Baseball Set For Midweek Game at San Diego

Projected Starting Pitcher Matchups
Tuesday, April 23 - 6:00 p.m. - XTRA 1360
SDSU: RHP Aaron Eden (3-0, 2.72 ERA)
USD: Josh Hendrickson (3-1, 7.09 ERA)

Aztec Storylines
CROSSTOWN TRIP: San Diego State and San Diego complete their 2019 home-and-home series on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at Fowler Park and Cunningham Field. 

XTRA 1360 Fox Sports San Diego will broadcast the game. Links to watch, listen, and follow with live stats are available on GoAztecs.com.

SAYING HELLO TO OUR SECOND HOME: Since Fowler Park and Cunningham Field opened in 2013, the Aztecs are 7-1 when playing at San Diego and have outscored the Toreros 47-20. 

SDSU has won each of the last four meetings at USD and overall, SDSU has won 14 of the last 17 against USD when playing as the road team.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: The Aztecs lead the all-time series against the Toreros, 75-57-3. 

SERIES WIN AGAINST AIR FORCE: The Aztecs posted a 3.25 team ERA over the weekend, leading the way to a 3-1 record against Air Force in a four-game set. 

Offensively, Jaden Fein led the team with a .417 batting average (5-for-12) while recording a team-best .917 slugging percentage with a double, triple, and his team-leading fourth home run of the season over the weekend.

The Aztecs hit .297 with runners in scoring position for the series while holding the Falcons to just a .185 clip.

With the trio of wins, SDSU improves to 10-3 in their last 13 home games against Air Force and 25-10 in their last 35 games overall against the Falcons. 

On Saturday, SDSU moved into sole possession of second place in the Mountain West and trails first-place Fresno State by just one game.

BULLPEN TURNING IT AROUND: Over the last 16 games, San Diego State relievers have combined for a 2.70 ERA, .216 opponent batting average, and have struck out 88 batters in 76.2 innings. Over the first 25 games of the season, the SDSU bullpen owned a 5.17 ERA and .265 opponent batting average.

PITCHING TRIO: Adrian Mardueno, Aaron Eden, and Justin Goossen-Brown are first, fourth, and sixth in the conference, respectively, in ERA this season. The trio has combined for 160.2 innings this season, making up 44.1 percent of the innings thrown by the entire pitching staff.

The trio has been exceptional over the month of April, with Mardueno leading the team with a 1.06 ERA while Goossen-Brown and Eden are behind Mardueno with ERA's of 1.99 and 3.02, respectively. SDSU owns a 9-5 record so far in April, but are 8-2 this month when one of those three pitchers makes an appearance.

Eden, who is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season on Tuesday, is currently 12th among freshmen in the country in ERA with a 2.72 mark.

CALIFORNIA LOVE: Since 2014, the Aztecs lead all Division I California programs in win total. Also, over that span, SDSU is 102-51 (.671) when playing teams based in California.

Team                   Wins
San Diego State     209
Stanford                  206
Cal State Fullerton  200
UC Santa Barbara  198
Sacramento State   196

STRIKEOUTS GALORE: SDSU has recorded 22 games with 10 or more strikeouts, the most since recording 23 double-digit strikeout games in 2009. In 2009, Stephen Strasburg recorded 10 or more strikeouts in 13 of his 15 starts during his Golden Spikes Award-winning season.

The Aztecs are 15-7 in their 22 games when striking out 10 or more batters.

ALL-AROUND PITCHING: The Aztecs are one of 24 teams in the country to have an ERA of 4.07 or better while striking out at least 9.4 batters per game and allowing 8.3 hits or less per game. Of those 24 teams, just 10 come from non-power 5 conferences.

STRANGE BUT TRUE: The Aztecs are going through an uncharacteristic season in terms of fielding, owning a .961 fielding percentage in 2019 -- the program's lowest since a .959 mark in 2012. However, the Aztecs have found ways to win games despite defensive miscues, as the Aztecs are 7-1 this season when recording three or more errors. 

ADRIAN MARDUENO IS REALLY GOOD: Including Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week, and Mountain West Pitcher of the Week awards received on April 8-9, Marudeno has been the Mountain West's most dominant arm during the 2019 season, leading the conference in ERA (1.71) and opponent batting average (.153). 

Mardueno, who led the Aztecs in inherited runners stranded percentage as both a freshman and sophomore, leads the Aztecs once again as a junior, having stranded 75 percent of his inherited base runners this season. Since April 2, Mardueno has stranded 12 of his last 13 inherited runners.

Mardueno's ERA also stands as 27th best in the country, while his 4.50 hits allowed per nine innings is seventh best in the country. Mardueno is one of just four qualified pitchers (Will Wheeler - USC Upstate, Spencer Koelewyn - Omaha, Garret Price - Liberty) in the country to have an ERA below 2.00 and allow 4.50 or fewer hits per nine innings.

SEEING DOUBLE: SDSU leads the nation with 47 double plays turned this season. Since the start of the 2017 season, SDSU's 173 double plays turned are the most among any team in the nation. 

FIVE, IT'S A MAGIC NUMBER: SDSU is 55-10 in their last 65 games when scoring five or more runs.

REBOUNDING QUICKLY: SDSU is 42-13 in their last 55 games following a loss.

UNDER PRESSURE: SDSU is 29-15 in their last 44 one-run games.

SCHEDULE UPDATES:  On May 6, the Aztecs will play Brigham Young at Lake Elsinore Stadium, home of the Lake Elsinore Storm, single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.