May 3, 2006

AZTECS VISIT AIR FORCE FOR THREE-GAME MWC SERIES THIS WEEKEND
***After having played University of San Diego on Tuesday, the San Diego State baseball team will travel to Colorado Springs to resume Mountain West Conference play with a three-game series at Air Force that begins on Friday (May 5) at Falcon Stadium at 2:00 p.m. (MDT).
***That series will continue with single games on Saturday (May 6) and Sunday (May 7), both starting at noon (MDT).
***This is the 69th season of Aztec baseball since the sport was elevated to major status in 1936. The school did not field varsity teams from 1943 to 1945.

SERIES RECORDS
***The Aztecs' record against Air Force stands at 59-15 in the series that began during the 1961 season. The teams met nine times from that year through 1964 until matching up on a regular basis while both were members of the Western Athletic Conference.
***Since joining the MWC, SDSU's record against the Falcons is 29-8. That ledger includes a 25-8 record in regular-season play and 4-0 in conference tournament action. San Diego State's record on the Falcons' home field is 19-8. The Aztecs are 36-7 in contests played in San Diego and 4-0 at neutral site fields.
***In their last two visits to Colorado Springs, San Diego State has played just five innings due to snow.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
***Air Force's record stands at 10-27 overall and the Falcons are 1-12 in Mountain West Conference play. They have dropped 12 in a row and 14 of their last 15 since opening league play with a 6-4 win over New Mexico in San Diego during the MWC Preseason tournament. This past Tuesday, Air Force dropped a 20-4 decision at Northern Colorado.
***The Falcon's top offensive players include first baseman Karl Bolt (.282, 6 HR, 23 RBI), outfielder Matt Ghigna (.282, 5 2B, 12 RBI) and shortstop Geno Salazar (.281, 2 2B, 12 RBI). The team's number-one pitcher is junior Mitch Brown (3-8, 4.69) while senior Paul Vignola has recorded six saves. Air Force has a team average of .247 with a 9.47 ERA.

HEAD COACH Tony Gwynn
***Tony Gwynn is in his fourth season as San Diego State's head coach after being named to the position in Sept. 2001. He became just the fourth head coach in SDSU history since baseball was elevated to major sport status in 1936.
***In 2002, he served as a volunteer coach for the Aztecs under Jim Dietz, who retired at the end of that season.
***In 2004, Gwynn led his squad to the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship and was named the MWC coach of the year.
***A former Aztec who played baseball at San Diego State from 1979 to 1981, Gwynn concluded a 20-year major league career with the San Diego Padres in 2001. With a career batting average of .338, he won eight National League batting titles, five Gold Gloves, and made 15 appearances in the annual All-Star Game.
***Gwynn recorded his 100th win with the Aztecs' 10-4 victory over New Mexico on April 7.
***Currently in his fourth season at SDSU, his record entering the week stands at 107-127 overall and 64-40 in Mountain West Conference play.

MOST RECENTLY
***On Tuesday, the Aztecs fell to cross-town rival University of San Diego, 15-7, as the Toreros got at least one run off six different SDSU pitchers. Quintin Berry had three hits for the home side while Paul Smyth and Tim O'Brien drive in two runs apiece in the losing cause.
***San Diego State took two of three games from TCU at Tony Gwynn Stadium last weekend to win its third league series in a row by a two-to-one margin.
***In the opener on Friday (April 28), Justin Masterson tossed a complete-game shutout in SDSU's 6-0 win over the Horned Frogs. The Aztecs got single runs in the fifth and sixth, and added four in the eighth en route to the victory. Freshman second baseman Nick Romero had three hits including a two-run homer while Curt Mendoza and Jordan Swaydan had a pair of hits each. Lance Zawadzki also had a two-run single in the four-run eighth inning.
***In game two, San Diego State came from behind to tie the contest at 5-5 in the seventh inning, only to lose in 10 innings by a score of 7-5. Romero was the lone Aztec to record more than one hit as he had a pair of singles and scored twice. Mendoza had two RBI while Zawadzki hit his second home run of the season.
***In the series finale, outfielder Paul Smyth homered twice, driving in three runs as the Aztecs won by a score of 5-2. Bruce Billings went eight innings to pick up the win while Adam Simon finished the contest to get his fifth save. First baseman Brock Ungricht contributed a pair of hits including a two-out two-RBI single.

SENIORS HONORED
***With the series vs. TCU marking San Diego State's final weekend home contests of the season, the Aztecs took Sunday to honor 11 seniors who are concluding their SDSU careers in 2006.
***That group included four pitchers (Dan Bruckart, Ben Coon, Will Miller, Adam Simon), two catchers (Joey Huskins, Jordan Swaydan, three infielders (Brian Kinsman, Tim O'Brien, Sam Pepper) and a pair of outfielders (Curt Mendoza, Steve Smyth).
***Five of those non-pitchers have been starters for much of the 2006 season while three of the pitchers have seen significant time this year.

