March 23, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Softball Begins MW Play with Weekend Series at UNLV
The San Diego State softball team begins its quest for an eighth Mountain West title this weekend when it travels to UNLV for a three-game series.
The Aztecs (18-10), who have won a league-record seven conference titles, including three of the past four, will play the Rebels (16-13) at 6 p.m. PT Thursday, 6 p.m. PT Friday and noon PT Saturday.
SDSU has advanced to eight consecutive NCAA tournaments, nine of the past 10 and 11 of the past 15. San Diego State is one of just 20 schools to play in at least eight consecutive NCAA tournaments and one of just three from non-Power 6 schools (also Louisiana-Lafayette and Brigham Young).
The Aztecs, who are riding a five-game winning streak, are batting .300 as a team with 11 home runs and 23 stolen bases, averaging 4.89 runs per game. Sophomore Jenavee Peres (Garden Grove, Calif.) leads SDSU in six offensive categories, despite missing nine of the team's 28 games with an injury, including batting average (.444), runs (19), home runs (6), total bases (47), slugging percentage (.870) and on-base percentage (.524). Sophomore Zaria Meshack (Vallejo, Calif.) is hitting .397 with 18 runs and a team-high nine stolen bases, while senior Samantha Camello (Temecula, Calif.) is at .347 with six doubles and two triples. Junior Frankie Orlando (Roseville, Calif.) (.302), redshirt freshman Katie Byrd (Santee, Calif./West Hills HS) (.302) and freshman Molly Sturdivant (Santa Ana, Calif.) (.300) are also hitting at least .300 for San Diego State. Orlando leads the team with seven doubles, while Byrd has a team-high 20 RBIs.
Junior Erica Romero (Corona, Calif.) leads a balanced Aztec pitching staff with a 9-4 record and 2.85 ERA over 81 innings. Freshman Julie McDonald (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad HS) (2-1, 3.19 ERA, 37.1 IP) and sophomore Alex Formby (Orange, Calif.) (6-4, 3.90 ERA, 46.2 IP, 2 SV) have also logged more than 20 innings in the circle.
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