Aztecs Ready for Liberty at NCAA Los Angeles Regional

SAN DIEGO -- The back-to-back Mountain West champion San Diego State softball team heads to the campus of No. 2/2 UCLA to play Liberty for the NCAA Los Angeles Regional at Easton Stadium.
 
The Aztecs (35-15) earned the No. 3 seed in the double-elimination regional after winning the first Mountain West tournament contested since 2006 by a combined 20-4 score last weekend. SDSU plays the Flames (38-20) at 8 p.m. PT Friday on ESPNU. The host Bruins (51-5), the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, meet Grand Canyon (46-11) in the other game at 5 p.m. PT. The NCAA Los Angeles Regional is the toughest in the country according to average RPI (32.00).
 
SDSU is playing in its 13th NCAA tournament and second straight under second-year head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz. San Diego State, which also made the tournament in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2022, is 18-24 all-time in the NCAA championship, has advanced to six NCAA regional finals and won at least one game in the double-elimination regional in 11 of its previous 12 appearances.            
 
The Aztecs are playing in Los Angeles for the fifth time out of their 13 appearances in a NCAA regional (also 2001, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2015), owning a 10-10 record at Easton Stadium. SDSU played host Bruins earlier this month (May 5), falling by a 4-3 score. 
 
The regional winners will advance to super regional competition for a best-of-three series from May 25-28 at eight campus sites. The remaining eight teams will advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), an eight-team, double-elimination tournament with the championship final being a best-of-three series. The WCWS will be conducted June 1-9 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
 
Four players are hitting at least .350 for San Diego State, including Cali Decker (.381, 4 HR, 32 RBI, 27 R), Bella Espinoza (.379, 52 R, 28 SB), Mac Barbara (.376, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 31 R) and Jillian Celis (.357, 6 HR, 46 RBI, 37 R).
 
The Mountain West Pitcher of the Year Allie Light leads the Aztec pitching staff with a 12-6 record, school-record seven saves and a 1.86 ERA in 113 innings, while Sarah Lehman (10-4, 3 SV, 2.58 ERA, 84.0 IP) and Dee Dee Hernandez (8-3, 4 SV, 3.14 ERA. 71.1 IP) have also logged 70-plus innings in the circle.