SDSU ATOP NATION WITH BATS
San Diego State leads the nation in hitting midway through the season and its pitching staff has dominated opponents most every weekend, but what has really set the Aztecs apart is the way they’ve answered when faced with adversity.
The result is a first-place standing in the Mountain West for SDSU (16-6, 11-4 MW), which plays host this weekend to Nevada (8-12, 5-7). The Aztecs have made a habit of never being out of a game, a point driven home in last week’s opener against New Mexico when they rallied for six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 10-9 win over the Lobos.
“I always lean on the experience, you know, our guys don’t get too hung up on a bad game, or a bad inning or whatever,” SDSU head coach Mark Martinez said. “The leadership that we have in the program, the experience that we have gives a calming effect each opportunity we have week in and week out, inning to inning . ...
“We have a lot of guys who have been down this road before and know that we’re pretty good. Just trust the talent, trust the work that they put in.”
Martinez’s 200th career victory — he’s now 201-140 in 6plus seasons — came in the middle of the sweep of New Mexico.
SDSU outfielder Jaden Fein continues to lead the country in batting (at least 50 at-bats) with a .473 average (43-for-91) and has a teamhigh 31 RBIs for the Aztecs. Fein has helped boost SDSU to a nation-leading .335 team batting average.
SDSU is tied for third in the nation in scoring with 9.1 runs per game, trailing only Jackson St. (9.5) and Western Carolina (9.3).
The emergence of redshirt freshman right-hander Ricky Tibbett (2-0, 3.70 ERA) as the team’s Sunday starter has bolstered
a rotation that already was strong with right-handers Michael Paredes (3-0, 3.45 ERA) and Troy Melton (3-2, 3.99 ERA).
Tibbett (Eastlake High) was used primarily out of the bullpen this season before moving into the rotation two weeks ago.
This week: Saturday-Sunday vs. Nevada, 1 p.m. (DH)/1 p.m.
Toreros update
USD (19-5, 5-1 West Coast Conference) is off to its best start since 2002 while bidding for its first regular season conference title since 2015.
The Toreros lead the WCC coming into a three-game series at Loyola Marymount (917, 2-7), which sits ninth in the 10-team conference.
A USD offense that ranks sixth in the nation in team batting at .317 and also is in the top 20 in runs scored (199) has been complemented by a pitching staff that is allowing
almost half as many runs a game as the opposition (3.86 ERA to 7.21 ERA).
A pair of redshirt freshman right-handers — Conner Thurman (3-1, 1.57 ERA) and Carter Rustad (2-0, 4.76 ERA) — are expected to start the first two games of the series. Rustad returns to the rotation after working out some early-season issues from the bullpen.
This week: Today-Sunday at Loyola Marymount, 6 p.m./6 p.m./1 p.m.
Tritons update
UC San Diego (7-13, 4-4 Big West) faces its biggest Big West test of the season when it travels to first-place UC Irvine (16-9, 10-2), which won eight straight games to open conference play.
UCSD has had its challenges at the plate in the move from Division II to Division I this season. The Tritons are batting .244 as a team while averaging 5.5 runs a game. By comparison. They batted .299
and scored 7.7 runs a game over their last four seasons at Division II.
Similarly, the UCSD pitching staff has a 6.42 ERA so far this season. The Tritons compiled a 4.32 ERA over the previous four seasons.
This week: Today-Sunday at UC Irvine, 3 p.m./noon (DH)/1 p.m.
Sea Lions update
Point Loma Nazarene (7-9, 6-5 PacWest) and Concordia (5-7, 5-7) meet again after splitting a four-game series earlier in the season.
PLNU comes into the series with three players — junior outfielder Baxter Halligan (.404), freshman third baseman Scott Anderson (.357) and senior outfielder Brett O’Toole (.321) — batting over .300.
This week: Today at Concordia, 2 p.m. (DH); Saturday vs. Concordia, noon (DH).