Aztecs Set for Weekend Road Series at San Jose State

The San Diego State softball team continues Mountain West play with a weekend series at San Jose State. The Aztecs (23-14) are tied for first in league play with a 10-3 record and have won 14 of their last 17 games (14-3). 
 
SDSU and the Spartans (13-20, 3-7 MW) will meet play at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California, at 6 p.m. PT Friday, 3 p.m. PT Saturday and noon PT Sunday.
 
San Diego State has played the 15th-toughest non-conference schedule this year, according to the latest NCAA RPI, released Thursday. San Diego State is ranked 35th overall in the metric with the 37th-toughest strength of schedule overall. Out of the Aztecs' 24 non-conference games this season, 17 have come against teams that made the 2023 NCAA tournament (SDSU is 7-10 in those games), including three against Women's College World Series programs, and nine have been against nationally ranked squads (San Diego State is 2-7).
 
Mac Barbara leads SDSU in a host of offensive categories, including batting average (.340), home runs (9), RBIs (34), walks (26), slugging percentage (.660) and on-base percentage (.480). Barbara is the Mountain West preseason player of the year. Jade Ignacio is hitting .333 (12-for-36), including .292 (7-for-24) as a pinch-hitter. Lala Macario (.321) is leading the Aztecs in runs (31), hits (34) and stolen bases (15), while Macey Keester (.303) is also hitting over .300 with 12 runs and eight stolen bases.
 
The SDSU pitching staff has continued to produce, combining for a 2.37 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 257 innings against just 41 walks. San Diego State ranks 13th in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.34) and 26th in ERA (2.37), which is backed by a defense that has the ninth-most double plays per game (0.57) and ranks 40th in fielding percentage (.971). Dee Dee Hernandez leads the staff with a 7-2 record, one save and 1.90 ERA in 48 innings, striking out 28 with eight walks, limiting the opposition to a .253 average. Defending MW Pitcher of the Year and the preseason pitcher of the year Allie Light is 9-7 with two saves and a 2.38 ERA in 97 innings, striking out 53 with 23 walks. Cece Cellura has made the most of her first season of collegiate softball, going 6-3 with three saves and a 2.54 ERA in 82 1/3 innings. Cellura is tied for first in the country in fewest hit batters (1), while ranking second in walks allowed per seven innings (0.51) and tied for 14th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.00).
 
All three games will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.