SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State softball team has signed three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent, head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz announced Wednesday. The three signees - Trinity Brandon (Las Vegas/Arbor View HS), Alex Bunton (San Mateo, Calif./Hillsdale HS) and Jade Ignacio (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino HS) - join a program that has won a Mountain West-record seven regular-season championships.
Brandon joins the Aztecs after playing at Arbor View High School in Las Vegas. According to MaxPreps, Brandon, who played third base for the Aggies, has batted .516 (81-for-157) for her career so far, adding 14 home runs, 86 RBIs, 58 runs, 15 doubles, nine triples and 10 stolen bases, while owning a .533 on-base percentage and a .993 slugging percentage. Brandon helped the Aggies to a Southern Nevada regional championship while being named the Southern Nevada 5A Player of the Year and a first-team all-Southern Nevada selection. As a freshman in 2019 (the 2020 season was lost due to COVID), Brandon was a first-team all-state selection, first-team all-league pick, a MaxPreps freshman All-America honoree and the team's co-player of the year. She most recently played her club ball for the Corona Angels.
Bunton comes to The Mesa after prepping at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, California, where she helped the Knights to a runner-up finish in the 2019 CCS Division 2 playoffs. In 17 recorded games last year (according to MaxPreps), Bunton batted .449 (22-for-49) with two home runs, 13 RBIs, 13 runs, five doubles, two triples and four stolen bases, posting a .565 on-base percentage and .755 slugging mark. A three-year starter, Mateo is ranked as the ninth-best third baseman in the 2022 recruiting class (via Extra Innings) and the No. 68 overall player. Bunton, who also play basketball and water polo HHS, captaining both teams, has helped her club team West Bay Warriors capture the 2021 Alliance national championship and the 2019 USA Softball national championship. She hit .727 (8-for-11) in the 2021 Alliance three-game championship series and .512 for the tournament.
Ignacio is a local product out of El Camino High School in Oceanside, California. Ignacio helped the Wildcats to a CIF championship and league title as a junior in 2021, batting .581 (68-for-117) with 12 home runs, 54 RBIs, 57 runs, 17 doubles, eight triples, .614 on-base percentage and a 1.170 slugging percentage (according to MaxPreps). For her efforts, she was named an all-state selection, league player of the year, first team for both CIF and her league, and the team's MVP. Ignacio should be a familiar name to Aztec softball fans as her older sister, Jaylene, played for SDSU from 2014-17, batting .279 with 16 home runs, 88 RBIs and 84 runs in 191 games played and 147 starts, earning first-team all-MW honors as a freshman in 2014 and being named MW Spring All-Academic Team selection all four seasons. Ignacio plays her club ball for Athletics Mercado.
Last year, San Diego State finished with a 28-16 record, its best winning percentage (.636) since the 2015 squad went 38-20 (.655) before falling in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final to UCLA. It was also the ninth-best record in program history.
The 2021 schedule will be announced shortly.