Feb. 9, 2016
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State, which has won a league-record seven Mountain West regular-season championships, has been picked to finish second in a preseason poll voted on by the league's nine head coaches, the conference announced today.
The Aztecs garnered 57 points, including one first-place vote, seven behind Fresno State's 64 points and eight first-place votes.
San José State was picked third with 49 points, while New Mexico (34) and UNLV (31) rounded out the top five. Utah State was predicted to come in sixth with 28 points followed by Colorado State (27), Nevada (26) and Boise State (8).
SDSU has won three of the past four league titles, seven total and is one of just 20 schools in the country to play in at least eight consecutive NCAA tournaments.
San Diego State is coming off a 38-20 season, advancing to the NCAA Regional final for the third time since 2011 and fifth time in 11 tournament trips before being eliminated by eventual Women's College World Series opponent UCLA. The Aztecs finished 2015 with seven school records, including batting average (.312), slugging percentage (.486), runs (324), home runs (63), RBIs (293), total bases (758) and hits (484).
SDSU returns five starters and four pitchers from last season's team, including 2015 NFCA all-West Region selections Erica Romero (first team) and Jenavee Peres (second team). Also a first-team MW selection, Romero went 36-17 last year with a 3.29 ERA, leading the nation in wins (36), appearances (56) and innings pitched (318.2), and setting San Diego State single-season records in wins, appearances, games started (47) and innings pitched. Peres, meanwhile, was a first-team pick and the MW Freshman of the Year after batting .347 (58-for-167) with nine homers, 48 RBIs, 30 runs and 11 doubles.
The Aztecs kick off the 2016 season on Friday (Feb. 12) against Canisius (2 p.m. PST) and Cal State Fullerton (6:30 p.m. PST) at the Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif.
2016 MW Softball Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
1. Fresno State (8) - 64
2. San Diego State (1) - 57
3. San José State - 49
4. New Mexico - 34
5. UNLV - 31
6. Utah State - 28
7. Colorado State - 27
8. Nevada - 26
9. Boise State - 8