SDSU vs. Nevada Baseball Preview
Credit: AJ Panebianco/EVT
The Aztecs are lost right now. They have yet to win a single conference game. Every time it looks like they have an opportunity, it gets squashed by the opposing team. If SDSU found last week daunting, this week could prove even more difficult.
Their opponent this weekend, the Nevada Wolfpack, was picked to win the Mountain West in the preseason rankings. They currently sit in third place with a 5-3 conference record. The scary part is how they performed against Oregon State, the number three team in the nation. Despite losing both games, they forced extra innings in one game and came within one run in the other.
Three Nevada Wolfpack Players to Know
Joshua Zamora #8 2B/3B
Zamora is everything that the Aztec lineup is not. He is patient at the plate, does not strike out much, and absolutely crushes the ball. On the season, he owns 18 walks and just 12 strikeouts. He leads the Mountain West with nine home runs already. He will be the biggest threat to the Aztec pitching staff.
Peyton Stumbo #55 RHP
The rotation is weak for the Wolfpack, but the pitching staff is saved by a strong relief core. Peyton Stumbo leads that group and has been the best pitcher on the team. He has a 3.57 ERA and a team-leading 1.19 WHIP. Despite not being a starter, he has taken a large load of innings. Expect to see him a lot this weekend.
Patrick Caulfield #4 OF
Caulfield bounces around between the leadoff and three-hole in the Wolfpack lineup. The reasoning? He is very capable of doing both. Caulfield does it all, and it shows in his .378/.457/.490/.947 slash. He is tied with SDSU’s Caden Miller with ten steals.
Key to the Series
It’s a team game. Play as one
This is the only key of the series and really the season at this point. To be honest, it is a very obvious observation. Every coach hammers this into the players.
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At any given point, there are ten players involved in the game, nine batters and one pitcher. Yet the Aztecs struggle to get more than three players to be productive all game. As a lineup, they only have three runs in the last four games. When the bats wake up, the pitchers tend to falter on the mound. Evidence can be found against San Jose State when SDSU was swept despite scoring 17 runs in three games.
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.