Field in the finale.

This weekend’s series marks WSU’s second appearance at home this season after winning two of three games vs. Seattle, March 7-9.  The Cougars are 1-9 in true road games this year and 2-1 on a neutral diamond.

Prior to the 2025 campaign, Washington State was picked to finish third in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll, while junior outfielder Max Hartman was named to the preseason all-conference team.

Entering the weekend, Hartman finds himself among the MW leaders in several categories including hits (2nd, 32), runs scored (T-2nd, 20), batting average (3rd, .405), on-base percentage (5th, .472) and total bases (8th, 43).

The Cougars boast three additional players with batting averages over .300, including infielders Ollie Obenour (.338), Luke Thiele (.327) and Ryan Skjonsby (.319).

Obenour tops the squad with seven doubles and shares the team lead with 15 RBIs alongside Hartman, followed by Skjonsby and Logan Johnstone with 13 apiece.

WSU is expected to start right-hander Griffin Smith in Friday’s opener, followed by a pair of lefties in Nick Lewis and Gavin Derr. Smith and Lewis lead the team with five starts apiece, while Derr is slated to make his third start of the year.

Smith has posted a 2-1 record thus far with a 5.88 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 26.0 innings, while Lewis owns a 2-2 mark and a 5.96 ERA with 18 punchouts in 25.2 innings of work.  Lewis was victorious in his last start at Air Force on March 15 when he gave up four runs on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts in six innings.

Rounding out the Cougar rotation is Derr, who has yet to earn a decision, logging a 2.25 ERA with five strikeouts in eight innings. In his last start at Air Force Derr gave up four runs (two earned) on four hits and one walk before exiting with one out in the fourth.

Out of the bullpen, Ryan Haidler and Luke Meyers lead WSU with two saves apiece, which is tied for third in the MW.

As a staff, Cougar pitchers are slotted sixth in the conference in hits allowed (211) and seventh in walks issued (118) while occupying the basement in other categories, including ERA (8.45), opposing batting average (.316) and strikeouts (132).

At the plate, WSU is second in the league in on-base percentage (.387) this week but ranks just fifth in batting average (.287), sixth in hits (189) and seventh in both runs (114) and RBIs (102).

ARAMBULA NETS MW FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS
Aztec third baseman Daniel Arambula garnered Mountain West Freshman of the Week accolades Monday after leading the Scarlet and Black to a doubleheader sweep of SJSU on March 15, when he batted a combined .571 (4-for-7) with two homers, eight RBIs and four runs scored.

In the first inning of game one, Arambula launched his first career grand slam to highlight a six-run explosion before roping an RBI single in the second, as the Scarlet and Black rolled to a big 16-1 run-rule victory in seven innings.

Arambula took charge in the nightcap as well, putting the Aztecs on the board in the second with another RBI single before belting a two-run homer in the sixth, which broke a 2-2 deadlock and gave SDSU a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 6-4 triumph. He also contributed an RBI groundout on Sunday to wrap up the series.

For the weekend, Arambula led the Aztecs with a 1.000 slugging percentage, 10 total bases, and nine RBIs, while ranking second with a .400 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage. He also assisted on three putouts at third base during the series for a clean 1.000 fielding percentage.

AZTECS IN MLB DRAFT
Since 1965, San Diego State has had 227 student-athletes chosen in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, including 31 selections since 2015.

Former Aztec center fielder Cole Carrigg was taken by the Colorado Rockies as a catcher in the Competitive Balance "B" Round with the 65th overall pick of the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft; pitcher TJ Fondtain was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 14th round (423rd overall), while fellow hurler Kelena Sauer went to the Toronto Blue Jays shortly thereafter in the 15th round (454th overall).

With its selections, SDSU has had multiple players picked in six of the last eight years and nine of the last 12.

In 2022, former Aztec right-hander Troy Melton was chosen by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round with the 117th selection overall.

The previous year, in 2021, SDSU had five individuals drafted by MLB organizations: Mike Jarvis and Wyatt Hendrie (Pirates), Matt Rudick (Mets), Jaden Fein (Nationals) and Michael Paredes (Twins).

LOCAL HEROES
San Diego State sports eight players on its current roster who are alumni of San Diego County high schools, including Xavier Farnum (Christian), Trevor Fox (St. Augustine); Jake Jackson (Madison); Nevan Noonan (Francis Parker); Peyton Rodgers (Torrey Pines); Eli Selga (Cathedral Catholic); Connor Shaw (Westview); and Evan Sipe (San Marcos).

UP NEXT
Following this weekend’s action, San Diego State returns to The Mesa to open a four-game homestand, starting Tuesday, March 25, when it welcomes UC Riverside for a midweek clash at Tony Gwynn Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. PT.