On the Road with SDSU Baseball

I join you from my hotel room in Las Vegas, feeling just about the way most people feel the 3rd day they wake up in this town: worn out and dehydrated.  There is something about Sin City, between the dry, desert air, and that bizarre smoky-yet-not inner casino air, that just sucks the moisture right out of you.  But enough about me.  As Tony Gwynn said on the bus last night, this is a business trip, and the Aztecs have taken care of business so far, winning last night's opener against UNLV by a 15-4 count at windswept Earl Wilson Stadium.

As the bus pulled up to the stadium yesterday, the flags atop the press box almost served as a taunt as well as a warning: Abandon Hope, All Ye Pitchers Who Enter Here.  The three flags were starched in the 35+ MPH breeze, all three pointing directly out from home plate to center field.  The tiny flags circling the outfield fence all seemed to be pointing directly out, no matter which field you looked at.  Any contact that got up in the air was going to be trouble.  The Aztecs' counter-offer was a pitcher who doesn't allow much contact, Stephen Strasburg.  

Strassy wasn't bad by any means last night, but he wasn't in supreme command either.  The Rebels touched him up for 7 hits in 6 innings, but Strasburg still struck out 13, walked only one, and held UNLV to one run.  His fastball was getting hit a little bit, so Stephen relied on the slider to help him through.  It also looked like his mechanics were a bit off, as Strasburg was getting out in front and yanking some pitches way off the plate.  But in the end UNLV was still no match for college baseball's best.  

It was on offense where the Aztecs made the most headway on Thursday, with the bottom of their order erupting to score seven runs.  Easton Gust and Ryan O'Sullivan not only had three hit nights, but both used the whole field and played their best offensive games of the season.  O'Sullivan is the kid this SDSU coaching staff would love to get going with the bat, and he looked sharp last night, hitting an outside fastball to right-center for a double before pulling a single in his next plate appearance.  

Erik Castro continues to maul opposing pitchers.  He got a fat pitch in the middle innings and absolutely lost it in the night, blasting a three-run homer that simply disappeared.  I can't tell you if it was wind-aided or not.  The ball might have just vaporized.  Pat Colwell and Brandon Decker also continued their fine table-setting, with both extending their hitting streaks, to 11 and 13 games respectively.  

Today the Aztecs went right back to UNLV for batting practice, and they will play game two of the weekend series tonight at 7pm on www.goaztecs.com.  Jon Berger, the changeup specialist, gets the ball against UNLV freshman Tanner Peters.  Berger struck out 10 over 8 innings, allowing just one run in his first matchup with the Rebels this year.  He will be tested by the conditions today without question.  Last year SDSU and UNLV played an 18-16 game here...but as long as the Aztecs keep putting up the big run totals, their pitching staff should have enough to at least limit the windswept damage against an overmatched Rebels squad.  

Aztecs take 3 of 4 from UC Davis

While you never feel great about losing to a 4-21 team, taking three out of four in a weekend series is never a bad thing.  The Aztecs showed great promise at the plate in the first two games, but struggled in the final two, overswinging at times and reverting to some old habits.  Erik Castro continued his amazing hitting tear, and other than a poor start from Nate Solow on Sunday, the pitching staff was outstanding as usual.  

The biggest bugaboo for the '09 Aztecs has been the ability to shrug off a poor defensive play.  SDSU is 2nd in the conference in fielding percentage, but it seems that they let their defensive miscues turn into big innings more often than not.  That was the case yesterday, as one pitch after Pat Colwell broke the wrong way on a flyball and turned it into a two-out bloop single, Solow grooved a fastball for a three-run homer.  

At 22-11, the Aztecs now face four games on the road this week, tomorrow at Long Beach State and Thu-Sat at UNLV.  

UPDATE: Baseball America moved the Aztecs UP in the rankings to #18 this week.

Highlights, courtesy of Scott Horvath and Goaztecs.com:

Game 1: 14-0 SDSU at Petco Park

Game 2: 9-5 SDSU at TGS

Game 3: 5-3 SDSU

Game 4: 6-5 UCD

SDSU Baseball sweeps Southern Utah: Highlights

Last night's game was a come-from-the-dead 8-7 thriller, with the Aztecs scoring 7 in the bottom of the 8th after trailing 6-0 in the 6th.  Scott over at SDSU has done another nice job putting together the highlight package from the game, click here for the comeback heroics.

Today was a more "typical" 11-4 win, with Erik Castro continuing his ridiculously hot homestand with another 4-hit game out of the cleanup spot.  Castro is also playing a fine third base and giving Tony Gwynn a very offensive lineup, with the talented Chris Wilson grabbing hold of the #5 spot in the order and the catcher's job that Castro used to inhabit more frequently.  

You can really see pieces of the Aztecs' offense coming together.  Brandon Meredith gets better every game, Colwell and Decker set the table, Wilson is a talented, aggressive hitter, and Vaughn can do it all.  Today Jomel Torres also reached four times from the #8 hole, and Ryan O'Sullivan finally delivered a big two-out RBI single.  He added an amazing catch later in the game, hopefully those highlights will be up tomorrow.  

