SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State softball team will wrap up its non-conference slate this weekend with a two-game series at SDSU Softball Stadium against No. 12/13 Arizona. The teams are scheduled to play at 6 p.m. PT on Friday and 12 p.m. PT on Saturday with both games scheduled to appear on the Mountain West Network.
SDSU (29-15, 13-6) enters the weekend tied for the most conference wins in the Mountain West with Fresno State (13-6). However, the two are behind Nevada (12-4) in winning percentage. The top two seeds in the Mountain West Tournament receive byes.
San Diego State trails 10-29 in the all-time series against the Wildcats. The teams played in the Judi Garman Classic on March 2 in Fullerton. Arizona came out on top in an 11-3 game that ended after six innings. Including that game, the Wildcats have won the last seven meetings since a 2-1 SDSU win in the 2008 Palm Springs Classic in Cathedral City on February 22 of that year.
The Aztecs earned a series win last weekend at Boise State. After falling 9-0 on Thursday, San Diego State came out swinging early on Friday night, taking an 8-0 lead after scoring seven times in the third inning including home runs by Jazmin Williams and Quinn Waiki. After Boise State went on a 7-0 scoring run to pull within one after five innings, Waiki homered for the second time of the night to put the Aztecs up 10-7. The Broncos got one run back on a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Cece Cellura got a double play to end the game with a 10-8 win for SDSU. On Saturday, Julie Holcomb, Williams and Jade Ignacio each laced RBI singles in the first inning before the Aztecs scored a run each in the second and third innings. SDSU exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning on a Gabriella Terrones pinch-hit grand slam and a Williams solo homer while Grace Uribe pitched a gem, allowing two runs on two hits across six innings in a 10-2 six-inning win.
Waiki earned MW Freshman of the Week honors on Monday after finishing the week with a 1.569 OPS, two home runs, four RBIs and four runs scored while Williams contributed a 1.273 OPS, two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored. Cellura, (2.69 ERA, 62 Ks, 5.17 K:BB, 1.12 WHIP, 99.1 IP) Uribe (3.26 ERA, 56 Ks, 83.2 IP) and freshman Ava Schaffel (1.88 ERA, 24 Ks, 37.1 IP) have pitched well this season. Cali Decker (1.095 OPS, .379 BA, 30 RBI, 21 R, 4 HR, 14 2B, 1 3B), Shannon Cunningham (.896 OPS, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 21 R, 10 2B, 1 3B), Uribe (.913 OPS, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 18 R, 6 2B), Ignacio (.853 OPS, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 17 R, 8 2B, 1 3B), Angie Yellen (.832 OPS, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 23 R, 4 2B, 1 3B), Waiki (.754 OPS, 4 HR, 20 RBI, 18 R, 1 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 offensely. Defensively, Quinn Waiki has been making flashy plays all season long.