The San Diego State baseball team is now traveling on a different road. One that SDSU probably hopes isn’t as hard to navigate as the previous path.
So long, non-conference season. Hello: The Mountain West Conference.
And the Aztecs won’t be looking in their rear-view mirror at that 6-23 non-conference record, either.
“We have to turn it around,” senior pitcher Will Miller said. “The first part of our season (non-conference) is done ? We have to look forward and win out our conference. That’s our primary goal right now.”
SDSU continues the MWC preseason baseball tournament against Utah at 7 tonight at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs (6-24, 0-1 in MWC play) began the tourney last night with a 3-2 loss against New Mexico – the newest mark on a 14-game losing streak.
The tournament features all seven league teams, and none are too far off from SDSU’s struggles. The Lobos have the only record above .500, while the Utes were at .500 heading into today’s game.
Still, SDSU ranks at the bottom of many significant categories. The Atzecs have been outscored 235-138, own a 7.29 ERA and have committed 59 errors – all the worst rankings in the MWC.
But the same attitude of having a short memory is running rampant through the entire team.
“Conference is the most important thing,” junior center fielder Quintin Berry said. “Whatever happened in the past doesn’t really matter. All that really matters is that we find what we need to have and start applying it to the game right now.”
The Aztecs are coming off a three-game sweep from Pacific. But if there is one positive thing to take from it, the comeback of junior pitcher Bruce Billings – who sat out nearly three weeks with arm trouble – was welcomed with open arms.
Billings started on Saturday in game two of the series and tossed five solid innings with seven strikeouts, only three hits and two unearned runs.
His return should help because SDSU will need to play four games in the five days of the tournament. Head coach Tony Gwynn, though, said he knows the Aztecs are not alone.
“Four games in five days is going to be difficult not only for us, but for everybody in the tournament,” Gwynn said. “We have to turn things around.”
–Staff Writer Joe Giovannetti contributed to this report.
