The San Diego State University baseball team provided quite a few highlights throughout the 2018 season, tops among them winning the Mountain West Conference tournament championship and earning a berth in the NCAA Division I regionals.
A pair of South County products, both Eastlake High School alumni, were richly rewarded during the Aztecs’ championship run.
Pitcher/third baseman Casey Schmitt received recognition as a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American while junior catcher Dean Nevarez was among five SDSU players selected in this year’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Schmitt was just one of two multiple-position athletes named to the Freshman All-American Team. He proved to be one of the best two-way players outright during the 2018 season as he was one of only two players in the country to post a sub-2.00 earned-run average (minimum of 15 innings pitched) and drive in more than 25 runs.
Duke senior Jack Labosky was the only other player to do so.
Schmitt’s 0.28 ERA stands as the lowest recorded in Aztec history (minimum 30 innings pitched). The SDSU closer finished the season on a 25.2 consecutive innings scoreless streak.
He earned the Most Valuable Player award in the MWC tournament after recording the win in the Aztecs’ semifinal win over UNLV and producing a game-tying two-RBI double in the championship game.
Schmitt topped the season with a 1-1 pitching record and nine saves in 21 game appearances. At the plate, he hit .264 with one home run, 12 doubles and 32 RBI.
Nevarez led the contingent of Aztec draft picks after being tabbed in the 19th round by the Seattle Mariners.
Nevarez, who earned a spot on this year’s MWC tournament all-tournament team, started 53 games this season, including 49 behind the plate. He finished third on the team with eight home runs and capped his junior season with a .294 hitting average.
Other Aztecs taken in the MLB draft included junior first baseman Jordan Verdon (23rd round by the Detroit Tigers), junior right-handed pitcher Garrett Hill (26th round by Detroit), senior infielder David Hensley (26th round by the Houston Astros) and senior outfielder Chase Calabuig (27th round by the Oakland Athletics).
Verdon finished his season with 27 doubles and 40 extra-base hits, both the most by an Aztec player since 1984. Verdon, an All-Mountain West First Team selection, hit .333 with a team-best 12 home runs and 65 RBI.
Hill, the 2018 Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year and a Mountain West All-Tournament team selection, led SDSU with seven wins, 72 strikeouts and 78.1 innings pitched while posting a 3.91 ERA in 16 appearances, including 15 starts.
Hensley, who played every position but catcher over his four-year career with the Aztecs, was a 2017 All-Mountain West Second Team pick and hit .317 with three home runs and 34 RBI in 2018.
Calabuig, who is the Aztec record holder in games played and sits fourth in career hits, capped his four-year career with Mountain West First Team honors after leading the team with a .350 batting average and a .421 on-base percentage.
SDSU finished the season with a 39-21 record, winning its fifth conference tournament championship in the last six years.
Summer horizons
While the 2018 collegiate season may be over for the Aztecs, preparation for the next season is just starting.
Sixteen student-athletes from the SDSU are set to participate in summer baseball seasons across five different collegiate leagues. Six Aztecs will compete in the Northwoods League, including former Eastlake High School standout Julian Escobedo, while five get action in the Alaska Baseball League, including former Eastlake High School pitcher Tre Brown.
Alaska Baseball League
RHP Tre Brown – Peninsula Oilers
LHP Christian Winston – Peninsula Oilers
LHP Jacob Flores – Anchorage Bucs
RHP Adrian Mardueno – Anchorage Bucs
RHP Casey O’Sullivan – Anchorage Bucs
California Collegiate League
RHP Clark Eder – San Luis Obispo Blues
Coast Plain League
2B Jacob Maekawa – Holy Springs Salamanders
C Ryan Orr – Holy Springs Salamanders
Northwoods League
DH/OF Chad Bible – St. Cloud Rox
OF/RHP Sean Ross – St. Cloud Rox
OF Matt Rudick – Willmar Stingers
LHP Noah Fluman – Willmar Stingers
OF Julian Escobedo – Duluth Huskies
C Joe Fitzhugh – Kalamazoo Growlers
Southern California Collegiate League
LHP Travis Weston – Palm Springs POWER
IF Spencer Weston – Palm Springs POWER
