Aztecs Ready for Crosstown Battle at UC San Diego on Tuesday

 

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State looks to extend its winning streak on Tuesday, May 5, when it squares off against UC San Diego at Triton Ballpark in La Jolla, California. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. PT, and the contest will air live via subscription basis on ESPN+.

The Aztecs (30-18) have won 11 straight after capturing all three games of a weekend series against Nevada at home, May 1-3, winning by scores of 7-3, 8-5 and 8-2.

With the sweep, SDSU took over sole possession of first place in the Mountain West standings and reached the 30-win milestone for the first time since 2021. In addition, the Aztecs completed their first sweep of the Wolf Pack since the 2013 campaign.

Individually, outfielder Zane Kelly was named Mountain West Player of the Week after posting a team-best slash line of .714/.833/1.527 with one home run, three doubles, five RBIs and five runs scored.

Tuesday’s game marks the final midweek game for San Diego State. The Aztecs are 9-4 in midweek games this season, highlighted by a huge 4-3 victory at No. 1 UCLA on Feb. 24. In addition, SDSU kick-started its winning streak with a 9-1 rout of UCSD at Tony Gwynn Stadium on April 14.

The Aztecs’ current victory streak is the longest since the program reeled off 12 straight wins from Feb. 6-March 4, 1997. SDSU also fashioned a school-record 24-game winning streak from April 10-May 3, 1983.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
Sophomore left-hander Alito McBean (0-0) is scheduled to make his second straight start on Tuesday, while the Tritons are expected to counter with right-hander Nathan Ries (2-2).

A native of Hermosa Beach, California, McBean tied his season high with three strikeouts last week in his first collegiate start against Cal State Fullerton but exited after allowing one run on two hits and three walks in two innings.

McBean has yet to earn a decision this season, compiling a 9.58 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings across eight games.

Last year, McBean notched 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.

Meanwhile, Ries has appeared in 14 games with two starts for UCSD this season, posting a 2-2 record with a 6.16 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 38 innings. The sophomore hurler made his last start on April 21 at San Diego when he gave up two runs on six hits and a walk with one strikeout in four innings but did not factor in the decision.

ANATOMY OF A STREAK
San Diego State defeated Nevada on Sunday to complete a weekend sweep and extend its winning streak to 11 straight games.

The Aztecs' 11-game victory stretch is their longest since stacking 12 straight wins from Feb. 6-March 4, 1997.

During its current streak, SDSU has recorded a .313 team batting average with 17 home runs, 16 doubles, 75 runs scored and 21 stolen bases.

In addition, the Aztec pitching staff has compiled a sparkling 2.51 team ERA and 93 strikeouts while limiting the opposition to a .221 batting average.

Aidan Russell has made four relief appearances in that stretch, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.93 ERA and nine strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings, while Bryce McKnight (2-0, 1.76 ERA) has struck out 14 hitters in 15 1/3 innings across four games as well.

SDSU has finished strong during its streak, outscoring the opposition 38-13 past the fifth inning.

Individually, Dawson Santana has hit .396 in that stretch (19-48) with two doubles, 12 runs scored and four stolen bases.

The Aztecs have also displayed their power throughout the streak, with Zane Kelly (6), Jake Jackson (5) and Tyce Peterson (3) having smacked multiple home runs.

SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
As of May 4, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.42), walks allowed per nine innings (3.77) and WHIP (1.39) and which rank 41st, 43rd and 44th in the nation, respectively.

In addition, SDSU tops the conference with a 4.93 team ERA and a .255 opponent batting average while occupying the second spot with 433 strikeouts and 9.10 strikeouts per nine innings, the latter of which ranks 69th in the country.

The Aztecs are also tied for the league lead with 13 saves, as Aidan Russell and Issac Araiza share the fourth spot with three apiece in that category, while Connor Abadie and Bryce McKnight are tied for 10th with two each.

McKnight is slotted second in the MW in ERA (3.81) and shares the fifth position in victories (5) while ranking seventh in opponent batting average (.270).

Not to be outdone, Russell is tied for third in the conference with a team-high six victories.

Despite sitting out the Nevada series, Tyce Peterson is still listed all over the conference leaderboard in several categories, including doubles (T-2nd, 18), home runs (3rd, 12), slugging percentage (3rd, .635), OPS (6th, 1.037) and hits (T-7th, 59). Peterson's 18 doubles are tied for 24th nationally.

