SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State softball team travels to Boise State for a weekend series in Boise, Idaho. The Aztecs (14-9, 2-4 MW) and Broncos (7-13, 0-3 MW) will play a doubleheader Friday beginning at 1 p.m. MT and a single game at noon MW Saturday.
SDSU is coming off a tough series loss to UNLV last weekend where the three games were decided by a total of four runs with two going to extra innings. San Diego State lost the opener, 1-0, on Saturday before beating the Rebels, 7-6, in 10 innings in the nightcap. On Sunday, the Aztecs dropped a 5-3 decision in nine innings. In six league games so far, SDSU has played two extra-inning games, four decided by one run, one decided by two runs and one by three runs. In fact, nine of San Diego State's last 10 games have been decided by two or less runs (the Aztecs are 5-4 in those games).
Riley Thies leads SDSU with a .368 batting average (7-for-19) in limited plate appearances, while adding seven runs, an RBI, four walks, six stolen bases and a .478 on-base percentage. Taylor Adams has been San Diego State's most consistent hitter, batting .323 (21-for-65) with two home runs, 11 RBIs, a team-high 16 runs, a double, 13 walks and six stolen bases. Jillian Celis is hitting .290 with a homer, eight runs, and team highs of 16 RBIs and six doubles, while Danielle Romanello (.277, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R, 5 2B, 12 BB, .420 OB%) and Shelby Thompson (.276, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 14 R, 3 2B, 5 BB) are also hitting over .275 for the Aztecs.
The SDSU pitching staff has combined for a 3.35 ERA with six shutouts in its 14 wins. Maggie Balint (9-4, 2.48 ERA, 79.0 IP, 66 K, 27 BB, .208 opp. avg.) has four shutouts by herself, while Marissa Moreno (0-2, 3.74 ERA, 24.1 IP, 13 K, 17 BB), Karina Faasisila (2-2, 4.20 ERA, 1 SV, 26.2 IP, 19 K, 10 BB) and Hannah Johnson (3-1, 4.57 ERA, 30.2 IP, 17 K, 3 BB) have also logged plenty of innings for San Diego State.
BS won two of three games last weekend in Provo, splitting with Brigham Young on Friday and beating Southern Utah, 3-0, on Saturday. The previous week, Boise State was swept at UNLV with the first two being one-run games.
The Broncos are hitting .213 as a team and are led by Ashlyn Adams (.339, 7 RBI, 8 R, 3 2B, 5 BB, 6 SB), Alison Seng (.250, 5 RBI, 5 R, 3 2B, 9 BB) and Bella Rocco (.245, 8 RBI, 3 R, 11 BB). The BS pitching staff, meanwhile, has combined for a 3.66 ERA with Hannah Bailey (4-0, 2.14 ERA, 39.1 IP, 36 K, 10 BB), Sara Johnson (0-7, 3.69 ERA, 36.0 IP, 40 K, 8 BB), Taylor Caudill (2-3, 4.15 ERA, 28.2 IP, 34 K, 8 BB) and Kiele Miller (1-3, 5.38 ERA, 26.0 IP, 18 K, 11 BB) each logging at least 26 innings in the circle.
Against common opponents this season, the Aztecs are 2-3, while Boise State is 0-6. SDSU leads the all-time series with the Broncos, 14-10, but has lost the past two series (2-1 each season (2018-19)).
Following the series with BS, San Diego State plays its final non-conference series of the season at UC Santa Barbara on April 10-11.