SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State softball team hits the road for the final time this regular season this weekend, for a three-game series in Boise, Idaho, against the Boise State Broncos. The teams are scheduled to play at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT on Thursday and Friday and 12 p.m. MT/11 a.m. PT on Saturday. All three games will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
SDSU (27-14, 11-5) enters the weekend with the most conference wins in the Mountain West. However, the Aztecs trail both Nevada (10-3) and Utah State (9-4) in winning percentage. Meanwhile, Boise State (28-15, 7-6) sits in fifth place in the league.
San Diego State leads 22-15 in the all-time series against the Broncos. SDSU is 7-3 against Boise State under Stacey Nuveman Deniz including 9-1 (5 innings) (1st Round) and 6-3 (Final) wins in last season’s Mountain West Tournament in Boise.
The Aztecs are coming off a three-game home sweep of UNLV at SDSU Softball Stadium last weekend. San Diego State opened the weekend with an 8-0 win over the Rebels on Friday in a game that lasted just five innings due to the run rule. On Saturday, the Aztecs fell behind 4-0 after the top of the first inning but shut UNLV out the rest of the game and scored the final twelve runs, culminating in Shannon Cunningham’s pinch-hit walk-off grand slam, in a 12-4, five-inning victory. On Sunday, the game lasted the full seven innings, but the Aztecs shut out the Rebels in a 4-0 result.
San Diego State has fared very well in Mountain West play during Stacey Nuveman Deniz’s tenure as head coach. In 2022, the team went 20-4 during conference play to win the Mountain West title. The next year, SDSU finished with a 16-6 Mountain West record, finishing a half game shy of another championship, however the team went 3-0 in the conference tournament to win that title. A season ago, the Aztecs won both MW championships, going 15-7 during the regular season and 3-0 in the tournament.
Cece Cellura tossed 8.2 scoreless innings against UNLV, going 2-0 with just two hits and no walks allowed and five strikeouts to earn her third Mountain West Pitcher of the Week this season. In addition to Cellura, (2.52 ERA, 61 Ks, 6.10 K:BB, 1.10 WHIP, 94.1 IP) Grace Uribe (2.97 ERA, 50 Ks, 75.1 IP) and freshman Ava Schaffel (1.21 ERA, 23 Ks, 34.2 IP) have pitched well. Jazmin Williams hit .615 with a 2.125 OPS, 2 home runs and seven RBI vs. UNLV to become the MW Player of the Week. Cali Decker (1.114 OPS, .385 BA, 29 RBI, 19 R, 4 HR, 14 2B, 1 3B), Cunningham (.909 OPS, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 21 R, 9 2B, 1 3B), Uribe (.928 OPS, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 17 R, 5 2B), and Bella Espinoza (.782 OPS, .356 BA, 10 RBI, 31 R, 17 SB, 2 2B) have all been regulars in the Aztec lineup and contributed significantly to the offense. Defensively, Quinn Waiki has been making flashy plays all season long.