Former Niwot standout Moat the ace of Gwynn's San Diego State staff Boulder-born baseball player wound up making history for a legend in baseball earlier this month.

Mike Moat considers himself fortunate.

A junior pitcher at San Diego State, Moat was given the starting assignment in the first game managed by former San Diego Padres great Tony Gwynn in the season opener for Gwynn's first Aztec team.

It did not quite end in storybook fashion. Moat pitched well, left with a lead, but watched his team eventually lose to perennial college baseball power Arizona State.

Moat also pitched the home opener in a stadium named after Gwynn, a baseball-basketball standout at San Diego State who is now the head coach of his alma mater.

"It was an honor. It felt great to throw in the Coach Gwynn's first game and our home opener," Moat said. "It was nice we could win for the team and for him in the home opener."

The home opener had been rain-delayed by two days and Moat felt tight in the beginning. The former Niwot High standout eventually loosened up and pitched well, hitting spots. He threw eight shutout innings in a 5-0 win over then-20th-ranked South Alabama, striking out nine while allowing three hits and no walks.

"Things are going really good right now," Moat said, both for himself and for an Aztec team that has rebounded from an 0-4 start and stood 5-6 going into Saturday night's action. "We could be playing better as a team. There are things we have to work on. We could be better. It's still the beginning of the season and we have a long ways to go."

Moat, as the ace of the Aztecs, is 1-1 with a microscopic 0.37 earned run average. He gained preseason notoriety from Baseball America, making its Mountain West all-conference team, being judged the seventh-best prospect in the league and having the best fastball among league pitchers.

Moat was named Mountain West pitcher of the week for his performance against South Alabama.

"His record is not indicative of how well he has pitched this year," Gwynn said of Moat after he had made three starts. "His record is 1-1, but he could be 3-0. He hasn't walked many and is doing what we knew he was capable of. He comes out and goes right after guys. 'Strike one' has been his bread and butter."

Gwynn said Moat made great strides in his pitching after participating in a high-caliber semi-pro summer environment with the Alaska Goldpanners. The longtime semi-pro power in the Alaska League won the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., in 2002, with Moat going 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA in two NBC tournament games, striking out 10 and walking two in 101/3 innings.

"Summer ball really helped him a lot," Gwynn said of Moat. "He came back a much more confident and mature pitcher. That confidence also comes from knowing you're the No. 1 guy and you're going to get the ball in the first game of a series."

Moat said pitching in Alaska was an experience of a lifetime. He had never been to the 49th state.

"Everything turned out really well," he said. "I loved it up there. The atmosphere, everyone wanted to win it all. To top it off, we made it to Wichita and won it all."

Moat's Goldpanner teammates included fellow Aztec third baseman Chad Corona, Arizona State closer Ryan Schroyer, outfielder Mike Hofius of Cal-State Long Beach, Hofstra relief pitcher Zak Basch and University of Arizona starter Marc Kaiser.

Moat went 6-2 with a 1.81 ERA for 28-19 Fairbanks as the Goldpanners won their sixth NBC title in their 43rd year of operation.

The groundwork for Moat's current success in college came in a solid high school program at Niwot run by Bob Bote. Moat went 22-2 in his three-year career at Niwot, helping the team to the Class 4A state high school championship three consecutive years. He was the winning pitcher in each of the title games.

He went 8-0 with a 1.59 ERA his senior season at Niwot. The Cougars racked up a 67-5 record in his three years in high school, 24-1 his senior season.

After high school, Moat was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 11th round of the June 2000 draft.

"It was a hard decision," Moat said of signing with the Rangers or going to college. "I wasn't leaning one way or the other. I had to sit down and weigh the pros and cons."

Besides San Diego State, Moat was recruited by Kansas, the University of San Francisco and the University of Illinois. He decided on San Diego State early in the recruiting process.

"The weather can't be beat," Moat said. "It's nice here all year round. The campus, the facilities, the stadium, all that kind of stuff was taken into consideration. It was great."

Moat spent his entire freshman season as a middle-inning relief pitcher, putting together decent 2-2, 5.74 numbers. He began his sophomore year in the starting rotation, but moved to the bullpen in the final coaching season of Jim Dietz. He put together a 4-2, 5.36 season.

Moat prefers being a starting pitcher. "Ever since high school, I think I feel most comfortable because it allows me to get into a routine every week," he said. "I know when I'm going to throw and prepare myself for that day."

As for Gwynn, he is doing what he wants to do after a stellar major league career that included eight National League batting crowns, a .338 career batting average, 15 All-Star games, two World Series appearances and 20 seasons.

"I had other opportunities to do other things, but coaching is what I wanted to do," Gwynn said. "Personally, I can't think of any better place to do it than at my alma mater, San Diego State. I started here, and there are a lot of lessons I learned here and carried with me to the big leagues and now I get the opportunity to come back and to spread the information I've learned.

"And this is where I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it in an environment that wasn't as scrutinized as professional baseball is. I wanted to put my own mark on something. I wanted to take a team and mold it and shape it as I saw fit and that was really intriguing to me.

"Those other options are still going to be out there. I can do games on TV or on radio; there are lots of thing I could do, but this is what I wanted to do. So that's why I am here."

Moat is following Gwynn's coaching this spring, and wants to follow his path from San Diego State to professional baseball.

"I'm hoping to start my professional career after this spring," Moat said. "I'm hoping to sign after this spring. If all things go well, I want to go to start in the minors this summer."

Born: Oct. 25, 1981, in Boulder.

High school: Played for Niwot High, winning the state title three years in a row. He was the victorious pitcher in the title-winning game each year.

Drafted: 11th-round pick by the Texas Rangers in June 2000.

Bats: R. Throws: R. Height: 6-1. Weight: 190 pounds.