Aztecs Ready for No. 22/20 LSU at NCAA Tempe Regional

Aztecs Take on No. 22/20 LSU Friday in First Game of NCAA Tempe Regional
San Diego State begins postseason play this weekend when it travels to Arizona State for the NCAA Tempe Regional.

The Aztecs (37-14) earned the No. 3 seed in the double-elimination regional after winning the 2022 Mountain West regular season with a 20-4 record and will face second-seeded and No. 22/20 LSU (34-21) at 5 p.m. PT Friday. The No. 8 overall seed and No. 8/5 Arizona State (39-9) will play Cal State Fullerton (36-20) in the following game at 7:30 p.m. PT. The NCAA Tempe Regional is the toughest in the country according to average RPI (36.25).     

SDSU is playing in its 12th NCAA tournament but first since 2015. San Diego State, which also made the tournament in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, is 16-22 all-time in the NCAA championships, has advanced to five NCAA regional finals and won at least one game in the double-elimination regional in 10 of its previous 11 appearances.     

The regional winners will advance to super regional competition for a best-of-three series from May 26-29 at eight campus sites. The remaining eight teams will advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS) from June 2-10 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament with the championship final being a best-of-three series. 

Mac Barbara, the MW Player of the Year, leads the Aztecs in almost every offensive category, including average (.395), hits (62, tied), doubles (14), home runs (15), RBIs (56), slugging percentage (.783), on-base percentage (.497), total bases (123) and walks (33 (8 intentional)). Bella Espinoza, who joined Barbara and pitcher Maggie Balint on the all-MW first team, is hitting .388 (62-for-130) with team highs of 34 runs, 62 hits (tied) and 13 stolen bases (tied). Second-team all-MW selection Taylor Adams has raised her batting average 106 percentage points since April 1 and is batting .352 (38-for-108).

Balint, the MW Pitcher of the Year, is 18-5 with six saves and a 1.50 ERA, striking out 263 against 35 walks in 177 innings, while limiting the opposition to a .173 average. Balint won nine of a possible 14 MW Pitcher-of-the-Week awards, tied for the most in league history with former San Diego State greats Christina Ross (2008) and Samantha Beasley (2010).