March 20, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State softball team opened the Mountain West slate with a 5-1 victory over UNLV Friday night at SDSU Softball Stadium. The Aztecs are now 18-12 overall, while the Rebels dropped to 14-15 and 0-1 in league play.
The game featured a combined four errors (just one by SDSU) and a passed ball, and only one of the six runs were earned.
San Diego State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when a sacrifice fly by freshman Jenavee Peres (Garden Grove, Calif.) scored sophomore Sydnee Cable (Huntington Beach, Calif.).
UNLV answered in the top of the fourth as Lexie McKinnon scored from third on a groundout by Alyssa Cordova.
In the fifth, junior Kayla Bufardeci (Castro Valley, Calif.) led off with a walk and was replaced by senior Jacki Campa (La Verne, Calif.). Campa advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Leia Ruiz (Chino, Calif.) and junior Samantha Camello (Temecula, Calif.) was then hit by a pitch. Senior Kayla Jordan (San Diego/Bonita Vista HS) followed with a single up the middle, which would have kept Campa at third. The Rebel centerfielder Samantha Juarez, however, bobbled it and Campa raced home for the eventual game-winning run.
The Aztecs tacked on three more runs in the sixth, all with two outs. With senior Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif.) (walk) and Bufardeci (single) on base, Ruiz reached on a fielding error by UNLV's Cordova at second base, which allowed Miles to round third and score easily. After Camello walked to load the bases, Jordan singled home Miles. On the play, Camello was caught in a run down, but Ruiz was able to reach home before the out was recorded for SDSU's final score of the game.
Jordan had three of San Diego State's five hits and stole a base, while Bufardeci singled and drew a walk. Senior Lorena Bauer (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS) also singled for the Aztecs.
Sophomore Erica Romero (Corona, Calif.) picked up the win in the circle for SDSU after allowing one unearned run on six hits over seven innings. She struck out one without yielding a walk and is now 16-9 on the season.
San Diego State and the Rebels play game two of the weekend series at 6 p.m. PT Saturday.
San Diego State 5, UNLV 1
UNLV (14-15, 0-1 MW) 000 100 0 -- 1 6 3
San Diego State (18-12, 1-0 MW) 100 013 x -- 5 5 1
Ettinger, Mundell (6) and Stover; Romero and Peres
W - Romero, 16-9; L - Ettinger, 6-6