SAN DIEGO – San Diego State continues its busy start to the 2020 season when it plays host to Villanova at 6 p.m. PT Wednesday at SDSU Softball Stadium.
The Aztecs enter the midweek contest with a 14-8 record as there are only six teams in the country who have played more games than SDSU this season. The Wildcats, meanwhile, are 11-9 and receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball national polls.
San Diego State and VU played each other at the River City Leadoff tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., in the opening weekend of action. The Aztecs rallied from a 4-0 deficit on Feb. 7, but ultimately dropped a 5-4 decision in their only loss of the five-game weekend. SDSU rebounded a day later with an 8-4 win to set up Wednesday's rubber game.
Sadie Langlet leads San Diego State (min. 22 plate appearances) with a .324 average to go along with two home runs, 10 RBIs and three runs. Taylor Adams is batting .311 with five doubles, six RBIs and 12 runs, while Alexa Schultz his hitting .279 with four doubles, 11 RBIs and nine runs. Shelby Thompson (.269), meanwhile, leads the team in home runs (4), RBIs (13) and runs (16).
The Aztec pitching staff is off to a good start with a 2.65 team ERA through 150 1/3 innings, while limiting the opposition to a .222 average and ranking in a tie for 14th in the country with 158 strikeouts. Hannah Johnson leads the way with a 4-1 record and 1.57 ERA in 35 2/3 innings, striking out 24 with two shutouts and a .191 opponent batting average. Maggie Balint has done the bulk of the pitching for SDSU, going 6-4 with two saves and a 2.56 ERA in 63 innings, while striking out 88 with an .176 opponent average. Among the national leaders, Balint ranks 16th in strikeouts, tied for 18th in saves, 31st in strikeouts per seven innings (9.8) and 45th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.33). Marissa Moreno has also pitched well in the circle for San Diego State, going 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings.
Following Wednesday's game, the Aztecs head to the competitive Louisville Slugger Classic, co-hosted by Long Beach State and UCLA. On the docket for SDSU is Cal State Fullerton at 11:30 a.m. PT Friday in Long Beach, Calif., Cal Poly (9 a.m. PT) and Boston Univ. (11:30 a.m. PT) on Saturday in Los Angeles, and No. 22/22 UCF (9 a.m. PT) and Long Beach State (2 p.m. PT) Sunday in Long Beach.
SDSU Softball Welcomes Villanova on Wednesday Night
