SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State softball team will travel across the country to the Sunshine State to take part in the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational Presented by EvoShield.
SDSU is the first Mountain West team to take part in the tournament, which has been around since the 2019 season. Three of the Aztecs’ five opponents this weekend, Wichita State, Virginia and Charlotte, are also new to the event while Alabama took part in 2020 and 2023, going a combined 7-3 and Missouri went 4-2 in 2020.
The Aztecs open the Invitational on Friday with games against No. 14/12 Alabama at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) and Wichita State at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT). The action continues with two more games on Saturday against No. 16/16 Missouri at 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT) and Virginia at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT). San Diego State will wrap up the weekend with a contest against Charlotte at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on Sunday.
San Diego State has never played Alabama in softball before. SDSU is 2-0 against Wichita State all-time with the wins coming in 2023 in San Diego and 2014 in Wichita.
SDSU holds a 4-5 record against Missouri, but when the teams played last season, the Aztecs were triumphant 3-2 in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. SDSU is 1-4 against Virginia all-time but the teams have only played once since the 90s. The Cavaliers won 5-2 on February 21, 2013, in the Mary Nutter.
San Diego State is 3-0 against Charlotte with two wins in 2019 and the other in 2012.
Last weekend, the Aztecs opened the season with an 8-1 home win vs. CSUN before falling to No. 2/3 Oklahoma in nine innings. After a six-inning 9-0 win vs. Southern University, SDSU was bested 7-3 at Cal State Fullerton on Friday night. San Diego State capped off the weekend with a 9-1 win in five innings against Army.
So far this season, newcomers Ava Schaffel (8 shutout innings) and Grace Uribe (1.70 ERA,12.1 IP, 12 K) have led the way in the circle. At the plate, Lala Macario (1.198 OPS, .615 OBP, 4 RBI, 3 SB), Jazmin Williams (1.096 OPS, 3 2B, 6 R, 4 RBI, 3 SB), Uribe (1.071 OPS, 5 RBI, 4 R, 2 2B) and Cali Decker (.922 OPS, 5 RBI, 3 2B) have stood out. Shannon Cunningham, Quinn Waiki and Angie Yellen homered.