SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State softball team is headed back to the campus of No. 9/9 UCLA this week for the NCAA Los Angeles Regional at Easton Stadium. SDSU will open against Arizona State (35-19) at 7 p.m. PT on Friday in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN2.
SDSU (37-17) earned the second seed in the double elimination regional after earning a third-straight Mountain West Tournament title last weekend. In the other game, the host Bruins (49-10) will take on UC Santa Barbara (34-24) at 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday on ESPN+.
SDSU is playing in its 15th NCAA Tournament and fourth straight under fourth-year head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz. The Aztecs also made the tournament in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and have a 22-28 record. San Diego State has made seven regional finals and a Super Regional, winning at least one game in 12 of its last 14 appearances.
The Aztecs are playing in Los Angeles for the seventh time and third straight season (also 2001, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2015) and are 13-12 when playing at UCLA. However, two of those defeats came last season against Virginia Tech and Grand Canyon.
This is the tenth straight regional appearance that San Diego State is making in a regional hosted by either the Bruins or Sun Devils and now SDSU could potentially face both teams.
The winner of each regional will advance to Super Regional competition for a best-of-three series from May 22-25 at eight campus locations for a chance to travel to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series, held at Devon Park from May 29-June 5/6.
San Diego State relies heavily on pitching and defense and as a team, SDSU pitchers compiled a 1.20 ERA and .221 batting average against across 35 innings to win last week’s Mountain West Tournament. The Aztec staff is led by Tournament MVP Cece Cellura, who tallied a 0.95 ERA across 22 innings to improve her season numbers to a 2.11 ERA, 18-7 record and three saves in 139.2 innings. The SDSU lineup is deep with Bella Espinoza, Julie Holcomb and Jazmin Williams setting the table for Cali Decker, Shannon Cunningham, Grace Uribe, Jade Ignacio and Angie Yellen. MW Defensive Player of the Year Quinn Waiki anchors the defense at shortstop.