Aztecs Prep For Midweek Clash at UC Irvine on Wednesday
Due to impending rain, San Diego State’s baseball game at UC Irvine, originally slated for Tuesday night, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. PT.
**SCHEDULE UPDATE**
Due to impending rain, SDSU's game at UC Irvine, originally slated for Tuesday night, has been moved to Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. PT
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State baseball team plays its first road game of the 2026 campaign on Wednesday, Feb. 18, when it makes the short drive up the freeway to battle UC Irvine at Anteater Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. PT, and the contest will air live via subscription basis on ESPN+.
The pitching matchup for the Aztecs-Anteaters clash was unknown at press time.
SDSU is coming off a three-game home sweep of LIU, Feb. 13-15, bookending a pair of one-run decisions (12-11, 6-5) around a 12-5 triumph. Consequently, the Aztecs crafted their first 3-0 start to a season since the 2018 squad rolled past UC Santa Barbara in a three-game set at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
SDSU pitchers enjoyed a dominating performance with a combined 46 strikeouts over the weekend, marking the team’s highest total for a three-game set since posting 47 in a sweep of San Francisco in 2019.
For their success, the Aztecs garnered two individual conference weekly accolades, as Carson Johnson was named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week, while Max Farrell earned Freshman of the Week honors.
Johnson struck out a career-high 11 batters in his first collegiate start on Sunday, holding the Sharks hitless through 6 1/3 innings, as SDSU ultimately prevailed by a 6-5 count in walk-off fashion. The Aztec redshirt sophomore allowed just one earned on two hits and two walks before exiting early in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Farrell started all three games at first base in his collegiate debut, recording a slash line of .455/.600/.818 with four RBIs, six runs scored and two stolen bases. The SDSU rookie hit safely in all three contests, compiling a team-high .600 on-base percentage, while smacking two doubles and one triple.
Elsewhere, outfielder Adam Magpoc and shortstop Jabin Trosky both hit .500 (6-12) for the series, while second baseman Dawson Santana batted .417 (5-11), tying Farrell for the team lead with six runs scored. Magpoc topped the squad with eight RBIs, smacking his first home run as an Aztec with a two-run shot in Saturday’s 12-5 win.
Santana, Gage Adams and Tyce Peterson also went deep in SDSU’s 6-5 nail-biter on Sunday, with Peterson’s two-run bomb highlighting a crucial four-run outburst in the sixth.
Entering the week, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West with eight stolen bases, including two apiece by Magpoc and Farrell. In addition, SDSU is slotted second in the league in several categories, including batting average (.330), on-base percentage (.429), slugging average (.563), doubles (8) and home runs (4) while sharing the second spot in RBIs (27).
On the mound, SDSU pitchers lead the MW in strikeouts per nine innings (15.3), which ranks fifth nationally, while topping the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.18) and WHIP (1.33) as well.
Meanwhile, UC Irvine captured all three games in its season-opening series at Sacramento State, posting a 5-0 shutout on Feb. 13 before taking both ends of a doubleheader by scores of 7-3 and 6-2.
Junior Frankie Carney (.364), a San Diego native, paced the Anteaters with four hits for the weekend, while fellow classmates Tommy Farmer (2 RBIs), Alonzo Reyes (2 RBIs) and Zach Fjelstad contributed three hits apiece.
Despite dropping six straight to UC Irvine, the Aztecs maintain a 59-44-1 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1970.
SDSU last faced the Anteaters during a hard-fought three-game series in 2024, with two encounters in Orange County sandwiched around a single contest at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Scarlet and Black gave then-15th-ranked UC Irvine all it could handle that weekend but fell short in a trio of one-run decisions, with the Anteaters winning all three games in walk-off fashion.
Following Wednesday’s showdown, San Diego State plays host to Brigham Young on Friday, Feb. 20 in its first game of the Tony Gwynn Legacy. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT, and the contest will air live on the Mountain West Network.