What new San Diego State baseball coach Kevin Vance said in season preview

San Diego State’s baseball team has a new coach and a few eye-pleasing upgrades to Tony Gwynn Stadium, including a new outfield wall.

Now it’s a matter of going out and winning under coach Kevin Vance, starting on Feb. 13 in the opening game of a weekend series against LIU.

“We’ve got a good group,” said Vance, who attended San Diego’s Torrey Pines High and spent the last two seasons as Arizona’s pitching coach. “They’re all gelling together, and I’m excited to get them out there. A lot of talent, not a lot of experience, so we’ve got to get them out there and get them going. I like where we’re at. I think we have the talent, but it’s baseball, so you never know how it goes. Just trying to win one pitch at a time.”

Here are the highlights of Vance’s news conference:

Vance on his primary tasks preparing for the season from the day he was hired

“Establishing the culture is number one. A winning culture where guys are looking to get better every day. They’ve bought into that, bought into our vision. A lot of off-the-field stuff as a first-year head coach getting the alumni together and getting people excited again about this program and what it can be. Doing some fundraising events and just getting people excited. That’s been a big part of it. We want to fill up Tony Gwynn Stadium. We have to earn that and win some games first. We want to get things going, put people in the stands and make it an awesome environment like it should be.”

San Diego State Aztecs coach Kevin Vance (left). | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics

Vance on blending returners with transfers

“Going into it, the team was kind of split into thirds with freshmen, returners and transfers. ‘Are we going to have cliques on this team?’ was an obvious question. But I haven’t seen any of that, really. It’s been really refreshing. We did enough homework on the guys coming in. It’s a bunch of guys who are hungry for an opportunity. Yeah, some are coming from bigger name schools, bigger Power 4 schools that have a lot of nice things that we don’t have. But no one’s shown that. They’re very grateful to be here and have the opportunity. Whether they come from another school or they’re freshmen, it’s a pretty simple structure to follow. They’ve all come together and stayed the course within that structure, soI’m very happy.”

Vance on the goals of setting this season’s schedule

“A lot of the schedule is already set for baseball a couple of years in advance. Most of the games are set. We added USC and UCLA. That’s a clear move (to signal) we want to play the best teams in Southern California. Since we’re going into the Pac-12 Conference, one of the top five conferences

In the country for baseball, we have to play the best. The long-term goal here is to get an at-large (NCAA) bid. Adding those teams, we have the potential to do that. Hasn’t really happened [recently] in the Mountain West, but why not have the opportunity to do it? And I know we’re going to get better, win or lose, in those games. The [third] week we’ll have a great test against probably the No. 1 team in the country (UCLA) at that point, and it’ll be a good test to see where we’re at. We plan on going in there and winning, and we expect to do that. We want to challenge the guys and move them forward into next year.”

Vance on the stadium upgrades and the impact on the program moving forward

“It’s huge. The wall looks amazing. It's branded. It's not green and sheet metal, so it’s safer number one. When you walk up to the field, it pops. It's like, man, this is incredible. We still have a lot of little things to do, but this is just a start. I think the wall is probably the most important thing.

San Diego State Aztecs baseball. | Courtesy of San Diego State University

We have plans to extend our hitting facility. We have some space over there, so that's kind of our first move. We’ll be centered around player development and space for our guys to get better at baseball. I think we just need a little bit more of that, and so that'll be our first priority. Updating the locker room. Have it look like something recruits can see and go, wow, this is amazing, I really want to come here. That's part of it. We have a lot of plans in the future to build on our momentum right now with the wall, win some ball games this year, hopefully keep rolling and building new stuff for the guys. It's all about the players, really. What it comes down to is, how are they going to get better? How are we going to bring in the talent that we need to compete for championships in the Pac-12 in the future.”

Vance on what kind of team he will field this year

“I think we'll be balanced. Our lineup is going to be really tough. We have a good mix of some smaller, scrappy guys who aren't going to strike out. They're going to get on base, steal some bases, and then, we have enough thump in there, too, some power guys to drive them in. Jake Jackson's taken a big turn this year, hitting for power, I think we're going to play really good defense. Jabin Trosky and Dawson Santana in the middle. I think that's one of the best middle infields in the country. Defensively, those guys are fun to watch. Jake (Jackson) manning the outfield. Zach Justice, Gage Adams and Anthony Marnell are a good core of catchers, super important. Then we'll have a couple freshmen out there, too, getting plenty of playing time, which is exciting for those guys and for the future of the program.”

Vance on the pitching outlook

“I have no idea who's going to be the weekend rotation, and that's a great problem to have. They're all earning it. They all have the stuff to do it. Rohan Lettow, Alec Belardes, Carson Johnson, Bryce McKnight, Aidan Russell, Drew Talavs, all of them have the arsenal, they have the stuff. They don't have the experience, you know, a few innings here and there at their last school for a few of them. But yeah, it's going to be a tough decision and a good decision. Regardless of what we go with, we'll have depth on that end. We’ve got a few bullpen arms to add to the mix as well, some unique looks, which I'm excited about from my perspective as a pitching guy.”

Vance on whether an NCAA regional berth is a reasonable goal

“Yeah, for sure. We’ve set that goal since day one. We need to get to the postseason, win the Mountain West. The pillars of our program — diplomas and championships — are the first things that come (to mind), so our goal is to win a Mountain West championship and get to a regional. This program has never been to Super Regional or Omaha. I don't want to shy away from saying that (but) why not do it this year? That would be a pretty crazy turnaround, but I like the ‘putting-into-existence-by-speaking’ stuff. Why not?”