Aztecs Return to MW Action with Weekend Series at Fresno State

SAN DIEGO -- Winners of four straight, San Diego State opens the second half of its Mountain West schedule this weekend when it travels to the Central Valley for a three-game series against Fresno State, April 24-26, on Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium in Fresno, California.

Friday's opener is set to begin at 6:05 p.m. PT, while Saturday's showdown is scheduled for a 3:05 p.m. start, followed by Sunday's finale at 1:05 p.m.

In addition to live stats, all three games of the Aztecs-Bulldogs series 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.

SETTING THE SCENE
> Entering the weekend, San Diego State (23-15, 7-5 MW) is slotted fifth in the Mountain West standings. The Aztecs are one of three teams who have played  just 12 conference games thus far, joining Fresno State and San José State.
> Over a scheduled bye in MW competition, SDSU has won four consecutive games against non-conference opponents, including a 9-5 victory over Seattle University at home earlier this week, followed by a 4-3 decision at CSUN the next day.
> Jabin Trosky (.421) and Dawson Santana (.412) have hit over .400 during the Aztecs'current winning streak, with Zane Kelly (.375) not far behind. 
> Trosky leads the Scarlet and Black with eight hits in that span, while Kelly has belted three home runs, tying Tyce Peterson for the team lead with five RBIs. Not to be outdone, Santana has seven hits to his credit and tops the squad with three stolen bases.
> As of April 23, the Aztec pitching staff leads the MW in ERA (5.37) and opposing batting average (.260) while ranking second in strikeouts (375) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.30).
> At press time, the head-to-head pitching matchups for this weekend's series was undetermined.

SERIES RECORD VS. FRESNO STATE
> The Aztecs have faced the Bulldogs more than any other team in program history, posting an all-time record of 114-116 in a series dating back to 1939.
> Fresno State captured two of three games at Tony Gwynn Stadium in the lone series between the two games in 2025.
> SDSU is 55-58 vs. the Bulldogs in San Diego, 52-55 in Fresno and 7-3 at neutral sites.
> Fresno State is one of five programs SDSU has recorded over 100 victories against. The other four are New Mexico (134), Air Force (126), UNLV (106) and Utah (104).
> Among returners, Aidan Russell leads the Aztecs with five career appearances against the Bulldogs, posting a 6.00 ERA without a decision while recording five strikeouts against four hits and two walks across a combined four innings.

SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
> As of April 23, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.42), walks allowed per nine innings (3.85) and WHIP (1.43) and which rank 39th, 49th and 60th in the nation, respectively.
> In addition, SDSU tops the conference with a 5.37 team ERA and a .260 opponent batting average while occupying the second spot with 375 strikeouts and 9.30 strikeouts per nine innings, the latter of which ranks 65th in the country.
> Individually, Rohan Lettow is slotted second in the MW in strikeouts (62) and ranks third in both ERA (4.11) and opposing batting average (.263) while sharing the fourth position in victories (4) with teammate Aidan Russell and the sixth spot in innings pitched (50.1). 
> Russell also is tied for fourth in the league with three saves, while Connor Abadie and Bryce McKnight share the eighth position with two apiece.
> Likewise, Drew Talavs finds himself among the conference leaders in opponent batting average (5th, .270) and strikeouts (T-5th, 51).
> Not to be outdone, Alec Belardes is slotted eighth this week in strikeouts (45) and is tied for ninth position in innings pitched (48.2).
> At the plate, Peterson is listed all over the conference leaderboard in several categories, including home runs (T-2nd, 10), doubles (T-2nd, 17), slugging percentage (3rd, .626), hits (T-7th, 53) and OPS (8th, 1.028).
> Additionally, Jabin Trosky finds himself among the league leaders in hits (T-4th, 55), triples (T-8th, 2) and doubles (T-9th, 12).
> Trosky has been the second-toughest player in the conference to strike out so far this season, fanning once every 12.1 at-bats, which ranks 35th nationally.
> Along with Trosky, Max Farrell (T-3rd, 3), Zane Kelly (T-8th, 2) and Jake Jackson (T-8th, 2) are listed among the MW top 10 in triples this week.
> Elsewhere, Dawson Santana is slotted third in the league in walks (29), while Jackson is tied for fifth in home runs (8).
> Despite missing the past eight games, Adam Magpoc is still tied for fifth with 11 stolen bases and shares the sixth spot with four sacrifice flies.
> Collectively, the Aztecs rank second in the league in stolen bases (53), fourth in hits (397) and fifth in batting average (.282), home runs (39) and slugging percentage (.432), while occupying the sixth spot in scoring (6.2 runs/game) and the seventh position in on-base percentage (.370) .
> Not to be outdone, SDSU has vaulted to the top of the Mountain West with a .979 team fielding percentage.