MASTERSON PITCHER OF THE WEEK
***Junior right-hander Justin Masterson was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance in last Friday's win over TCU. It was the second Pitcher of the Week award of the season for Masterson, who also earned the honor when he defeated 12th-ranked Pepperdine in early March.
***Masterson, from Beaver Creek, Ohio, hurled a complete-game shutout vs. first-place TCU on April 28. He struck out 11 and walked one, while giving up only four hits, three of which came in the Horned Frogs' half of the ninth inning.
***After giving up a first inning single and leadoff walk in the second, he retired 22 straight TCU hitters, holding the Horned Frogs, who came into the game batting .301 (.320 in MWC play), to a batting average of .129 (4-for-31) for the game. Masterson's 11 strikeouts marked his fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the season, and second in his last three games.
***The shutout marked the first time the Horned Frogs had been blanked in 127 straight games (April 27, 2004 vs. Baylor).

ROMERO'S FOUR-GAME STREAKS
***For the seventh time this season, freshman infielder Nick Romero is on a four-game hitting streak, his longest of the year. He will look to set a new personal best this weekend at Air Force.
***During his current streak, Romero is 7-for-17 (.412 ) with three runs scored, three RBI, two doubles, a triple and a home run.
***His five home runs this season are the most for a freshman since Jake McLintock hit eight during the 2002 campaign.

BERRY FINDING HIS STRIDE
***Center fielder Quintin Berry had a seven-game hitting streak stopped last Saturday in SDSU's contest against TCU.
***During that streak, he went 14-for-35 (.400) with 11 runs.
***He had scored at least one run in 10 straight contests (a total of 18 runs) before that streak also ended on Saturday.
***He scored a run in Sunday's game, but did not score this past Tuesday to make it 11 of SDSU's last 13 in which he has crossed the plate at lease once.

SMYTH ON THE OFFENSIVE
***Senior Paul Smyth continues to lead the Aztecs in overall hitting with a .366 batting average.
***He had a five-game hitting streak stopped at Long Beach on Tuesday (April 25), then hit safely in all three contests vs. TCU last weekend, plus picked up two hits vs. USD on Tuesday.
***Over SDSU's last nine games, he is hitting .400 (16-for-40) with 11 runs scored, 14 RBI, four doubles, a triple and four home runs.
***He has also walked five times and been hit by pitch twice for a .489 on-base percentage over that span.
***Heading into the weekend, Smyth also leads the SDSU offense in runs (38) hits (67), doubles (15), triples (5), sacrifice flies (5) and RBI (43).
***He is a perfect 5-for-5 in steal attempts.
***Smyth's 22 multiple-hit games and 10 multiple-RBI contests lead the team.

STEALING AWAY
***Quintin Berry leads SDSU in stolen bases with 26 and is first in the Mountain West Conference in that category.
***His steals total represents 60 percent of the steals by SDSU as a team (team total is 43).
***Berry went nine games without stealing a base, his longest stretch in two seasons as an Aztec, before swiping three against Long Beach State on Tuesday, April 11.
***He has stolen 11 bases in his last 11 games. His three against Long Beach State (April 11) matched his season best that came vs. Cal Poly on Feb. 19.

MASTERFUL MASTERSON
***Justin Masterson has another fine outing last Friday vs. TCU as he evened his record at 5-5 with a four-hit complete-game shutout of the Horned Frogs.
***In his last seven outings, Masterson has a 2.76 earned run average over 40 innings.
***Over that span he has walked eight and struck out 52, and opponents have hit just .188 against him.
***On the season, he has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than four-to one with 95 K's and 20 BB's in 97.2 innings.
***Masterson made his first (and only) relief appearance as an Aztec in the 11-10 win over UNLV on April 2, tossing a perfect ninth inning to preserve the win and pick up his first save.
***In his 13 appearances, he has allowed more than five earned runs only once, when UCLA tallied nine against him. Discounting that game, his overall season ERA would be 3.01.

BILLINGS STRIKES
***Since coming back after missing a pair of starts in mid-March, Bruce Billings has shown signs of the form that earned him MWC Pitcher of the Year honors in 2005.
***In his six starts since his return, he has thrown 40 innings and struck out 44.
***He set a personal career best with 12 strikeouts in the win over TCU last Sunday.
***Billings' ERA over his last six outings is 2.48 and opponents are hitting .194 against him.
***He has lowered his season ERA over that period from 6.17 to its current 3.84.

SEWELL CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
***Freshman Lance Sewell Has moved into the weekend starting rotation over SDSU's most recent trio of three-game series.
***He made his third start of the season vs. TCU last Saturday, going 4.2 innings and giving up four runs in five hits.
***He made his SDSU home debut with a start vs. Long Beach State on April 11.
***He went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out six and walking two, but was not involved in the decision.
***In his last three starts, he has struck out a 16 in 16 innings and has an ERA of 3.38 in those games.

SWAYDAN STANDS TALL
***Senior catcher Jordan Swaydan has hit safely in each of SDSU's last seven contests, a hitting streak that is currently the longest on the squad.
***Over his last seven games, he has gone 11-for-26 (.423) with six runs and scored and five runs batted in.
***He has been a defensive stalwart behind the plate, throwing out 22 of 61 runners trying to steal on him for a 36 percent rate.
***His 22 runners caught stealing leads the conference by a wide margin.
***Swaydan has also picked a pair of base runners off second base this season.

