TUCSON, Ariz. – The San Diego State baseball team received a No. 31 preseason ranking in Collegiate Baseball's annual Fabulous 40 poll released Monday.
The Aztecs garnered 423 points by the publication, coming in just ahead of 2018 national champion Oregon State (420 pts.) and following Oklahoma (426 pts.) in the poll.
SDSU is the lone Mountain West squad to appear in the Fabulous 40, with fellow conference members Fresno State, UNLV and Nevada each receiving votes.
The Aztecs' 2020 schedule features 12 games against six Fabulous 40 opponents, including Arizona (18), TCU (20), Cal State Fullerton (26), Oklahoma (30), Oregon State (32) and UC Irvine (37).
In addition, SDSU will lock horns with 10 schools receiving votes in the aforementioned poll, including Cal Poly, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Diego, Southern California and UNLV.
The Aztecs return five starting position players from last season's squad, including outfielder Matt Rudick, a first-team all-MW honoree who led the Scarlet and Black with a .320 batting average to go with 12 doubles, 28 RBI and six stolen bases, while third baseman Casey Schmitt (.315, 5 HR, 8 2B, 36 RBI) and outfielder Mike Jarvis (.289, 5 HR, 8 2B, 30 RBI, 8 SB) received second-team all-conference recognition.
Also back in the mix for the Aztecs are outfielder Jaden Fein (.293, 4 HR, 11 2B, 20 RBI), who was named the MW Co-Freshman of the Year in 2019, first baseman Brian Leonhardt (.272, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 34 RBI) and RHP Aaron Eden (4-2, 4.01 ERA, 41 SO, 19 BB).
Winners of five of the last seven MW championships, San Diego State will open its highly anticipated 2020 slate on Feb. 14, when it squares off against Virginia Tech in the first game of the Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach tournament in Conway, South Carolina. The Aztecs will also battle host Coastal Carolina (Feb. 15) and UNC Greensboro (Feb. 16) at the event.