Aztecs head to Mountain West Tournament as No. 1 seed, eye on NCAA Regionals

Mountain West baseball coaches gave San Diego State virtually no chance of competing this year, picking the Aztecs for seventh place in the conference’s preseason poll.

First-year SDSU coach Kevin Vance and his staff had other ideas.

"The pillars of our program, diplomas and championships, those are the first things that come," Vance said a week before the season began. "It is our goal to win a Mountain West championship and get to a regional."

Surprise, surprise.

The Aztecs (33-22) were the surprise of the Mountain West, going 16-8 to win their fourth regular-season MW title on the way out the door to the reconstructed Pac-12.

SDSU is seeded No. 1 in the double-elimination tournament being played this week in Mesa, Ariz., at Sloan Park, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs. The Aztecs play Friday afternoon against the winner of Thursday's play-in game between No. 4 Nevada and No. 5 New Mexico.

Vance guided SDSU this season to one of the biggest turnarounds in program history. The 33 wins - and 11 games over .500 - follow four straight losing seasons in which the Aztecs failed to win at least 25 games.

While SDSU has reached a regional on 15 occasions, the Aztecs have not reached the NCAA Regionals since 2018. Vance noted in his preseason comments that SDSU has never advanced to a Super Regional or the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

"I don't want to shy away from that," he said. "Why not do it this year? That would be a pretty crazy turnaround, but I like to speak it into existence. Why not?"

Indeed. But first things first, like going after the 2026 Mountain West Tournament title.

What's at stake

The Mountain West tournament champion receives the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Regionals. It is viewed as a one-bid conference.

A Field of 64 projection by D1Baseball.com predicts SDSU will win the MW Tournament and play in a four-team regional hosted by No. 1-ranked UCLA. BaseballAmerica.com predicts Washington State will win the tournament and be placed in a regional hosted by Oregon.

How to watch

Each tournament game will be available through the Mountain West app.

About the Aztecs

SDSU won the Mountain West on the strength of a pitching staff that led the conference with a 4.87 ERA, nearly 1 1/2 runs lower than second-ranked Grand Canyon.

Righties Rohan Lettow (6-1, 3.42 ERA) and Bryce McKnight (5-1, 4.24 ERA) provide SDSU with the conference's top 1-2 punch. Righty Aidan Russell (6-2, 2.36 ERA) has been outstanding at the back end of the bullpen.

Righties Alec Belardes (3-3, 6.35 ERA) and Drew Talavs (3-4, 7.23 ERA) combined for half the team's starts.

SDSU's offense ranked in the middle of the Mountain West with a .285 batting average and 6.3 runs a game, though the Aztecs were second in stolen bases (80) and third in home runs (56).

Outfielder Jake Jackson (.321, 14 HRs, 46 RBIs) and third baseman Tyce Peterson (.317, 13 HRs, 45 RBIs) were the biggest run producers for the Aztecs, followed by first baseman Max Farrell (.294, 7 HRs, 39 RBIs), catcher Zach Justice (.296, 4 HRs, 36 RBIs), outfielder Zane Kelly (.228, 9 HRs, 33 RBIs), shortstop Dawson Santana (.271, 31 RBIs), outfielder Adam Magpoc (.299, 30 RBIs) and shortstop Jabin Trosky (.326, 21 RBIs).

Mountain West honors

On Thursday, Jackson was named Mountain West Player of the Year while Vance was recognized as Coach of the Year. Farrell, Lettow and Trosky joined Jackson as first-team all-conference selections. Peterson and Russell were second-team picks.

MW championship schedule

THURSDAY

Game 1: No. 3 Air Force (25-26) vs. No. 6 UNLV (30-24), 1:05 p.m.

Game 2: No. 4 Nevada (24-26) vs. No. 5 New Mexico (28-22-1), 6:05 p.m.

FRIDAY

Game 3: No. 1 SDSU (33-22) vs. Game 2 winner, 1:05 p.m.

Game 4: No. 2 Washington State (27-25) vs. Game 1 winner, 6:05 p.m.

SATURDAY

Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 9:05 a.m.

Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 1:05 p.m.

Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 6:05 p.m.

SUNDAY

Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 12:05 p.m.

Game 9: If necessary game, 3:05 p.m.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 1:18 PM.