Aztecs Set for Monday Night Battle at No. 22/25 Arizona State

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State wraps up its desert road trip tonight when it faces No. 22/25 Arizona State in a non-conference clash at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. PDT, featuring a live broadcast available via subscription basis on ESPN+.

The Aztecs (15-14, 4-2 MW) are coming off their second straight series victory in conference play this past weekend at Grand Canyon, winning by scores of 12-11 and 7-2 after dropping the opener by a 9-3 count.

Jake Jackson led the Scarlet and Black with seven hits and seven runs scored, including a pair of homers, to finish the series with a team-best .500 batting average and a 1.071 slugging percentage.

In addition, SDSU received two home runs and five RBIs from Tyce Peterson (.385), who extended his streak of reaching base safely to 19 straight games during the series. Peterson went deep with a three-run bomb in the top of the ninth inning on Saturday, breaking a 9-9 tie, as the Scarlet and Black hung on for the win.

Freshman right-hander Jake Frohn (0-2) is projected to make his second career start for the Aztecs against the Sun Devils, while ASU is expected to counter with lefty Easton Barrett (1-0).

Frohn has appeared in seven games for SDSU this season, posting a 3.24 ERA with 16 strikeouts against five walks in 16 2/3 innings. The Huntington Beach native made his first collegiate start against UC Irvine on March 24, when he tossed three innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk in three innings but did not factor in the decision after the Aztecs stormed back for an 8-4 triumph.

Meanwhile, Barrett has pitched in six games with four starts, logging a 5.40 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 17 walks in 13 1/3 innings. The Sun Devil sophomore earned the victory in his last start at UNLV on March 23, when he offset two hits and two walks with a career-high nine strikeouts in five scoreless innings.

San Diego State trails the all-time series 21-16, dropping three games to ASU in Phoenix by a combined score of 12-9  to open the 2023 campaign. The Sun Devils rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to claim the opener by a 6-5 count before posting winning tallies of 5-3 and 1-0 to hand the Scarlet and Black a hard-fought sweep.

Entering Monday’s contest, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.38), walks allowed per nine innings (3.99) and WHIP (1.47), which rank 57th, 70th and 86th in the nation, respectively.

In addition, SDSU tops the conference with a 5.80 team ERA, a .264 opponent batting average and 269 strikeouts while ranking second with 9.50 strikeouts per nine innings, the latter of which is slotted 66th in the country.

Elsewhere, the Aztecs rank second in the MW in stolen bases (36), fourth in hits (278), fifth in home runs (22) and doubles (48) and while occupying the sixth spot in batting average (.279) and the seventh position in on-base percentage (.367), slugging percentage (.413) and scoring (6.1 runs/game).

Individually, Jabin Trosky finds himself among the MW leaders in several categories, including hits (3rd, 41), doubles (T-5th, 9) and runs scored (T-6th, 28).

Trosky has been the second-toughest player in the conference to strike out so far this season, fanning once every 13.2 at-bats, which ranks 31st nationally.

Not to be outdone, Tyce Peterson is slotted second in the league in doubles (13) and shares the fourth spot in hits (37) while ranking sixth in slugging percentage (.593).

The Sun Devils (20-8, 5-4 Big 12) dropped two of three games to No. 17 West Virginia at home last weekend, falling by scores of 13-7 and 9-5 after posting a 14-4 run-rule victory in eight innings in the opener.

Despite the losses, ASU is still ranked No. 22 in the nation by Baseball America and No. 25 by D1Baseball.com.

The Sun Devils are led by outfielder Landon Hairston, who is tied for the national lead with 51 hits and ranks second with a .468 batting average, while his 15 home runs and 45 RBIs are slotted sixth in the country.

In addition, fellow infielder Nu’u Contrades ranks second on the team with a .378 batting average, while outfielder Dean Toigo (.340), a UNLV transfer, occupies the second spot with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.

Collectively, ASU leads the nation in with 56 home runs and ranks seventh with a .330 team batting average.

On the mound, Sun Devil pitchers top the Big 12 in strikeouts (301) while occupying the fourth position in ERA (5.16) and opposing batting average (.256).

Following Monday’s battle, San Diego State returns home for a three-game Mountain West series against conference front-runner Air Force, April 2-4, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.