SAN DIEGO – San Diego State right-hander Aidan Russell (Vacaville, Calif./Vacaville HS) was named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week for his dominating performance at No. 1 UCLA on Feb. 24. The announcement was made Monday by the league office in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
With his accolade, Russell gives the Aztecs their third consecutive conference weekly pitching award after Carson Johnson (Feb. 16) and Rohan Lettow (Feb. 23) received the same recognition last month. Additionally, SDSU boasts four MW weekly honorees already this season after Max Farrell merited Freshman of the Week distinction on Feb. 16.
A 6-0 senior, Russell turned in a superb effort in 3 2/3 innings of relief against the No. 1 Bruins, preserving a huge 4-3 Aztec victory, which marked the program’s first win against a top-five team since 2008.
Russell collected his second consecutive save after retiring all 11 batters he faced to close out the game against a UCLA squad that entered the contest with a .316 team batting average and had outscored then-No. 7 TCU 30-8 in its previous series (Feb. 20-22).
During his stint, Russell set a season high with five strikeouts, throwing a strike in 34 of 48 pitches. In addition, the Vacaville, California, native, offered up two balls or less against all 11 hitters faced.
For the season, Russell has compiled a 1-0 record with a 1.13 ERA with 12 strikeouts in eight innings of relief across four appearances. He was the winning pitcher in the Aztecs’ 6-5 victory over LIU on Feb. 15 and earned the save in SDSU’s 3-0 shutout of BYU at the Tony Gwynn Legacy on Feb. 20.
After wrapping up its four-game series at Washington on Monday afternoon, San Diego State opens a four-game homestand on Wednesday, March 4, when it plays host to Long Beach State, starting a 6 p.m. PT.