SAN DIEGO – San Diego State head softball coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz has announced the five players that her team signed out of the transfer portal. The Aztecs, winners of the last three Mountain West championships (two tournament, one regular season), are bringing in Savannah Adams (La Mirada, Calif./Central Florida), Shannon Cunningham (Tustin, Calif./Arizona State), Olivia Gigante (San Diego, Calif./Florida), Grace Uribe (Huntington Beach, Calif./Texas A&M) and Jazmin Williams (San Diego, Calif./Cal State Fullerton) for the 2025 season.
A graduate of La Mirada High, Adams has played for Central Florida the last three seasons. As a freshman in 2022, the utility player belted a pinch hit, walk-off, two-run homer in the semifinals of The American Tournament and was named to the All-Tournament Team. She started in 42 of 104 games as a Knight, hitting .278 with a .799 OPS. Adams totaled 45 hits including eight homers as part of 15 for extra bases to go with 40 RBIs and 21 runs scored. During her high school career, Adams brought home Suburban First Team All-League, San Gabriel Valley All-Star (Platinum), Silver Slugger and Gold Glove accolades.
Cunningham, a catcher and utility player from Orange County, spent the last two seasons at Arizona State. During her time as a Sun Devil, she started in 34 of her 70 appearances and hit .254 with a .757 OPS. Cunningham had 11 of her 31 hits go for extra bases including five home runs as well as 23 RBIs and 18 runs scored. In her time at Foothills High, Cunningham was named to the All-County Second Team and the Orange County All-Star Game while also being First Team All-League and the Foothills Knight of Honor in 2022.
A pitcher and first baseman out of San Diego’s Patrick Henry High, Gigante played at Florida during the 2023 season. In the circle, Gigante threw ten innings across seven appearances, striking out five hitters. At the plate, she appeared in 19 games, batted .242, tallying 16 hits including five doubles and four home runs while walking ten times. Gigante drove in 15 runs while scoring 11 times. As a Patriot in 2021, the two-way player was named to the South San Diego CIF First Team and the All-East County First Team while winning League MVP. She was an Alliance Fastpitch National Champion in her final season, 2023. As a youth, she earned a spot on the 2016 USA Elite Select 30 All-American Team.
Another two-way player, Uribe is a pitcher and outfielder who played at Texas A&M from 2021-23. She started 42 of 89 games and totaled 16 hits including a pair of doubles and a trio of home runs. Uribe has driven in 16 runs and scored eight while walking four times. In the circle, the Huntington Beach High grad has thrown 180 innings across 60 appearances. She holds a 13-10 record with 91 strikeouts and one save. Prior to her time as an Aggie, Uribe was a four-year starter for the Oilers, earning Orange County Pitcher of the Year and Los Angeles Times Player of the Year honors in 2018 and 2019. She was ranked as a top 25 recruit by FloSoftball (24) and Extra Innings Softball (25) and brought home Sunset League Pitcher of the Year honors as a sophomore.
San Diego’s own, Williams recently completed her freshman season at Cal State Fullerton. The infielder started in 19 of her 40 games, knocking a dozen hits including a double and a home run. Williams stole a trio of bases and drove in six runs, scoring five times. She played varsity softball and made the honor roll in each of her four seasons at Steele Canyon. Williams was the San Diego Section CIF Player of the Year as a senior and was named First Team All-Section twice, making an appearance in the Section All-Star game. She dominated the Grossmont Conference, making the All-Conference First Team three times, winning conference Player of the Year twice and conference Student Athlete of the Year as a senior.
San Diego State is coming off its third regional appearance in three seasons under Stacey Nuveman Deniz. The Aztecs (31-20) went 15-7 in Mountain West play to win the regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament, where they went 3-0 to win their second consecutive tournament championship.