July 14, 2014
IRVINE, Calif. - San Diego State's Leia Ruiz (Chino, Calif.) competed for Philippines at the World Cup of Softball IX last week (July 7-13) in Irvine, Calif.
Ruiz started in the opener at second base on July 7, a 3-0 win by Philippines over Venezuela, and was 2-for-3 with a hit by a pitch and a run scored. Her run was the game-winner.
Philippines ended up finishing the World Cup of Softball IX with a 1-6 record. Following the 3-0 win over Venezuela on July 7, Philippines lost to Mexico (7-0 in five innings) on July 8, Canada (3-1) and USA (13-1 in five innings) on July 9, Japan (10-1 in five innings) on July 10, Chinese Taipei (16-1 in five innings) on July 11 and to Venezuela (7-4) on July 13.
Ruiz led Philippines in batting average (.667) and on-base percentage (.750), regardless of plate appearances.
USA won the World Cup IX with a perfect 7-0 record, followed by Canada (5-2), Chinese Taipei (4-3), Japan (3-4), Venezuela (3-5), Mexico (2-5) and Philippines (1-6).
Last year, Ruiz batted .301 (46-for-153) as a sophomore to go along with a home run, 19 RBIs, 25 runs, four doubles, two triples and six stolen bases. She started 51 times, including a team-high 41 times at third base, and played in 54 of the team's 59 games.
Ruiz helped the Aztecs go 40-19 last season, their fourth-most wins in program history and most since a school-record 44 in 2008. SDSU won its third straight MW regular season title in 2014 and made its school-record seventh consecutive NCAA tournament. San Diego State also finished the 2014 campaign with seven school records, including batting average (.301), on-base percentage (.397), runs (301), hits (467), RBIs (270), walks (226) and times hit by pitch (30).