Goldy Simmons pitched pretty darn solid and has a big-league frame at 6'5" and around 230.  Matt Skipper continues to impress me.  The 6'9" freshman from Colorado pitched the last four innings, didn't walk a batter, and the only run he allowed came when a flare bad-hopped over the charging Vaughn's head in right for a fluke triple.  These are the TUESDAY pitchers.  

The Aztecs are 16-8 and the biggest test of the season is next, a three-game series at TCU this weekend.  Ello will be there all weekend long so I'm sure we'll hear a lot from Fort Worth.

Aztecs Baseball Weekend In Review

A tremendous weekend for SDSU Baseball ended with a three-game sweep of UNLV yesterday, 15-2 at Tony Gwynn Stadium.  The Aztecs have now won four straight and seven of their last eight games, improving to 11-6, 3-0 MWC.  Thoughts on all three games:

FRIDAY: Over 2,100 take in the game at TGS, leading to a host of logistical problems, from long ticket lines to parking structure-change making issues.  By the 3rd inning it was hard to find an empty seat in the house.  They've come to see Strasburg and Stephen does not disappoint, striking out the side in the 1st and 2nd innings and recording an insane 10 K's through four innings.  UNLV scores off Strasburg twice, the first involving a walk-steal-balk and the second a strikeout-wild pitch.  Stephen runs up his pitch count, forcing him out after 7 innings, but the big crowd sees 14 strikeouts against just one walk, with six hits and two runs allowed.  Three in the first and one in the 2nd is enough for the SDSU offense, and the bullpen survives a shaky 9th from Addison Reed to close out a 4-3 win.  Erik Castro shows signs of breaking out of a season-long slump with his first HR of the year and a 2-for-3 night.  

SATURDAY: It's a matinee, scheduled head-to-head with the start of the MWC basketball championships in Las Vegas, so I knew the crowd would be a big drop from Friday night to Saturday afternoon.  About 1600 less, as a matter of fact.  Those watching the basketball disappointment at home miss one of the most complete games of the Aztecs' season to date.  The story is Jon Berger, a senior who got boxed around badly last year but has found great control and a breaking pitch to complement his excellent changeup.  Berger strikes out a career-high 10 over 8 innings, all but one on his slow-slow-slower change.  After a slow start against impressive whip-thin UNLV freshman right-hander Tanner Peters, the Aztecs rise up with three runs in the 5th and three more in the 8th.  Pat Colwell's in the middle of things as usual, leading off with a base hit for the 5th straight game, he finishes 2-4 with an RBI.  Leading 6-1 in the 9th, Tony Gwynn thinks he's going to be able to rest his closer, until James McLaughlin loads the bases with nobody out.  In comes Reed for his best appearance of the season, striking out three straight for his career-best 6th save.  6-1 SDSU the final. 

SUNDAY: Here is where the Aztecs can really separate themselves from other teams in their conference.  While UNLV throws Corey Hales, a senior with an 8.10 ERA, the Aztecs counter with Tyler Lavigne, a solid sinker-baller who has kept his team in the game every time out.  SDSU's pitching depth is starting to reveal itself, and never more so than today.  Lavigne strikes out 8 in 5+ innings, and is never hit hard.  The only three singles he allows are little rollers or choppers off his sinker.  The Aztecs' bullpen finishes off with four shutout innings, with three hits and no walks allowed.  Oh, what about the offense?  Feasting on the back end of the Rebels' pitching staff, SDSU bangs out 14 hits and 15 runs in a 15-2 laugher.  Ever since his walkoff HR against USD last Friday, Cory Vaughn has been on an absolute tear: 

7 games: 10-26 (.385), 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 9 RS, 3BB, 2 HBP, 4K, 4 SB

Yesterday Cory ripped an 0-2 fastball up the middle for a two-run single in the first, used his speed to leg out an infield dribbler for a single in the 3rd, laced a triple down the left-field line and into the corner in the 5th (part of a 7-run inning), and then blasted a hanger over the left-field fence for a 3-run HR in the 7th.  He never got to bat again, finishing a double short of the cycle.  It was also great to see Josh Chasse, a hard worker who struggles to crack the outfield lineup, come off the bench and go 2-2 with 3 RBI, including his first college HR, a no-doubter in the 8th.  

