San Diego State baseball junior Adrian Mardueno took home multiple awards following two shutout pitching performances over the Aztecs’ most recent road trip.
Mardueno was named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Week and Collegiate National Baseball Pitcher of the Week on Monday, April 8, and Perfect Game USA College Pitcher of the Week on April 9.
The trio of accolades came after Mardueno gave up only one hit while hurling 11 shutout innings in relief and striking out 12 total batters against No. 6/7 Oregon State on April 2 and Nevada on April 6.
Mardueno said earning the awards — the first of his college career — was a team effort.
“I feel very blessed,” Mardueno said. “I know I couldn’t have done it without my defense behind me and the coaches putting me in situations where I have to compete.”
Mardueno’s Mountain West Pitcher of the Week recognition makes him the first Aztec to earn the award in the 2019 season.
Head coach Mark Martinez said Mardueno was well deserving of the recognition.
“He had two gutty outings,” Martinez said. “He earned some honors this week and he definitely earned it, he just pitched exceptionally well.”
Mardueno provided seven innings in the team’s road win against defending NCAA Division I National Champion OSU. The junior entered the ballgame in a bases loaded no-out situation and escaped without surrendering a run. Four days later, he limited Nevada to one run in a similar bases loaded jam.
Mardueno said the experience against OSU helped him.
“I was pretty nervous,” Mardueno said. “As soon as I got the first strikeout (I thought) ‘let’s go, let’s do this.’”
Mardueno has shown growth in his third year as an Aztec compared to his first two seasons. In 2017, he held a 4.57 ERA in 21.2 innings pitched . He followed that up with a 6.07 ERA through 29.2 innings in 2018.
Through 15 outings this season, he has a 1.50 ERA and has already set a career-high in innings pitched with 36.
Martinez said Mardueno’s growth has been due to his ability to relax on the mound.
“I think the one thing that hurts Adrian sometimes is he gets outside himself,” Martinez said. “He tries to be somebody that he’s not and those are when things break down. When he’s just himself and just doesn’t try to do more than he’s capable of doing, he’s a really good pitcher.”
