SAN DIEGO -- Winners in eight of its last nine games, San Diego State welcomes UNLV for a Mountain West doubleheader Wednesday at SDSU Softball Stadium. The Aztecs (24-11, 8-4 MW) and Rebels (19-18, 5-7 MW) will play the first game at 4 p.m. PT with the nightcap tentatively set for 6:30 p.m. PT.
Over the last nine games, SDSU is outscoring the opposition, 59-28, with a 7-1 record against league foes.
Overall, SDSU is batting .300 as a team, led by the 1-2-3 combo of Jillian Celis, Bella Espinoza and Mac Barbara. Celis tops San Diego State in average (.377), doubles (10), triples (3) and total bases (68), while adding three home runs, 27 RBIs and a .596 slugging percentage. Espinoza is right behind Celis at .376 and paces the Aztecs in runs (39), hits (44) and stolen bases (21). Barbara, meanwhile, is batting .354 with team highs in home runs (5), RBIs (33) and slugging percentage (.677). Cali Decker (.333, 1 HR, 16 RBI, 21 R) leads SDSU with a .466 on-base mark, while AJ Murphy (.302, 3 HR, 16 RBI) and Macey Keester (.301, 16 RBI, 15 R, 10 SB) are also hitting over .300 for San Diego State.
Allie Light, who was named the MW Pitcher of the Week for a third straight time on Tuesday, leads an Aztec pitching staff that has six shutouts and 12 saves. The right-hander is 7-4 with a 1.51 ERA and five saves in 74 1/3 innings, striking out 72 and limiting the opposition to a .199 average. Sarah Lehman (8-3, 2.53 ERA, 3 SV, 55.1 IP), Dani Martinez (3-2, 3.05 ERA, 39.0 IP) and Dee Dee Hernandez (4-2, 3.67 ERA, 4 SV, 47.2 IP) have also pitched at least 39 innings for SDSU.
San Diego State is 64-48 all-time against UNLV, but the Rebels have closed the gap recently, winning seven of the last 10 meetings. The Aztecs, however, won two of the three games last year in Las Vegas en route to their eighth MW regular season title.
UNLV is hitting .288 as a team, led by Ariana Martinez. Martinez paces the Rebels in most offensive categories, including average (.364), hits (40), doubles (10), home runs (11), RBIs (41), total bases (83), walks (24), slugging percentage (.755) and on-base percentage (.485). Maddie Schmidt (.330, 25 R, 16 SB) and Janyssa Martin (.319, 5 HR, 21 RBI) are also hitting over .300 (min. 40 AB) for UNLV.
The Rebel pitching staff has combined for a 5.47 ERA with two shutouts with four players - Jasmine Martin (6-2, 4.08 ERA, 56.2 IP), Alanna Thiede (3-4, 5.10 ERA, 57.2 IP), Ellie Zellien (6-5, 5.84 ERA, 74.1 IP) and Jessie Fontes (4-5, 6.83 ERA, 40.0 IP) - having pitched at least 40 innings in the circle this year.
Both games on Wednesday will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.