Additionally, Jabin Trosky finds himself among the league leaders in hits (6th, 62). The Aztec shortstop has been the second-toughest player in the conference to strike out so far this season, fanning once every 11.5 at-bats, which ranks 42nd in the country.

Fellow middle infielder Dawson Santana is slotted second in the MW in walks (33), while Adam Magpoc is tied for fourth in stolen bases (16) and shares the seventh spot in sacrifice flies (4).

Jake Jackson is tied for fourth in home runs (11), followed by Zane Kelly, who shares the eighth position in that statistic (9).

Elsewhere, Max Farrell is tied for sixth in triples (3) and shares the seventh spot in stolen bases (12).

Collectively, the Aztecs rank second in the league in stolen bases (66) and third in home runs (50) and are slotted fifth in hits (476), batting average (.2846) and slugging percentage (.442), while occupying the sixth position in scoring (6.3 runs/game) and on-base percentage (.373).

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 seven of its last nine games, going yard on eight occasions during a sweep at Fresno State last month, including a season-high four round-trippers in game two.

The Aztecs also went deep two times in their series finale against Nevada, climbing to third in the Mountain West with 50 home runs so far this season and easily surpassing their meager total of 22 from a year ago.

With seven games remaining in the regular season, SDSU is on pace to hit 56 home runs this year, which would mark the third-highest total since 2001 after the 2017 team (62) and the 2009 squad (57).

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).

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.

Tyce Peterson (12 HR) and Jake Jackson (11 HR) lead the team in home runs thus far, giving the Aztecs two double-digit home run hitters in the same season since Erik Castro (12) and Cory Vaughn (10) accomplished the feat in 2009.

San Diego State has emerged victorious in 111 of its last 173 games dating back to 2019 when hitting a home run, including a 23-6 record this season.

AZTEC NOTEBOOK
Type 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 19 outings, while Max Farrell and Adam Magpoc have hit safely in the last seven games.

The Aztecs are 26-1 this season when leading after eight innings and are 25-3 when outhitting the opposition.

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

The Aztecs are 201-78 over the last eight seasons when scoring five or more runs, including a 23-5 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 19-10 in games after a win and 10-8 in games following a loss.

SDSU VS. UC SAN DIEGO
The Aztecs lead the all-time series against the Tritons 30-11 dating back to 1971.

SDSU recorded a 9-1 romp in the last meeting between the two squads at Tony Gwynn Stadium on April 14, scoring at least one run in six of eight innings at the plate.

The Aztecs received a two-run homer from Tyce Peterson, while Jake Jackson and Zane Kelly added solo shots to help the Scarlet and Black emerge victorious for the fourth time in the last five games against UCSD.

Not to be outdone, four SDSU pitchers combined on a two-hitter, as Carson Johnson earned his second straight victory after pitching five scoreless innings with five strikeouts and zero walks, followed by Aidan Russell (2.0 IP), Simon Lemke (1.0 IP) and Colton LaFave (1.0 IP, 2 Ks).

The Tritons (19-24) dropped all three games of a weekend series at Long Beach State, falling by scores of  3-1, 11-1 and 6-4. Despite the sweep, UCSD is still slotted third in the Big West standings with a 14-10 mark.

Individually, infielder J.C. Allen leads the Tritons with a .302 batting average, 49 hits and 12 doubles, while outfielder Anthony Potestio (.282) tops the squad with 10 stolen bases. In addition, first baseman Gabe Camacho (.250) has posted team highs of 13 homers and 41 RBIs, which rank fourth and sixth in the Big West, respectively.

Collectively, UCSD is slotted second in the league in home runs (51), fourth in slugging percentage (.407) and fifth in both on-base percentage (.374) and scoring (6.1 runs/game). However, the Tritons rank just 10th in batting average (.240) and hits (243).

On the mound, Connor Etnire (4-0, 1 save) leads UCSD with 19 games pitched, along with fellow relievers Nathan Huy (0-2) and Jake Villar (0-4).

As a staff, Triton pitchers rank sixth in the Big West in strikeouts per nine innings (8.4), eighth in overall strikeouts (348), ninth in opposing batting average (.304) and 10th in ERA (6.61).

Through 43 games, UCSD owns a 10-9 record at home and a 9-15 ledger on the road.

UP NEXT
Following Tuesday's showdown, San Diego State wraps up its home schedule this weekend when it plays host to San José State, May 8-10, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.