MENDOZA HITTING
***Curt Mendoza went 4-for-12 (.333) in last weekend's three game series vs. TCU. He had a pair of doubles in those games, each of which hit the outfield wall and barely missed carrying out of the park.
***He is hitting .326 (14-for-43) over SDSU's last 11 contests with a three doubles and a homer.
***Mendoza is batting .388 in conference play, just behind Paul Smyth's .391 average. He has 13 runs batted in and 11 runs scored over 13 MWC contests.
***His five RBI against New Mexico on April 7 was the most in a game by an Aztec this season, a mark tied by Paul Smyth last Sunday vs. TCU.

UNGRICHT ADDS TO OFFENSE
***Brock Ungricht has hit safely in all seven of the team's last eight outings and is third on the team with a .305 batting average.
***Ungricht's 10-game hitting streak earlier this year is the longest by an Aztec in 2006.
***He is third on the squad with 17 multiple-hit games and fourth with six multiple-RBI contests.
***Ungricht, who was among the team leaders in walks his first two seasons, has only nine bases on balls in 2006. His walk at Long Beach State last week was his first in 16 games and has now walked just once over SDSU's last 20 contests.
***He has driven in a least one run in four of SDSU's last six contests.

WORKING OVERTIME
***SDSU has played four extra-inning affairs this season and lost all four.
***Three of those overtime affairs have come in Mountain West Conference play.
***That number includes an 8-6 loss to UC Irvine, 3-2 loss to New Mexico and 7-5 loss to TCU, all in 10 innings at home.
***The fourth loss was a 6-5 defeat at UNLV in 12 innings on April 21.

KER-PLUNK
***Aztec pitchers have hit 61 batters thus far during the 2006 season, an average of 1.27 per game.
***They are on their way to setting a team record for hit batters in a season, needing only three more to tie the 64 batters hit during both the 2002 and 2005 seasons.
***SDSU pitchers did hit just one batter in last weekend's three-game series against TCU and one in Tuesday's contest vs. USD.

LONG BALL
***SDSU has hit 38 home runs through 48 games this season after totaling 25 at the same point of the 2005 campaign.
***The Aztecs have hit 15 home runs over their last 16 contests.
***Tim O'Brien's homer in the second game of the TCU series last Saturday was his team-leading 10th of the season. Paul Smyth's two homers on Sunday took his season total to eight, second-best on the squad. Curt Mendoza remains third with six.
***At this point, Aztec pitchers have allowed 43 home runs.
***The last time SDSU finished a season with more home runs than its opponents was in 2000 when it hit 45 and gave up a total of 43.

THE RECORD BOOK
***Three Aztecs have entered an all-time SDSU top 20 list this season while one other should do so in the near future.
***With a 69 strikeouts this season, junior Bruce Billings has 229 career strikeouts to jump up the fifth spot on the career list. He needs eight more to climb to No. 4, where Brian Scott (1995-97) sits with 237 career strikeouts.
***With 81 career walks, Brock Ungricht has moved into sole possession of the No. 19 on the Aztec career chart. With one more base on balls, he will move him up one spot to 18th and into a tie with Nikco Riesgo (1986-88) at 82.
***With his home run last Sunday vs. TCU, shortstop Lance Zawadzki has moved into a tied for the number-20 spot on the career list with 16. His next four-bagger will move him into a tie for 18th with Jake McLintock (2002-05).
***With six homers in 2006, senior outfielder Curt Mendoza now has 24 for his career, moving him into sole possession of the fourth spot on the Aztec career chart. His next homer will move him into a tie for the number-three spot with Tommy Rinks (1956-58) at 25. The SDSU career mark is 28 homers by Paul Lockhart (1997-2000).

AZTEC NOTES
***In SDSU's last two weekend series, the starting trio of Justin Masterson, Lance Sewell and Bruce Billings have combined for a 3.00 earned run average. The trio has totaled 47 strikeouts with just 11 walks in 42 innings.
***With one more home run, Tim O'Brien will have 11 this season, the most for an Aztecs since Paul Lockhart had the same total in 2000.
***Reserve first baseman Brent Spirnak picked up his first career extra-base hit with a double against USD on Tuesday.
***With his fifth save of the year vs. TCU last Sunday, senior Adam Simon ranks second in the MWC in that category and he is tied for the league saves lead in conference contests with three.
***Over its last 10 games, SDSU has a fielding percentage of .973. For the season, the team is fielding .953.

ON DECK
***San Diego State will host UC Irvine next Tuesday, May 9, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium in the fourth meeting of the season between the teams.
***The Aztecs will then embark on their final conference series when they travel to Provo, Utah, to face Brigham Young in a three-game series starting Thursday, May 11, at 7:00 p.m. (MDT) at Larry H. Miller Field.
***That series will continue with single games Friday (May 12) at 7:00 and Saturday (May 13) at 1:00 p.m. (MDT).