May 12, 2005
SAN DIEGO - Sixth-seeded San Diego State provided the 2005 Mountain West Conference Softball Championship with its first upset, topping third-seeded Colorado State, 6-0, Thursday at the SDSU Softball Stadium in opening-round play.
The Aztecs (27-28) advance to play second-seed UNLV in game four, set for 7 p.m Thursday evening. The Rams (29-21) have now lost three straight to SDSU, and will play the loser of BYU and Utah, Friday at 2 p.m.
Celena Velasquez (14-12) pitched a complete-game four-hitter, striking out six without walking a hitter. It marked her second shutout of the Rams this season.
San Diego State bashed out a season-high 15 hits, one shy of the school record set in a 2002 win over New Mexico.
The Aztecs scored in the top of the first, as Erin Mahoney notched a one-out base hit and moved to third base on a single by Meagan Hartung. Mahoney then scored on a Ram error by the third baseman off of a grounder from Taryin Casillas.
SDSU added to the score in the second, when Allison Smith led off the inning with a walk and was moved to second on a grounder from Lacey Craft. Chrissie Markham then singled to put runners on the corners, and Bree Boyer reached on an error on the catcher that scored Smith.
CSU threatened in the third, getting back-to-back singles to open the frame. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt, but Velasquez buckled down and struck out the final two batters of the inning to end the threat.
SDSU got on the board again in the fifth, as Mahoney singled and moved to second on a fly out from Hartung. Casillas and Megan McDonald followed with singles, plating Mahoney and leaving runners at first and third. Smith then lined another base hit to score Casillas and put the Aztecs up 6-0 after five.
SDSU was led at the plate by Mahoney, who was 3-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored. SDSU is trying to reach the tournament final for the fifth consecutive season. The Aztecs have won four of their last five games.