CLEARWATER, FLA. – After a 4-0 start to the weekend including a pair of ranked wins, San Diego State softball closed out its weekend in the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational Presented by EvoShield on Sunday against the Charlotte 49ers. After being tied at four, SDSU fell behind, trailing 8-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Aztecs rallied, scoring seven times, capped off by a Shannon Cunningham walk off grand slam, to earn an 11-8 win and clinch a perfect 5-0 record in Clearwater.
The Aztecs (8-2) had their work cut out for them, down to their last three outs and trailing by four. It all started with a Bella Espinoza bunt single and she advanced to second on a throwing error by first baseman Savanna Nguyen. Grace Uribe reached on a fielding error by Nguyen as Espinoza advanced to third. Cali Decker followed it up with a single to center that scored Espinoza while Uribe moved up a base. Jade Ignacio flew out to right, advancing both runners. Shortstop Teagan Ritchie was the next 49er to make an error, allowing Angie Yellen to reach base, Uribe to score and Decker to move to third base. Lala Macario bunted for a single, loading the bases. Quinn Waiki hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Decker and bringing the Aztecs within a run. Jazmin Williams singled to shortstop to reload the bases. Cunningham pinch hit for Kiara Cisneros and launched a walk off grand slam to center field to win the game.
For the third straight game, the Aztecs jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Espinoza led off the first inning with a bunt single. She stole second and third base and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Decker.
For Charlotte (2-8), Kari Shedrick and London Dirks led off with singles in the second inning. Emma Shoemaker bunted the runners into scoring position and Nguyen scored Shedrick with a sacrifice fly. Uribe got the next hitter to fly out to prevent the second run from scoring. The Aztecs reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the frame. Yellen walked and hustled to third on a single by Macario. Yellen scored and Macario moved to third when Waiki reached on an error by the shortstop, Ritchie. Macario crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Jazmin Williams.
The 49ers loaded the bases in the third inning, but Uribe was able to get Dirks to pop out to second to end the inning. In her three innings of work, Uribe allowed just one run. Dee Dee Hernandez took over in the fourth. After a pair of two-out singles, a two-base error allowed both runners to score. Brelyn O’Hearn, who put the ball in play, scored from second on a Ritchie single and Charlotte went up 4-3. The Aztecs tied the game back up in the latter half when Macario led off with a bunt single, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a passed ball.
Following a single and a hit-by-pitch to open the fourth, Cece Cellura came in for San Diego State. Shoemaker bunted the runners over and they scored on a Nguyen single to put Charlotte back on top, 6-4. Cellura got a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning.
Charlotte added two more runs to its tally in the sixth as O’Hearn led off with a single and Ritchie followed it up with a homer.
Cellura retired the side in order in the seventh with a pair of strikeouts to keep the Aztecs within four runs heading into the bottom of the frame.
THE NOTE
San Diego State went 5-0 in a tournament for the first time since the 2016 San Diego Classic II at SDSU Softball Stadium. That weekend, the Aztecs beat Harvard, Brigham Young, Princeton, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara.
THE NOTE II
Auburn, who went 6-0, was the only other team in the Clearwater Invitational to play five games or more and win them all. In addition to Auburn, the Aztecs and the five teams SDSU faced, the field consisted of Clemson, Florida State, Kentucky, Liberty, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Central Florida and UCLA.
UP NEXT
SDSU heads to Cathedral City, California, next weekend, for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Aztecs face Oregon on Friday, UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside on Saturday and Saint Mary’s and Hawai’i on Sunday.
San Diego State 11, Charlotte 8
Charlotte (2-8) 010 322 0 – 8 11 6
San Diego State (8-2) 120 100 7 – 11 10 2
W – Cellura, 4-1; L – Yarnall, 1-3
HR: Ritchie, Charlotte (2); Cunningham, San Diego State (2)