Softball Set for Tuesday Game at LMU

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State continues a busy stretch of softball Tuesday afternoon at Loyola Marymount. First pitch between the Aztecs (8-6) and Lions (6-5) is set for 2 p.m. at Smith Field in Los Angeles.
 
SDSU is coming off a 2-2 weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. San Diego State picked up wins over Nebraska and Cal Poly, and fell to a pair of nationally ranked teams in No. 16/20 Oklahoma State and No. 25/23 Texas Tech.
 
Through 14 games, Katie Byrd leads the Aztecs with a .343 average (12-for-35) and a .452 on-base percentage, while adding nine runs and four RBIs. Leadoff hitter Kiera Wright is batting .333 (15-for-45) with four walks and is perfect in six stolen base opportunities, while Kelsey Munoz is hitting .326 (14-for-43) with two home runs, three doubles and 10 RBIs.
 
Marissa Moreno has done the bulk of the pitching for SDSU, going 5-3 with a save and a 3.95 ERA in 51 1/3 innings. The right-hander has three complete games and two shutouts, striking out 45 against 23 walks. MJ James (2-1, 5.88 ERA, 25.0 IP) and Alicia Garcia (1-2, 6.56 ERA, 10.2 IP) are the team's other two pitchers.
 
LMU, meanwhile, jumped out to a 5-0 start, but has gone 1-5 since. Last weekend Loyola Marymount was swept over three games at Sacramento State.
 
Andrea Gonzalez leads the Lions offensively with a .432 average. Riley Ehlen (.360, 2 HR, 6 RBI) and Molly Grumbo (.306) are also hitting over .300 for LMU.
 
The Loyola Marymount pitching trio of Linnay Wilson (0-0, 1.75 ERA, 12.0 IP), Hanna Bandimere (4-3, 1.81 ERA, 38.2 IP) and Samantha Monti (2-2, 2.69 ERA, 26.0 IP) have combined for a 2.10 ERA through 11 games this year.

SDSU leads the all-time series with LMU, 19-2, but remarkably the teams are meeting for the first time since 2005.
 
Tuesday will be San Diego State's sixth game in seven days and will be followed by the 10-team San Diego Classic. The Aztecs are slated to host Brigham Young at 5 p.m. PT Thursday, UIC at 7 p.m. PT Friday, Weber State at 7 p.m. PT Saturday and UC Davis at 2 p.m. PT Sunday.