There’s a different energy around Tony Gwynn Stadium this season.
It’s not just because the Aztecs won a share of the Mountain West Conference regular season championship for the first time since 2004 last season, or because the roster has 20 new freshmen and additional transfers.
After two seasons of coaching SDSU to one of the top pitching staffs in the conference, Shaun Cole has taken over as head coach of the Aztecs and is emphasizing the team being fully connected.
“It’s all a consistent theme and message about preparation, mind and body — how are you doing that?” Cole said during a preseason interview. “When we get a group of guys that start thinking that way and working that way, now we’re gonna get them to free up and compete at a high level and you’ll see that aggressive style of baseball.”
The Scarlet and Black were picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s coaches. Junior pitchers Chris Canada and Omar Serrano were named to the Preseason All-Mountain West team.
“Thank you for the motivation,” Cole said at a season-opening press conference on Wednesday. “To pick us fourth… I appreciate that, it definitely went up in our locker room.”
The Aztecs return 48.7% of their at bats from last season and 39.3% of their RBI production, so building chemistry throughout the lineup and in the field has been critical.
Amongst the starters returning from last season are senior shortstop Xavier Gonzalez, and the outfield duo of redshirt junior right fielder Shaun Montoya and junior center fielder Irvin Weems.
Montoya led the team in hits (56), doubles (15) and runs scored (36) last season, while Weems is second amongst returners with 11 stolen bases. Gonzalez was the only player to start all 53 games and had the most assists (118) fielding.
“That’s a big stepping stone to having success in this program,” said junior outfielder Irvin Weems. “We also talked a lot about having leadership and older guys taking over big roles, and even freshmen coming in and having big roles… just playing as a team and being more connected as a whole.”
Amongst other returners, redshirt junior Brady Lavoie, in his second year with the program after transferring from NC State, is expected to start at first base and Junior Evan Sipe will start at catcher.
“We’re strong up the middle and I really believe the rest of the group will come along as long as they do their part, being strong up the middle and being good leaders,” Cole said.
The freshmen expected to start in the field are Madison High’s Jake Jackson in left field, who was named Mountain West Preseason Freshman of the Year by Perfect Game, and Colby Turner at third base.
After leading the conference in nine categories — including ERA, opponent batting average, strikeouts and fewest hits and runs allowed — SDSU gets back 41.2% of their innings pitched from last season and 60.4% of their starts on the pitching staff.
“On paper right now, this may sound crazy because our pitching staff year was really, really good, but on paper, I think we have more depth and more pieces this year,” Cole said.
Canada threw the most innings (61.2) last season of all returning pitchers. He is the expected Friday night starter, after starting 13 games and striking out the fifth-most batters (55) in the conference.
Serrano, whose .237 opponent batting average was the second-lowest in the conference, is the Saturday starter. After making 13 of his 15 appearances out of the bullpen with a 3.31 ERA, sophomore Xavier Cardenas will start on Sundays.
“We’re all just really looking forward to pulling on the same rope,” Canada said. “Now there’s no division (between pitchers and hitters), everyone’s just getting in work and we feel as one team.”
It’s all part of building the connection and culture heading into the 2024 season.
“There’s a different vision, there’s a different energy to it and people like to grab on to that,” Cole said. “Now it’s up to us to continue that momentum — we need to play and we need to win games, but I think right now there’s a good buzz and I think people are excited.”
The Aztecs open the season against the Portland Pilots at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16 at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
“We want to play as hard as we can,” Canada said. “Every single game, Tuesday included, every single game is an opportunity to showcase what we have.