AZTEC NOTEBOOK
> Tyce Peterson leads the Aztecs with multiple hits in 18 games and tops the squad with two or more RBIs on 11 occasions.
> In addition, Jabin Trosky ranks second on the squad with multiple hits in 16 outings and owns the team's longest current hitting streak at 10 games.
> The Aztecs are 21-1 this season when leading after eight innings and are 19-3 when outhitting the opposition.
> SDSU also sports an 8-3 record this year in one-run games.

STRIKEOUTS GALORE
> Since 2019, the Aztecs are 93-71 in their last 164 games when striking out 10 or more batters, sporting a 14-5 mark this year. SDSU pitchers fanned a season-high 17 batters in a 12-5 romp over LIU on Feb. 14.
> In that series against the Sharks, SDSU combined for 46 strikeouts, marking the team’s highest total for a three-game set since posting 47 in a sweep of San Francisco in 2019.

GOING, GOING, GONE
> San Diego State has emerged victorious in 106 of its last 168 games dating back to 2019 when hitting a home run, including an 18-6 record this season.
> The Aztecs homered in nine straight games from March 22 to April 4 but had their streak snapped in a s 1-0 shutout of UC Riverside on April 7.
> SDSU's streak of nine straight games with at least one home run is its longest since at least the 2002 campaign. In 2009, the Aztecs fashioned a stretch with at least one long ball in seven consecutive games from April 5-17 that season.
> SDSU has hit three home runs in four contests already this year vs. LIU (Feb. 14), at No. 1 UCLA (Feb. 24), at New Mexico (April 12) and vs. UC San Diego (April 14) after collecting three home runs in a game just once during the 2025 campaign vs. Fresno State (April 12, 2025).
> The Aztecs have hit 39 home runs so far this season, easily surpassing their meager total of 22 from a year ago.
> With 14 games remaining in the regular season, SDSU is on pace to hit 53 home runs this year, which would mark the third-highest total since 2001 after the 2017 team (62) and the 2006 squad (57).

OTHER TRENDS
> The Aztecs are 195-78 over the last eight seasons when scoring five or more runs, including a 17-5 mark this year. The Scarlet and Black posted a stellar 38-6 record when scoring five or more run during the 2017 campaign.
> SDSU is 10-8 in games following a loss and is 12-10 in games after a win.

FRESNO STATE AT A GLANCE
> Picked to finish second in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll, the Bulldogs (12-25-1, 1-10-1 MW) have fallen to the bottom of the conference, winning just one game in league play, a 10-8 home victory over Grand Canyon (April 2) after a wild 18-18 tie at New Mexico (March 29).
> Fresno State split two non-conference games earlier this week, dropping an 8-4 decision at home on April 20 before posting a 5-2 triumph at Long Beach State the following night.
> With the results, the Bulldogs move to 8-13 in home contests this season to go with a 4-12-1 ledger on the road.
> Individually, Griffen Sotomayor (.328) and Brady Hewitt (.316) own Fresno State's top two batting averages, with Owen Faust (.294) and Mikey Boyd (.290) not far behind.
> Entering the weekend, Sotomayor and Marcus Nolen are tied for the Bulldogs' lead with five home runs.
> In addition, Boyd (4 HR) tops the squad with 34 RBIs followed by Sotomayor (33) and Nolen (29), while Faust has scored a team-high 36 runs.
> Elsewhere, Sky Collins (.287, 2 HR, 25 RBIs) is tied for seventh in the Mountain West with 11 stolen bases.
> Collectively, Fresno State is slotted fifth in the conference in scoring (6.6 runs/game) while ranking sixth in batting average (.277), hits (367) and on-base percentage (.380).
> The Bulldogs' weekend rotation for the SDSU series was undetermined at press time.
> Victor Arreola (0-3, 10.07 ERA) has made a team-leading eight starts this season, while Tyler Patrick (1-3, 6.75 ERA) and Drew Townson (0-5, 8.04 ERA) have earned seven starts apiece, followed by fellow right-hander Jordan Haver (2-1, 5.68 ERA) with six.
> Out of the bullpen, Doug Crystal (1-3, 6.59 ERA) tops the squad with 20 relief appearances this season and is tied for team lead with two saves, joining  Will Page-Allen (3-2, 7.71 ERA).
> As a team, Fresno State staff is slotted third in the MW in strikeouts (253) while ranking fourth in opposing batting average (.300) and sixth in ERA (6.85).

UP NEXT
> Following its weekend trip, San Diego State will play seven of its next eight games at home, starting on Tuesday, April 28, when it battles Cal State Fullerton at Tony Gwynn Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. PT