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Aztecs to play 29 of 56 games at home next spring
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
October 27, 2022 (San Diego) - San Diego State baseball head coach Mark Martinez has revealed the team’s 2023 schedule, featuring a 56-game docket with 29 home dates, highlighted by the eighth annual Tony Gwynn Legacy.
Of the 17 different opponents on their 2023 slate, the Aztecs will play 35 games against 11 teams that posted winning records last year, including six apiece vs. Mountain West defending regular-season champion UNLV and 2022 conference tournament victor Air Force.
Along with the conference rival Falcons, SDSU’s schedule also features six games against two other 2022 NCAA regional qualifiers in Connecticut and San Diego, while additional non-conference foes Washington State, UC Irvine and Arizona State finished among the top 100 in the NCAA regular-season RPI last season.
SDSU will play two series (home/away) against four Mountain West opponents, UNLV, San José State, Air Force and New Mexico, while facing Fresno State (road) and Nevada (home) in conference sets just once.
Information on season and single-game tickets, as well as gameday promotions and broadcast schedule will be available at a later date.
For the second year in a row, the Aztecs will open their season in the Grand Canyon State, with the Scarlet and Black battling Arizona State in a three-game series Feb. 17-19, at historic Phoenix Municipal Stadium. SDSU will be looking to turn the tables on the Sun Devils, who took two of three meetings in San Diego last year.
After conducting their home opener with a clash against Big West adversary CSUN on Feb. 21, the Aztecs will once again co-host the eighth annual Tony Gwynn Legacy Feb. 24-26, locking horns with North Dakota State, Washington State and Hawai’i in succession.
The Aztecs will face the Bisons for the first time in program history before renewing acquaintances with the Cougars, whom they have not played since taking two of three games in San Diego during the 2000 campaign. Conversely, SDSU is quite familiar with the Rainbow Warriors, who also ventured to “America’s Finest City” last season, as the teams split two encounters, including a 7-1 Aztec victory in the Tony Gwynn Legacy.
The season’s first homestand quickly melts into a lengthy road swing, with the Scarlet and Black playing eight consecutive games away from Tony Gwynn Stadium.
San Diego State opens its Mountain West slate with a weekend series at defending regular-season league champion UNLV March 3-5, before returning to the Golden State for a midweek clash at UC Riverside two days later, March 7, with the Aztecs squaring off against the Highlanders for the first time since 2018.
The following weekend, SDSU treks north to the Bay Area for a three-game conference set at San José State March 10-12, before heading to Orange County for Tuesday night affair at UC Irvine on March 14.
The Aztecs return to the friendly confines of Tony Gwynn Stadium for a four-game series against Connecticut March 16-19. The defending Big East champion Huskies set a program record with 50 wins last year, capturing the College Park Regional to advance to the school’s second Super Regional.
After a quick drive down Interstate 8 for a midweek crosstown battle at San Diego on March 21, SDSU will set up shop on The Mesa for a three-game set against Air Force March 24-26. The Falcons won the Mountain West tournament championship last season and posted two victories in the Austin Regional before getting eliminated by host Texas.
The Aztecs will face another daunting stretch, playing 11 of its next 13 games on the road. SDSU will travel across town for the first of 2023’s four installments of the newly dubbed Trolley Series vs. UC San Diego on March 28 before jetting over to the Land of Enchantment for a three-game series at MW rival New Mexico March 31-April 2.
After UCR makes a return trip to San Diego on April 4, the Scarlet and Black will head up the freeway for a three-game series against traditional power USC April 6-8 in Los Angeles. The Aztecs fell to the Trojans in their last meeting on the final day of the 2020 Tony Gwynn Legacy after completing a home-and-away series in 2017.
SDSU will split two venues for consecutive midweek encounters with UC San Diego, making a quick trip to La Jolla on April 10 before returning to Tony Gwynn Stadium the following night.
The Aztecs will add to their road mileage once again for a three-game set at Fresno State April 14-16, before entering a stretch of 16 home games over their last 20 dates of the regular season.
Following a midweek rematch with USD on April 18, San Diego State will await the arrival of Nevada for a MW series April 21-23, before UC Irvine invades The Mesa for a Tuesday night clash on April 25.
The Aztecs will host two Mountain West adversaries on consecutive weekends, welcoming UNLV (April 28-30) and San José State (May 5-7) sandwiched around an excursion to the San Fernando Valley for a return game against CSUN on May 2.
SDSU will leave the Golden State for the final time during the regular season when it travels to the Front Range of the Rockies to battle Air Force May 12-14.
The Aztecs will close out their non-conference schedule with a home clash vs. UC San Diego on May 16 before wrapping up their regular-season slate with a three-game series vs. New Mexico May 18-20 at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Fresno State will play host to the 2023 Mountain West Championship May 25-28 at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium in Fresno, California, as the top four teams qualify for the annual conference tournament.
The Road to Omaha gets underway with NCAA Regional competition at various campus sites June 2-5 while Super Regional play is set for June 9-11, followed by the College World Series June 16-28.
In other scheduling news, San Diego State will conduct its annual Halloween Game on Sunday, Oct. 30 at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The event is open to the public with free admission. Gates open at 11:30 a.m., while the Youth Challenger Game precedes the costumed intrasquad scrimmage, starting at noon.
The Aztecs will partake in one additional fall competition on Sunday, Nov. 13 when they travel to CSUN for an exhibition game beginning at noon.
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