SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State softball team begins Mountain West play with a weekend series at Nevada. The Aztecs (12-5) and the Wolf Pack (9-6) will play a doubleheader at noon PT Saturday before playing a single game at noon PT Sunday.
SDSU is coming off a series win over Saint Mary's last weekend, splitting a pair of one-run games on Saturday and then rallying from an 8-0 deficit for a 9-8, nine-inning victory on Sunday.
At 12-5 (.706), San Diego State is off to its best start before its first MW game since starting 22-8 (.733) in 2014. The Aztecs ended up finishing with a 40-19 record in 2014 en route to their seventh straight NCAA tournament appearance. SDSU is also 11-2 this season against unranked teams.
Taylor Adams continues to lead San Diego State offensively with a .333 average (14-for-42) to go along with a home run, six RBIs, 12 runs, a double, a season-high 11 walks and a .472 on-base percentage. Sadie Langlet is hitting .300 (6-for-20) with a homer, three RBIs, eight walks and a team-best .517 on-base percentage, while Jillian Celis (.283, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 6 R, 4 2B) and Danielle Romanello (.271, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 5 2B) have also contributed. Alexa Schultz (.256), meanwhile, paces the Aztecs in home runs (4) and slugging percentage (.605), and is tied with Celis for the most RBIs (11) on the team.
The SDSU pitching staff has combined for a 3.10 ERA with six shutouts in its 12 wins. Maggie Balint (7-2, 2.08 ERA, 53.2 IP, 43 K, 17 BB, .205 opp. avg.) has four shutouts by herself, while Hannah Johnson (3-1, 4.93 ERA, 27.0 IP, 14 K, 2 BB) and Karina Faasisila (3-1, 4.93 ERA, 18.2 IP, 12 K, 7 BB) have also logged plenty of innings for San Diego State. Marissa Moreno has bounced back from an early season injury, going 0-1 with a 1.34 ERA in 15 2/3 innings.
Nevada last played on March 5, falling, 1-0, to Stanford at the Stanford Demarini Invitational. The Wolf Pack leads the MW with a .287 average with five players - Lauren Gutierrez (.396, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 11 R), Sadaria McAlister (.364, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 10 R), Chelie Senini (.345, 8 RBI, 11 R), Kenzi Goins (.304, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R) and Sam Oliver (.303, 3 RBI, 4 R) - hitting over .300. The Nevada pitching staff has posted a 3.51 ERA with most of the work going to Blake Craft (4-3, 2.69 ERA, 41.2 IP, 23 K, 14 BB, .208 opp. avg.) and Kendall Fritz (4-2, 3.42 ERA, 45.0 IP, 49 K, 20 BB, .269 opp. avg.).
The Aztecs are 26-9 all-time against the Wolf Pack after winning the series (2-1) the last time the two teams met in 2019 (in Reno).
Following the series with Nevada, SDSU plays host to UNLV for a series on March 27-28.