Glenn Connelly, Staff Photographer

The San Diego State baseball team understand the meaning of New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra’s classic saying, “90 percent of the game is half mental.”

Trapped under the spell of a 14-game losing streak, the Aztecs were convinced that they could do no right.

With that lack of confidence came the feeling that the other team could do no wrong.

But one weekend – and a three-game winning streak later – SDSU has found the solution.

The Aztecs believe in themselves again.

“Every win fuels your confidence, and I think the guys have started believing they can win,” head coach Tony Gwynn said.

The Aztecs carry that three-game run, and more importantly, the confidence that they can extend it, into a three-game series against the last team to beat them, New Mexico.

The series will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The two teams met in the first game of the Mountain West Conference preseason tournament last Wednesday, with the Lobos getting the best of the Aztecs, 3-2.

After that win on Wednesday, SDSU (9-24 overall, 3-1 in MWC play) and New Mexico (18-11, 1-3 MWC) travelled down opposite roads during the weekend.

The Aztecs scored 25 runs in the three wins as their bats finally awoke from a month-long coma.

After their run-in with SDSU, the Lobos seemed to have caught whatever previously plagued the Aztecs at the plate. New Mexico managed just 13 runs in four games after averaging more than eight per game in their previous 24.

Although the Lobos struggled to score, Gwynn still sees them as a threat in the MWC, mostly because of what he saw from the New Mexico pitchers.

“I was really impressed with them, especially (Danny Ray) Herrera,” Gwynn said.

Herrera’s 5-foot-7-inch, 145-pound frame may make him indistinguishable from a bat boy before the game, but once the Lobos’ ace steps on the mound, his presence grows to that of a giant.

Herrera is 5-0, with a microscopic 1.51 ERA in 71 1/3 innings this season. He strikes batters out at a fair clip (more than seven per game), but Herrera’s biggest plus is that he rarely beats himself. He controls the strike zone and forces opponents to be selective at the plate, which has been SDSU’s Achilles’ heel.

“He’s got great command,” Gwynn said. “That makes him one of the best pitchers in the league.”