SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State softball team begins the third season of the Stacey Nuveman Deniz head coaching era this weekend when it plays host to the four-day, five-team, 12-game San Diego State Season Kickoff at SDSU Softball Stadium.
The SDSU Season Kickoff looks more like the toughest NCAA regional, featuring No. 3 (in last year's final RPI) Stanford, the No. 27 Aztecs, No. 28 Minnesota and No. 29 Kentucky, along with UC Santa Barbara. SDSU, which is ranked 24th in the preseason USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll, starts the season against Stanford at 5 p.m. PT Thursday, before meeting Minnesota at 5:30 p.m. PT Friday, and No. 25/rv Kentucky (4:30 p.m. PT) and UC Santa Barbara (7 p.m. PT) on Saturday.
San Diego State finished the 2023 campaign with a 39-17 record, advancing to the program's first super regional after capturing the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, and being ranked No. 18 in the final ESPN/USA Softball poll and 19th in the final USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. The Aztecs, who were one win away from making the Women's College World Series, won the Mountain West tournament, the first held since 2006, with a perfect 3-0 record after finishing second in regular-season play.
Last month, SDSU was picked to win the Mountain West with eight of the nine first-place votes and 64 points overall in a preseason poll voted on by the league's nine coaches.
Additionally, Mac Barbara (.358, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 34 R, 9 2B) was named the MW preseason player of the year, while Allie Light (15-7, 1.90 ERA, 7 SV, .218 avg.) was chosen as the MW preseason pitcher of the year. They were joined on the preseason all-MW team by fellow Aztecs Cali Decker (.368, 6 HR, 40 RBI, 29 R) and Bella Espinoza (.393, 57 R, 30 SB).
Other returning starters for SDSU include Makena Brocki (.297, 1 HR, 33 RBI, 22 R, 13 2B, 5 3B), Macey Keester (.289, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 25 R, 15 SB), AJ Murphy (.280, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 19 R) and Jeweliana Perez (.246, 2 HR, 9 RBI).
Each of San Diego State's games this weekend will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network (https://goaztecs.com/watch/).
No. 24 Aztecs Set to Host Season Kickoff Tournament
