Aztec Baseball Adds 19 College Transfers

SAN DIEGO -- Three weeks after being named the seventh baseball head coach in program history, San Diego State’s Kevin Vance has added 19 collegiate transfers to the roster.

Out of the 19 new Aztecs who signed an athletic aid agreement, 13 played for a Power 5 program last season, including five from Oregon State and two from Arizona - two of the eight teams that made the 2025 College World Series. Additionally, Vance added two student-athletes from Arizona State and one from Oregon, a pair of programs that made an NCAA Regional last year.

Vance was hired on June 17 after two successful seasons on the coaching staff at Arizona, which went a combined 80-45 (.645) with three conference titles (one regular season and two tournaments) in 2024 and 2025. A former two-way prep star at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, Vance emerged from a national search that received valuable input from all-time SDSU greats Bud Black, Stephen Strasburg and Tony Gwynn Jr.

The five Oregon State additions include infielders Levi Jones (Portland, Ore.), Tyce Peterson (Kirkland, Wash.), Dawson Santana (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and Jabin Trosky (Carmel, Calif.), along with pitcher Drew Talavs (West Linn, Ore.). Two others - utility Reeve Boyd (Seattle, Wash.) and catcher Anthony Marnell (Las Vegas, Nev.) - also previously played at Oregon State before playing at Washington and the College of Southern Nevada, respectively, last season.

Peterson has the most experience out of the former Beavers, batting .288 (67-for-233) with eight home runs, 35 RBIs, 55 runs, 13 doubles and two triples for his career. Most recently, Peterson made the Corvallis Regional All-Tournament Team after leading OSU to four consecutive wins to close out the regional. He hit .288 with five homers, 20 RBIs, 39 runs, 10 doubles and two triples in 2025, starting 43 of his 47 appearances.

Trosky has hit .287 for his career with 40 starts, logging 31 RBIs and 27 runs in 64 career games. Jones started six times and played 16 games for the Beavers last year, hitting .240 with three doubles and five RBIs, while Santana (28 GP, 3 GS) and Talavs (13 app., 14.1 IP, 16 K) add valuable experience through their two seasons of collegiate baseball after earning all-state accolades in high school. Marnell hit .301 with three home runs, 36 RBIs and 41 runs last year at Southern Nevada, while Boyd played in three games last year for the Huskies and was an all-state performer in Seattle in high school.

Vance coached both Carson Johnson (Chandler, Ariz.) and Bryce McKnight (Phoenix, Ariz.) the past two seasons at Arizona. Johnson was 2-0 last year in 12 relief appearances, while McKnight is 2-0 in three starts across 10 appearances over the past two years.

SDSU also added a pair of former Arizona State pitchers in Alec Belardes (San Jose, Calif.) and Rohan Lettow (Chandler, Ariz.). Belardes pitched in two games last year after redshirting the 2024 campaign and Lettow has started two of his six appearances over the last two seasons, striking out eight in 10 1/3 innings.

Adam Magpoc (Torrance, Calif.) has been a two-year starter at Boston College, hitting .258 (88-for-341) for his career with six home runs, 47 RBIs, 58 runs, 19 doubles and two triples, while stealing 36 bases, including 27 a year ago. Magpoc has started 97 of the 104 games he has played for his career.

San Diego native Trey Telfer (Cathedral Catholic HS) joins the Aztecs after pitching in nine games for Indiana a year ago, going 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA in nine relief appearances. He struck out seven in 8 2/3 innings.

Zach Justice (Bend, Ore.) played in two games in 2025 at Oregon as a redshirt freshman and is one of two catchers coming to The Mesa along with Marnell. Justice was the top-ranked catcher in Oregon out of high school and earned all-state honors.

David Ladjevic (Brea, Calif.) is coming off a solid season at Golden West College, where he was 4-3 on the mound, starting 10 of his 16 appearances across 45 2/3 innings. He appeared in five games the previous season at Long Beach State.

Nick Falla (Coconut Creek, Fla.) is coming off a dominant season in 2025 where he was a NJCAA Division II All-American third-team selection at Allegany College of Maryland, going 7-0 with a nation-leading 1.08 ERA, striking out 73 batters in 50 innings. Falla did not allow a home run on the season, while tossing two shutouts and three complete games. Falla pitched two games as a freshman at Chattanooga State, striking out four in four innings.

Colton LaFave (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) has spent the last two seasons at Central Arizona College, going 3-3 with two saves, striking out 84 batters in just 56 innings (13.50 strikeouts per nine innings).

Simon Lemke (Bend, Ore.) was 3-0 with a 3.29 ERA last season in 27 1/3 innings at College of Southern Nevada and was 5-1 with four saves and a 3.56 ERA in 60 2/3 innings as a freshman at Columbia Basin College.

Andrew Parker (Santa Ana, Calif.) spent last season at Santa Ana College, where he was 5-3 with a 4.13 ERA, starting 11 of his 13 appearances. he struck out 51 batters in 61 innings. Parker pitched his freshman season in 2024 at CSUN, posting a 2.45 ERA in three relief appearances.