May 10, 2014
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU 5, BOISE STATE 1 | VIDEO REPLAY
San Diego State downed Boise State, 5-1, to clinch the Mountain West outright title and earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament Saturday afternoon at SDSU Softball Stadium. The win completed a series sweep for the Aztecs (39-17, 16-8 MW) over the Broncos (30-22, 14-10 MW), who came into the weekend riding an eight-game winning streak.
SDSU, which now has won three straight MW titles and seven in the 15-year history of the league, will find out Sunday night at 7 p.m. PT (ESPNU) where it will be heading for its school-record seventh consecutive NCAA tournament.
San Diego State got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning when a double by sophomore Leia Ruiz (Chino, Calif.) plated junior Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif.).
BSU tied it up in the fourth when Lindsey Nicholson had a two-out solo homer. The run snapped Aztec sophomore pitcher Danielle O'Toole's (Upland, Calif.) career-long scoreless streak at 22 2/3 innings.
SDSU took the lead once again in the fifth as freshman Sydnee Cable's (Huntington Beach, Calif.) sacrifice lineout to center field scored junior Kayla Jordan (San Diego/Bonita Vista HS).
San Diego State tacked on three runs in the sixth on a bunt single by Ruiz that scored senior Dominique Dinner (Monterey, Calif.), a single by Jordan to score sophomore Monica Downey (San Diego/Madison HS) and when Jordan scored from third on a wild pitch by Boise State's Rebecca Patton.
The offense was plenty for O'Toole (30-8), who allowed one run on five hits over seven innings. She struck out five without issuing a walk en route to tying a single-season school record with her 30th victory of the year. Over the series with the Broncos, O'Toole went 3-0 with two shutouts and a 0.32 ERA over 22 innings. The left-hander struck out 11 against two walks and limited BSU to a .143 batting average.
Playing her final regular season home game, Dinner was 2-for-2 with a run and a sacrifice bunt. Jordan was 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs and a walk, while Ruiz was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Miles singled, scored a run and drew a walk, Downey doubled, scored a run and had a sac bunt and Cable had an RBI and a walk.
San Diego State 5, Boise State 1
Boise State (30-22, 14-10 MW) 000 100 0 -- 1 5 1
San Diego State (39-17, 16-8 MW) 010 013 x -- 5 9 1
Patton and McCray; O'Toole and Dinner, Orlando (7)
W - O'Toole, 30-8; L - Patton, 25-14
HR: Boise State, Nicholson (4)