San Diego State baseball: Players to watch in 2025
San Diego State will open the 2025 baseball season with a three-game slate in Arizona as part of the MLB Desert Invitational.
The Aztecs, coming off a 10-20 finish in Mountain West Conference play in 2024, have been picked to finish in a tie for fourth by the head coaches in the league in 2025. The league has also expanded to eight teams with the addition of Washington State for each of the next two seasons.
Leading the way for the Aztecs in 2025 will be two players, Omar Serrano and Finley Bates, who return after receiving conference accolades a season ago.
Serrano returns for his fourth season with the Aztecs after being selected as an all-Mountain West first-team selection in 2024. He struck out 77 batters in 80.2 innings last year and will be the ace of the rotation in 2025. Serrano has pitched in 39 games, making 22 starts over his first three seasons. He allowed six home runs a season ago, part of an Aztec pitching staff that allowed the fewest home runs in the Mountain West by 18.
Finley Bates, the reigning Mountain West Freshman of the Year, returns for his second season with San Diego State. Bates hit .292 with a .358 on-base percentage. Bates played in all 30 conference games, leading the Aztecs in hits, batting average, total bases and on-base percentage. He split his time up the middle last season, seeing 32 appearances at shortstop and 25 at second base.
Serrano will take the ball on Friday night for the opener against Seton Hall. On Saturday, junior right-hander Xavier Cardenas III will take the mound. A standout at Servite High in Anaheim, Cardenas has pitched in 29 games since arriving on the Mesa. Junior right-hander Marko Sipila will take the ball on Sunday, making his San Diego State debut. Originally from Minnesota, Sipila pitched each of the past two seasons at Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Two veteran hitters returning with Bates in the lineup will be infielder Tino Bethancourt and outfielder Jake Jackson. Bethancourt made 48 starts last season, finishing with 14 doubles and six home runs while leading the Aztecs with 40 runs batted in. Jackson, a three-sport standout at nearby Madison High, played in 47 games as a true freshman in 2024. He hit .276 with 10 doubles, two home runs, two triples, driving in 35 runs.
The Aztecs reached the NCAA tournament five times in a six year stretch from 2013-18 but have not played in the postseason since.
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-770033d1c5c4820fdbde4ecf2452e810.jpg "Bodie De Silva")
Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.