SAN DIEGO – After falling 3-0 to Fresno State on Thursday, the San Diego State softball team played a pair of win or go home games in the Mountain West Tournament on Friday. An early surge highlighted by Shannon Cunningham’s three-run home run in the first inning led the Aztecs to a 6-1 win over fourth-seeded Boise State. In the nightcap, SDSU took on the top-seeded Nevada Wolf Pack. The Aztecs took an early 2-0 lead before Nevada responded with three runs of their own in the fourth and fifth inning to go on top. SDSU battled back with three runs in the sixth including a pinch-hit go-ahead two-run home run by freshman Gabriella Terrones. Nevada made it a one-run game in the bottom of the seventh and got the winning run into scoring position before Cece Cellura struck out Maya Larsen to end the game and send the Aztecs to Saturday’s Championship.
Cellura started the opening game of the day in the circle for San Diego State (35-17) and sat down Boise State’s (34-22) hitters in order. The Aztecs’ bats came out swinging in the bottom of the first. Bella Espinoza led off with a bunt single and promptly stole second. Julie Holcomb reached on an infield single, moving Espinoza to third base. The Aztecs executed a delayed double steal with Holcomb baiting a throw to second base and retreating to first base, where she was initially ruled out but after review was safe due to obstruction. Espinoza stole home while the Broncos were focused on Holcomb. Angie Yellen singled to put two runners on and they both moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Cunningham launched a three-run homer to right center off the glove of center fielder Sophia Knight and over the wall, but the ball looked like it would have cleared the fence regardless.
In the second, Cellura worked around a pair of singles to keep Boise State off the board. The Aztecs tacked on one more in the bottom of the inning when Jade Ignacio walked, advanced on Espinoza’s bunt single and moved up to third base on a throwing error by catcher Leah McAnally. Cali Decker walked to load the bases and Yellen hit a grounder to shortstop that was misplayed by Chloe Hughes, allowing all runners to be safe and Ignacio to score.
The Broncos loaded the bases in the third when Hughes walked, Mykenzie Hanna singled and Makenzie Butt walked but Cellura coaxed a popup and a groundout to end the inning. Dee Dee Hernandez took over for Cellura in the fourth. Boise State got a leadoff single from Megan Lake and a walk from Sydney Groves. With two outs, a pair of hit by pitches allowed Lake to score from third base and Boise State to get on the board.
Hernandez pitched a perfect inning in the fifth. The Aztecs added a run back to their lead when Decker and Jazmin Williams each walked before Shannon Cunningham hit an infield single and a throwing error by Hughes allowed Mia Rodriguez, running for Decker, to cross the plate.
Across the final two innings, Hernandez continued the excellence late in games that she has shown throughout her Aztec career as the senior retired all six hitters, sitting down all ten batters that she faced after Boise State scored.
Espinoza began the second game of the day for the Aztecs by reaching on a two-base throwing error by Haley Painter. Holcomb bunted Espinoza to third, where she was able to score on a Yellen single through the left side to give the Aztecs an early 1-0 lead in the pivotal game against Nevada (41-14). After pitching just three innings against the Broncos, Cellura started again, not allowing a hit in a scoreless bottom of the first inning. The Aztecs played as the visiting team because Nevada was a better seed even though the game was played at SDSU Softball Stadium.
In the second, the Aztecs added on as Cunningham led off with an infield single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Quinn Waiki. Jade Ignacio doubled down the right field line with two outs to put the Aztecs up 2-0. After Cellura allowed a leadoff single, Grace Uribe moved to pitcher and allowed a pair of singles to load the bases with one out but escaped the jam by getting Bailie Clark to pop out and striking out her sister Madison.
Uribe followed it up with a 1-2-3 inning in the third. The Wolf Pack finally got through in the fourth. Uribe struck out Painter to begin the inning before hitting Lexi O’Gorman with a pitch. Larsen doubled to center field and O’Gorman scored, appearing to knock the ball out of Cali Decker’s glove on her slide, which allowed Larsen to move to third. Tatum Maytorena hit a sacrifice fly to right, bringing in the runner from third to tie the game before Uribe induced a grounder to third to end the inning.
Espinoza appeared to begin the fifth inning with a bunt single after getting hit in the back with the throw to first base after she stepped on the bag, but the umpires ruled that she was out of the basepath after review. Holcomb followed her with a single to center and moved up on a wild pitch before Decker was hit by a pitch. Nevada’s Hailey McLean was able to escape the inning with the score remaining tied. Cellura came back in to pitch in the fifth inning. Madison Clark singled and Aaliyah Jenkins walked. Hannah Di Genova hit a grounder to Waiki at short, who made an excellent play to get the force out at third base for the first out of the inning. Haylee Engelbrecht singled to right but a misplay in the outfield allowed Jenkins to score the go-ahead run. Cellura walked Painter to load the bases but struck out O’Gorman and induced a groundout from Larsen to end the inning without any more runs crossing the plate.
The Aztecs responded in the top of the sixth. Waiki was hit by a pitch with one out to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Stacey Nuveman Deniz went to her bench, sending in Terrones, who hit a pinch-hit grand slam at Boise State on April 19. Terrones worked a full count and on the eighth pitch she saw, launched a two-run go-ahead homer to right center to put the Aztecs back on top. Ignacio followed her with a double and two batters later, Holcomb singled through the right side to score Ignacio, providing a critical insurance run. Cellura needed just four pitches to induce a trio of groundouts in the bottom of the inning, bringing the Aztecs within three outs of another championship game appearance.
Mountain West Player of the Year Aaliyah Jenkins doubled to left center to lead off the seventh and bring the tying run to the plate. Cellura got Di Genova to fly out to left and Jenkins moved to third. She scored on a single to left center off the bat of Engelbrecht. The winning run stepped to the plate in the form of Painter, and she doubled down the right field line. The tying run, Engelbrecht, was held up at third with just one out. Cellura fell behind in the count 3-1 to Saskia Raab but got a foul ball for strike two before striking her out looking for the second out. Larsen stepped up to the plate and fouled off Cellura’s first three offerings. On the fourth pitch, Cellura got Larsen to chase an outside fastball to strand the runners, end the game and send the Aztecs on to the championship.
THE NOTE
Saturday will mark the tenth championship game in Mountain West Tournament history. San Diego State will be making its eighth MW Championship game appearance.
UP NEXT
Second-seeded San Diego State will play at noon on Saturday against third-seeded Fresno State. If the Bulldogs win, they will be the Mountain West Tournament champions. If the Aztecs win, the teams will play a winner-take-all game afterwards to decide the champion.
San Diego State 6, Boise State 1
Boise State (34-22) 000 100 0 – 1 4 3
San Diego State (34-17) 410 010 X – 6 7 0
W – Hernandez, 7-7; L – Bauer, 9-5
HR: Cunningham, SDSU (8)
San Diego State 5, Nevada 4
San Diego State (35-17) 110 003 0 – 5 8 2
Nevada (41-14) 000 210 1 – 4 9 1
W – Cellura, 16-7; L – McLean, 17-7
HR: Terrones, SDSU (2)