Aztecs to Visit Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State wraps up its road swing on Tuesday, March 4, when it makes the short drive up the freeway to face Cal State Fullerton in a midweek game at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California.

Along with live stats, the Aztecs-Titans clash will be aired live on ESPN+ via subscription basis.

SDSU (4-8) will be looking to rebound from a three-game sweep at the hands of Saint Mary’s this past weekend in Moraga, California. The Aztecs led on each of the three days but were unable to curtail the Gaels’ comeback efforts, dropping a wild 19-9 decision in eight innings in the opener, before falling by scores of 5-2 and 7-3 in the final two encounters.

Finley Bates hit .417 for the series (5-12) with two RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base, while CJ Moran batted .400 (4-10) with two doubles, two RBIs and a pair of runs as well.

On the flip side, Cal State Fullerton (3-8) captured the final two games of a weekend series at Wichita State, posting a 5-0 shutout and a 7-5 triumph, respectively, after falling in the opener by a narrow 5-4 margin.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
For the second straight Tuesday, the Aztecs are expected to start sophomore Garvey Rumary (0-0), while the Titans are projected to counter with junior Jayden Harper (0-0) in a battle of left-handers at Goodwin Field.  

A native of Yorba Linda, California, Rumary will be making his fifth appearance of the season after allowing one run on three hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in his first start of the year against the University of San Diego on Feb. 25. He was replaced after the third inning without factoring in the decision, as the Scarlet and Black rolled to a 10-4 victory.

As a freshman in 2024, Rumary ranked third on the team with 24 games pitched, earning four starts. The Aztec hurler logged a 1-2 record and an 8.18 ERA while finishing sixth on the squad with 35 strikeouts in 33.0 innings.

In addition, Rumary compiled multiple strikeouts on 11 occasions and fanned at least one batter in eight straight games to start the year. He also issued one or fewer walks in 20 contests, including five straight to begin the season.

Conversely, Harper has made a pair of relief appearances for Fullerton, tossing one inning apiece against Stanford and USC. After yielding four runs (three earned) on two hits and a walk vs. the Cardinal, the Fremont, California, product regrouped with a scoreless and hitless stint against the Trojans.

Harper pitched the previous two seasons at Ohlone College in his hometown before joining the Titans for the 2025 campaign.

SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
As of March 3, San Diego State is slotted second in the Mountain West in hits (113) while ranking third in batting average (.271) and RBIs (63), along with a fourth-place standing in on-base percentage (.365), slugging percentage (.381) and runs scored (69).

As a staff, Aztec pitchers occupy the second spot in strikeouts (105), innings pitched (106.2) and the sixth position in both ERA (6.50) and opposing batting average (.286).

Despite sitting out two games, sophomore outfielder Zane Kelly ranks second in the MW with a .444 batting average and is tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.500) while sharing the fifth position in slugging percentage (.667) and the sixth spot in hits (16). In the season opener vs. Seton Hall, the Las Vegas native set career highs with four hits and four runs scored.

In addition, CJ Moran is tied for fourth in the league with five doubles, while Finley Bates shares the fifth position with 12 runs scored.

Outfielder Jake Jackson tied a program record with two triples vs. Seton Hall on Feb. 14, becoming the first SDSU player to accomplish the feat since James Guerrero against New Mexico on April 9, 2005. Jackson also ripped a three-bagger at UCSD on Feb. 18 and now ranks second in the MW in that category.

On the mound, Peyton Rodgers leads the Mountain West with five games finished and ranks second with two saves after preserving Aztec victories over Seton Hall and UC San Diego.

In addition, Evan Miranda tops the conference with eight appearances, while Issac Araiza shares the second spot with seven games pitched, followed by Rodgers and Chris Canavan, who are tied for fourth with six apiece.

AZTEC NOTEBOOK
Zane Kelly has reached base safely in all 10 games he’s played, followed by Jake Jackson with nine.

Four players lead the team with multiple hits in four games, including Daniel Arambula, Finley Bates, Nevan Noonan and Drew Rutter.

Similarly, Bates and CJ Moran top the squad with multiple RBIs in three outings this season, followed by Arambula and Jake Jackson with two.

San Diego State has emerged victorious in 80 of its last 126 games dating back to 2019 when launching one out of the park, including a 14-13 mark during the 2024 campaign and a 14-12 ledger in 2023.

Since 2019, the Aztecs are 75-58 in their last 133 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 171-61 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 freshman 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.

SERIES RECORD VS. CAL STATE FULLERTON
The Titans lead the all-time series against the Aztecs 48-27-1 dating back to 1964.

The two sides haven’t met since the shortened 2020 campaign when SDSU earned an 8-4 victory at Tony Gwynn Stadium over a Fullerton squad that was ranked 25th by D1Baseball.com at the time. In that contest, the Aztecs owned an 11-7 advantage in hits, scoring six straight runs to overcome a 4-2 deficit.

SDSU last faced the Titans in Fullerton during the 2019 season when it captured two of three games in a weekend series, winning the first two encounters by scores of 6-1 and 13-7 before dropping the finale, 7-2.

 The Aztecs will play host to the Titans in a rematch at Tony Gwynn Stadium on April 22.

TITANS AT A GLANCE
Cal State Fullerton posted a 16-38 overall record during the 2024 campaign, finishing 10th in the Big West with a 7-23 mark in conference play.

The Titans are 0-5 at home so far this season and 3-3 on the road.

CSF has faced one other Mountain West school thus far, dropping two of three games at Fresno State, Feb. 21-23, posting a 14-5 victory sandwiched between a 7-4 setback and a 13-7 defeat.

Prior to the 2025 campaign, the Titans were picked to finish in a tie for eighth in the Big West preseason coaches poll.

Entering Tuesday’s action, Fullerton ranks fourth in the Big West with 14 home runs and occupies the fifth spot with a .426 team slugging percentage.

However, the Titans find themselves in the lower half of the conference in most other offensive categories, including hits (T-8th, 93), batting average (8th, .251), on-base percentage (8th, .360) and RBIs (9th, 57).

Individually, CSF sports a trio of .300 hitters in second baseman Eli Lopez (.366), outfielder Matthew Bardowell (.355) and shortstop Maddox Latta (.326).

Additionally, outfielder/first baseman Andrew Kircher (.275, 2 HR) ranks second in the Big West with 17 RBIs, while third baseman Marco Rosales (.286, 10 RBIs) tops the squad with four homers, which is tied for second in the conference.

On the mound, Titan pitchers are slotted fifth in the Big West this week with 84 strikeouts but rank just ninth with a 6.40 team ERA while occupying the basement with a .323 opponent batting average.

Left-hander Andrew Wright (0-1, 0.79 ERA) has collected two saves thus far, while fellow reliever Gavin Meyer (0-0, 7.50 ERA), a right-hander, has one to his credit.

Senior right-hander Ryan Faulks is in his third season with the Titans after pitching for the Aztecs as a freshman in 2022.

UP NEXT
Following Tuesday’s excursion, San Diego State returns to “America’s Finest City” to open a lengthy homestand, starting this weekend when it battles Northeastern in a four-game series, March 6-9, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.