Aztecs Prep for Rematch vs. Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday

SAN DIEGO – Winners of seven straight, San Diego State will play seven of its next eight games at home, starting Tuesday, April 28, when Cal State Fullerton invades Tony Gwynn Stadium for a midweek clash, starting at 6 p.m. PT.

The Aztecs-Titans showdown has been designated Country Night, and the first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free SDSU cowboy hat.

The Aztecs (26-18, 10-5 MW) captured all three games in a weekend series at Fresno State, April 24-26, posting a 4-3 victory in 11 innings in the opener, followed by an 8-5 triumph and a 6-2 decision, respectively.

With its success, SDSU completed the program’s first three-game sweep of the Bulldogs in Fresno. More importantly, the Aztecs moved to within a half-game of co-leaders Nevada (23-17, 12-6 MW) and Air Force (21-20, 12-6 MW) in the Mountain West standings.

Junior transfer Bryce McKnight earned MW Pitcher of the Week honors after posting a 2-0 record with a 1.13 ERA and 10 strikeouts in two relief appearances at CSUN (April 21) and Fresno State (April 25).

Meanwhile, the Titans (21-21, 13-8 Big West) are tied for third in the Big West Conference after capturing a series victory at UC Santa Barbara, winning by scores of 9-7 and 6-1 after dropping an 8-3 decision in the opener.

SDSU will be looking to avenge a hard-luck 3-2 loss when the two teams last met in Fullerton on March 10.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
The Aztecs are projected to start sophomore left-hander Alito McBean (0-0) on Tuesday, while the Titans are expected to counter with right-hander Nick Santivanez (2-2).

McBean will be making his first start of the season after appearing in seven games as a reliever, compiling a 10.80 ERA with nine strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings. As a freshman in 2025, he started three of 12 games, posting a 1-1 record with a 9.16 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings.

Last year, McBean earned his first career victory in a start against CSF at Tony Gwynn Stadium when he yielded just one run in five innings after scattering five hits and three walks.

Santivanez also started against San Diego State on March 10, tossing two spotless innings with a pair of strikeouts but did not factor in the decision. The sophomore transfer has started seven of 11 games in 2026, recording a 2-2 ledger with a 3.68 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings.

SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
As of April 27, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.46), walks allowed per nine innings (3.77) and WHIP (1.41) and which rank 36th, 43rd and 50th in the nation, respectively.

In addition, SDSU tops the conference with a 5.17 team ERA and a .258 opponent batting average while occupying the second spot with 403 strikeouts and 9.30 strikeouts per nine innings, the latter of which ranks 60th in the country.

The Aztecs also are tied with New Mexico for the top spot in the Mountain West with 12 saves, featuring four by Aidan Russell, who is tied for fourth in that statistic, while Connor Abadie, Issac Araiza and Bryce McKnight share the eighth position with two apiece.

At the plate, Tyce Peterson tops the squad with a .326 batting average and is listed all over the conference leaderboard in several categories, including doubles (T-1st, 18), home runs (T-2nd, 12), doubles (T-2nd, 17), slugging percentage (3rd, .640), hits (6th, 58), OPS (7th, 1.043) and RBIs (T-7th, 40).

Along with Peterson, Jake Jackson (T-4th, 10) and Zane Kelly (T-8th, 8) are also listed among the MW top 10 in home runs.

Additionally, Jabin Trosky is slotted second on the team with a .322 batting average and finds himself among the league leaders in hits (T-4th, 59) and triples (T-10th, 2).

Trosky has been the second-toughest player in the conference to strike out so far this season, fanning once every 12.2 at-bats, which ranks 35th nationally.

Elsewhere, Dawson Santana is slotted third in the league in walks (30), while Adam Magpoc is tied for sixth in stolen bases (12) and sacrifice flies (4).

Collectively, the Aztecs rank second in the league in stolen bases (54), third in home runs (47) and  fifth in hits (436), batting average (.284) and slugging percentage (.439), while occupying the seventh spot in scoring (6.2 runs/game) and on-base percentage (.369) .

Not to be outdone, SDSU has vaulted to the top of the Mountain West with a .979 team fielding percentage.

GOING, GOING, GONE
San Diego State has homered in five straight games, going yard on eight occasions during its weekend sweep at Fresno State, including a season-high four round-trippers in game two.

As a result, the Aztecs have climbed to third in the Mountain West with 47 home runs so far this season, more than doubling their meager total of 22 from a year ago.

With 11 games remaining in the regular season, SDSU is on pace to hit 59 home runs this year, which would mark the second-highest total since 2001 after the 2017 team (62).

The Aztecs have smacked three home runs in four other contests 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).

Earlier this season, SDSU homered in nine straight games from March 22 to April 4 but had its streak snapped in a 1-0 shutout of UC Riverside on April 7.

The Aztecs’ streak of nine straight games with at least one home run is their longest since at least the 2002 campaign. In 2009, SDSU fashioned a stretch with at least one long ball in seven consecutive games from April 5-17 that season.

San Diego State has emerged victorious in 109 of its last 171 games dating back to 2019 when hitting a home run, including a 21-6 record this season.

AZTEC NOTEBOOK
Tyce Peterson leads the Aztecs with multiple hits in 20 games and tops the squad with two or more RBIs on 12 occasions.

In addition, Jabin Trosky ranks second on the squad with multiple hits in 18 outings, while Dawson Santana owns the team's longest current hitting streak at seven games.

Santana hit .533 (8-15) at Fresno State with three runs scored, helping the SDSU to its first three-game sweep of the Bulldogs in Fresno in program history. The junior second baseman collected a career-high four hits in the series opener and scored two runs, as the Scarlet and Black prevailed 4-3 in 11 innings.

The Aztecs are 23-1 this season when leading after eight innings and are 22-3 when outhitting the opposition.

SDSU also sports a 9-3 record this year in one-run games. 

SDSU VS. CAL STATE FULLERTON
The Aztecs trail the all-time series against the Titans 28-50-1 dating back to 1964.

SDSU has won four of the last seven meetings but suffered a tough 3-2 setback in walk-off fashion at Fullerton earlier this season on March 10.

Cal State Fullerton (21-21) has compiled a 10-8 record at home this season and an 11-13 mark on the road. However, the Titans won two straight at UCSB last weekend to move into a tie for third in the Big West alongside the Gauchos with a 13-8 ledger.

CSF occupies the fifth spot in the conference in batting average (.261), hits (369) and home runs (30) while ranking sixth in runs scored (208).

Outfielder Paul Contreras leads the Titans in several categories, including batting average (.336), home runs (10), RBIs (24), runs scored (31) and slugging percentage (.618). His 10 home runs are tied for fifth in the Big West while his .336 average is slotted sixth.

Additionally, infielders Nick Miller (.308, 22 RBIs), Cameron Kim (.295, 21 RBIs) and Ty Thomas (.282, 21 RBIs) have each driven in over 20 runs apiece.

On the mound, CSF pitchers rank third in the league in ERA (3.88) and opponent batting average (.254) while occupying the sixth position in strikeouts (335).

Reliever Andrew Wright leads the Titans with 19 games pitched and four saves, the latter of which is tied for third in the Big West.

UP NEXT
Following Tuesday's clash, San Diego State will square off against Mountain West co-leader Nevada in a crucial three-game series this weekend, May 1-3, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.