Kansas is in town Tuesday and Wednesday and then it's BYU for a three-game series on Thursday-Friday-Saturday.  I would anticipate the SDSU rotation for the next five days to be as follows, but it's not official:

Ryan O'Sullivan-Tuesday

Nate Solow-Wednesday

Stephen Strasburg-Thursday

Jon Berger-Friday

Tyler Lavigne-Saturday

Aztecs Baseball Recap from UCLA

The Aztecs now have two last at-bat wins they can point to in the preseason as potential building blocks.  Last night at Jackie Robinson Stadium, a chilly and sloppy game came to a rousing conclusion as SDSU scored nine runs in the final three innings, including 6 in the 9th, to beat the reeling UCLA Bruins 10-6.  Five straight hits in the final inning included 2-run doubles from Brandon Meredith and Cory Vaughn, who are fast becoming the run producers Tony Gwynn hoped they would be.  San Diego State is now 8-6 while UCLA is a hard-luck 3-11.

The Aztecs dealt with some of their familiar issues, such as hitting droughts and fielding miscues, but also showed a real resiliency in waiting out a tough young pitcher and feasting on the weaker part of the UCLA bullpen.  It was my first chance to call a Ryan O'Sullivan pitching start, and I thought Ryan showed a good fastball and at times had a pretty solid breaking pitch.  He was certainly the victim of some bad fortune early on, as there were a number of "almost" plays made behind him, and a couple of real ducksnorts fell for base hits.  He also walked two batters who both came around to score.  In the fifth he gave up three straight solid hits and got lifted.  

Trevor Bauer started for UCLA, a freshman from Hart High, and he was pretty good.  Looked like a low-'90s fastball, good hard slider, a 6'0" right-hander who has a terrier mentality and really locked in as the game went along.  He was herky jerky and a little violent in his delivery, but did get good extension coming toward home plate.  Bauer gave up just two hits in 6 innings and believe me the Aztecs were happy to see him go.  It was his first start after working out of the bullpen.  

In college baseball one thing is clear: if you can keep the game within striking range there are usually a couple of pitchers in the other bullpen who will give you a chance to get back into it.  Sunday's game wasn't out of reach at 5-1...but when USD kept piling on to get to 10-1, that's when the Aztecs were in trouble.  Last night, at 5-1 UCLA in the 5th, the SDSU bullpen held it right there.  Andrew Leary retired all five Bruins he faced, and James McLaughlin was solid in the 7th.  That's the type of pitching midweek that can separate the Aztecs from other teams.  

Still, San Diego State's offense was as cold as the chilly night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.  Finally, after a total gift run was given to SDSU in the 7th (error, wild pitch, passed ball, groundout, LOL), the Aztecs took advantage of some more presents.  Wild lefty Gavin Brooks (from Rancho Buena Vista) gave up a hit, walk, and hit by pitch, then a wild pitch.  Brooks departed for another left-hander, Brendan Lafferty, who then got out of the inning without allowing another hit, although a sac fly cut the lead down to 5-4 UCLA.  

Kegan Sharp gave up a homerun to Cody Decker in the bottom of the 8th (the UCLA ballpark is a little bandbox by the way, it was probably a double at TGS) and it was 6-4 and trouble heading into the 9th.  The Bruins were the preseason pick to win the Pac-10, but a couple of their top pitchers are injured, and the hard-luck team went through a 10-game losing streak that included 6 one-run losses and 8 games in a row against ranked teams (#1 strength of schedule in the country).  On this night, instead of their top closer, the Bruins had to try and have a pair of journeyman seniors finish the game.  

Josh Chasse, a junior outfielder who has to fight for playing time, got things started for the Aztecs with a big walk, fighting back against Lafferty after falling behind 1-2 in the count.  Pat Colwell then hit the first pitch he saw to right field, past the diving second baseman for a hit.  Down 6-4 with two on and nobody out, Tony decided to call for the bunt, and Brandon Decker laid down a good one to the left of the mound.  Lafferty threw late and it was a base hit to load the bases.  I looked down in the UCLA bullpen but couldn't quite see the number.  When the head coach made the call to the bullpen and it was senior right-hander Jason Novak, he of the team-worst 13.50 ERA, I figured there was a pretty good chance for the Aztecs.

With Meredith at the plate, Novak jumped ahead 0-2 then threw a breaking ball in the dirt and to the backstop.  6-5 game, and now 2nd and 3rd with nobody out.  Brandon kept the at-bat alive with a foul or two and then roped an inside pitch inside the 3rd base bag and down the line for a double, plating both runners.  7-6 SDSU, their first lead of the game.  Now, the floodgates were wide open.  Erik Castro gets just his 4th hit of the season, a hard grounder that gets through this time.  Vaughn doubles to deep center, short-hopping the wall to make it 9-6.  And with two outs, Mike Gallego's son Nico throws it away at shortstop to make it 10-6.  After being two-hit through six innings, the Aztecs get five straight hits in the 9th to score six runs and add to the UCLA misery in 2009.

Addison Reed had a big fastball in the 9th, striking out the last two Bruins, their top two hitters back-to-back.  Then it was on to the bus for the long drive back to San Diego, a happy Aztecs team with a big win in their back pockets.  With Strasburg on the mound Friday, SDSU has a chance to build a little winning streak here opening conference action.  We'll have radio coverage on XTRA 1360 this Friday at 6pm.