SDSU vs Air Force baseball preview
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Saturday, May 22 | 11 a.m. MT | Falcon Field
Coverage: Live Stats | MW Network
SDSU: Michael Paredes, RHP (3-0, 5.29 ERA, 66.1 IP)
AF: John Byrnes, RHP (5-3, 2.71 ERA, 63.0 IP)
Saturday, May 22 | 2:30 p.m. MT | Falcon Field
Coverage: Live Stats | MW Network
SDSU: Troy Melton, RHP (4-5, 5.88 ERA, 64.1 IP)
AF: Jason Shuger, RHP (2-5, 6.33 ERA, 42.2 IP)
Sunday, May 23 | 1 p.m. MT | Falcon Field
Coverage: Live Stats | MW Network
SDSU: Brian Leonhardt, LHP (1-2, 5.79 ERA, 23.1 IP)
AF: Stevan Fairburn, LHP (5-4, 5.68 ERA, 57.2 IP)
UNLV’s sweep likely ended all hopes for the Aztecs winning the Mountain West Conference regular season.
At this point, the team would need to win out while having Air Force, UNLV, and Nevada go winless to have a chance.
What the Aztecs have is a chance to end the season strong despite not meeting expectations. A strong finish can provide momentum headed into the next season. No better team to face than Air Force to get that done.
In their first series in San Diego, the Aztecs took two of the three games.
The series as a whole was an offensive exhibition for the Aztecs. They scored a total of 23 runs while holding Air Force to 16 runs. Wyatt Hendrie had been a prominent factor in that series. He recorded five hits, including two big-time extra-base this.
Now they will be taking a huge altitude climb to Colorado Springs for this series.
For context, Colorado Springs is 800 feet higher in elevation than the infamous Coors Field. This will provide the offense to display their abilities once again. Jaden Fein, Wyatt Hendrie, and potentially Matt Rudick will all receive draft considerations this summer. This serves as the perfect place for them to boost their numbers and give scouts a great final impression.
On the flip side of the coin, the pitching will face some serious adversity. All season long, the pitching has been inconsistent and, overall, the weak link on the team. All three projected starters have an ERA sitting in the 5+ range.
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Troy Melton, the Aztec with the most draft hype, is coming off an especially rough game. Against UNLV last weekend, he pitched 2.2 innings and gave up a total of seven runs.
That was just the second time the Aztecs were mercy-ruled all season, but not the second time they allowed ten runs. On 11 different occasions, the pitching has allowed 10+ runs in a game. Pitching will easily be the key to winning this series for the Aztecs. The offense has proven time and again that it will work. It just depends if the pitching staff can keep Air Force to a reasonable scoring level.
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.