Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium was full of emotions of excitement and anticipation. SDSU baseball went to battle against Long Island University to kick off its 2026 season, and it was definitely one to remember. From pitching domination to stellar defense and baserunning, to an unexpected offensive explosion, this game had a little bit of everything to keep the viewer satisfied.
The first four innings were commanded by starting pitcher and junior transfer Rowan Lettow, who tallied 10 strikeouts in his first start as an Aztec. Lettow only allowed 3 earned runs in his four innings pitched, one being a towering homerun off the bat of LIU senior Ryan Rivera. Other than the homerun, Lettow avoided giving up hard contact, and had the Sharks hitters lost at the plate.
“I felt like they were swinging too hard, and I was able to get that heater by them a lot,” said Lettow. “The offspeed was a little iffy at times, but it worked out awesome.” Lettow stayed humble for the most part but make no mistake, his outing was electric. With 6 of his 10 strikeouts coming off a swing and a miss, Lettow’s heater was stealing the show.
However, Lettow’s performance looked like it was going to be for show as the Aztecs just could not get runs going early on. With runners on base in every inning, they still couldn’t drive anybody home. Luckily, in the fourth inning, everything came together with the Aztecs exploding for six runs behind a rally igniting double from junior shortstop Jabin Trosky and a clutch go-ahead 2-run single from Boston College transfer Adam Magpoc, who finished the day 4-4 with 4 RBI and reaching base in all 6 plate appearances.
“There’s a lot of things going into this season that I really wanted to touch up on, and getting deep in counts and winning those battles was definitely one of them. Today was just a day that I showed it and had some success with it,” said Magpoc.
Magpoc’s approach was a common theme with everyone in the Aztec lineup, with every at-bat becoming a nightmare for the Sharks’ pitchers. After their offensive outburst in the 4th, the Aztecs never looked back when it came to scoring runs.
A single from Mountain West preseason freshman of the year Max Farrell and a sacrifice fly from Magpoc made the game 8-4 going into the 6th. LIU looked to be coming back right away after a shocking opposite-field homer from lefty sophomore Mason Breton. Still, a diving catch from junior centerfielder Jake Jackson shut down the rally quickly, holding the score at 8-5 for the moment.
Great relief pitching from Arizona transfer Bryce McKnight was also a big factor in holding the Sharks down for a while.
SDSU was able to keep putting pressure on LIU due to their immaculate base running, highlighted by Magpoc, Trosky, and Farrell, who stole four bases combined.
“We call ourselves junkyard dogs. We’re scrappy. We’re gonna put pressure on that defense every single time. I mean, for us, especially the top of the lineup, a walk, a single, it’s a triple out of the box. We’re getting to second, we’re getting to third every single time,” Magpoc stated.
All of these efforts were almost squandered as LIU made a late push. Lefty Connor Abadie pitched amazingly in the eighth, but got hit around a bit in the ninth. With the runners on second and third and no outs after a ground rule double from Rivera, Vance turned to senior Aidan Russell to save the day.
At first, the move didn’t go as planned, with Russell giving up a sac fly and then a two-run tankshot to senior catcher Joe Durso, making it a one-run game in the final moments. Vance trusted his guy and Russell ended the game with a swinging strikeout to give the Aztecs the 12-11 victory in a thriller of an opener.
“Awesome. You can’t really explain it. Feels great, man, this is awesome,” said Vance of his first win as a collegiate head coach.
