It is no secret that pitching has been the biggest damper for San Diego State baseball in their recent years of decline. Just last season, the pitching staff accumulated a 6.98 team earned run average (ERA), ranking 214th out of 299 in the entire nation. Meanwhile, pitching coach Kevin Vance at the University of Arizona molded his staff to a 4.85 team ERA, spotted at 51st in the nation at the time. His successes would earn him the head coaching position at SDSU, where he looks to resurrect a program that has been on the decline in recent years.
Fast forward to now and Vance’s outlook for his pitching staff is the same as a head coach that it was as an assistant.
“We talk about winning every pitch,” Vance said. “You get five seconds of focus, and then you get about five seconds off, and then you get right back to it. That monotonous process is the only way to do it.”
Vance is instilling into this pitching staff that sort of killer mentality – that king of the hill mantra – the ability to truly believe they can dominate every hitter on every pitch. That mental aspect was missing in the culture of Aztec pitching, and Vance is hoping to spark that change.
Early on, that change appears to be developing smoothly, even before an actual game has commenced. When asked about what Vance has done to transform this pitching staff into something greater, University of Arizona transfer Carson Johnson, one of the lone arms to follow Vance to SDSU, had nothing but positive things to say.
“I think he showed us that we can adapt really well … through challenges or through triumphs,” Johnson said. “I feel like we’ve done really well adapting and adding things week to week and just getting better week to week.”
A confident pitching staff is the key to success, especially when it comes to forming that fearless mental mindset that Vance hopes to achieve. However, no man can do it alone, and Vance has created a like-minded coaching staff to assist in making these goals a reality for his pitchers. The most notable of these coaches is, of course, one of the most decorated pitchers in college baseball history: Stephen Strasburg.
“We can ask him about anything, and he knows better than anyone else,” senior pitcher Aidan Russell said of Strasburg. “It’s just really cool to be able to have an open book like that, just to be able to ask questions at any time, especially with the amount of knowledge he has. It’s awesome.”
Coaching appears to be a priority for Vance, especially when it comes to landing such a distinctive move in Strasburg. The ability to learn and grow from some of the best there is as a college athlete is the greatest thing you can ask for.
Regardless of who is coaching, Vance wants the whole college baseball spectrum to become aware of the depth at his disposal, and how this staff will affect anyone they play with their uniqueness, versatility and mental fortitude. In fact, there is such an abundance of depth at the pitcher position that Vance is struggling to decide who his main rotation guys will be.
“To be honest with you, we have about five guys right now and I have no idea who’s going to be on the weekend rotation and that’s a great problem to have,” Vance said. “They’re all earning it and they all have the stuff to do it.”
Some of the breakout arms to look out for in the starting rotation include two transfers from Arizona State (junior Rohan Lettow and redshirt sophomore Alec Belardes), two transfers Vance brought from Arizona (junior Bryce McKnight and redshirt sophomore Carson Johnson) and senior Aidan Russell.
When it comes to the bullpen, Vance hopes to bring a unique and frustrating experience to opposing batters: “We’ve got a few golden arms as well. Some unique looks that you don’t see often … that’s what you want because hitters aren’t used to seeing it.”
The variety of depth in the rotation and the bullpen only means so much if your pitchers aren’t ready for the moment.
Fortunately, Vance seems to have prepared his pitchers for that next-man-up mentality. Johnson stated, “If you think you have us one day, just know, next day, we’re gonna come out with something different, something you probably aren’t prepared for. That’s just the ability to adapt and push through adversity in every situation.”
With the coaches and players on the same mental wavelength, it appears that the culture is indeed shifting in a positive direction going into the 2026 season. Coach Vance and his pitching staff long to shape a new identity of Aztec baseball and will put their efforts to the test on Friday night in their opener against Long Island University at 6 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
