FULLERTON, Calif. – Coming into the day with five straight wins and winners of 11 of their last 12 games, the No. 23/23 San Diego State softball team had a lot of momentum heading into this weekend’s Judi Garman Classic on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. However, things did not go SDSU’s way in a pair of close games on Friday. The Aztecs opened the day against Weber State. San Diego State was resilient, halting multiple Wildcats rallies to keep the game tied, but ultimately fell by a 7-6 score in the ninth inning. Next up was a contest against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After falling behind 5-0 and being down to their last outs, SDSU rallied for four runs to bring the tying run to the dish but ultimately fell short in a 5-4 final.
In the second inning against Weber State (5-11), Grace Uribe homered deep to left field off some bleachers to put the Aztecs (13-5) up 1-0. Olivia Birkinshaw responded with a homer of her own in the bottom of the frame to even the score at one.
SDSU reclaimed the lead an inning later. Julie Holcomb led off with a single to left center field. She stole second and moved up to third when Weber State catcher Eva Richardson’s throw sailed into center field. Angie Yellen hit a sacrifice fly to right center field, allowing Holcomb to cross the plate.
The Aztecs added on to their lead in the fourth. Cali Decker began the inning with a double to left center. Shannon Cunningham followed her up with a double of her own, this one down the right field line, driving in Decker. Cunningham stole third and came in to score when the throw deflected off the glove of third baseman Abby Grundy. The Wildcats rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the inning. Sadie Kirk singled to left and moved into scoring position when Birkinshaw was hit by a pitch. Grundy singled back up the middle, advancing to second on the throw, scoring Kirk and advancing Birkinshaw to third base. Gianna Memoli bunted to third base, but everyone was safe despite a throw home, with Birkinshaw scoring, Grundy moving to third and Memoli advancing to second. Richardson singled up the middle, allowing Grundy to score the tying run while Memoli was held up at third base. Cece Cellura replaced Uribe in the circle and retired the next two hitters to end the frame.
Decker doubled again in the fifth inning, but nothing came of it.
In the seventh inning, Weber State leadoff hitter Jordan McMahon reached on a three-base error to put the winning run 60 feet away with no outs. Riley Whalen reached on a ground ball to first base as the Aztecs defense held McMahon at third base. Taegan Smith grounded to third and Angie Yellen fired home for the first out, leaving the Wildcats with runners on first and second. Kirk hit another ground ball to Yellen at third base. Yellen tagged McMahon for the second out before Whalen got aggressive on the basepaths and was caught in a rundown between third base and home and tagged out to end the inning.
Jazmin Williams began the eighth inning on second base for the Aztecs. Decker bunted for a single, putting runners on the corners. With one out, Uribe walked to load the bases. Jade Ignacio knocked in Williams with a single back up the middle and Decker scored on a Quinn Waiki flyout to left field to give SDSU a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the frame. Pinch runner Sienna Solis began on second base for Weber State. She scored on a Kiara Smith leadoff single, and Smith advanced to second base on the throw home. Cellura got the next two hitters to fly out and pop out to bring the Aztecs within an out of a win. Memoli was hit by a pitch and Richardson reached on a ground ball to short when the throw pulled Kate Farren off the bag at first. McMahon reached on a single to third base as the runner scored from third and Weber State forced a ninth inning.
Julie Holcomb started on second base in the ninth inning. Yellen bunted her over to third, but Holcomb was thrown out at home when Bella Espinoza hit a ground ball to shortstop. Whalen started on second for Weber State. She moved to third on a passed ball and scored when Sadie Kirk hit a walk-off single through the left side as the Wildcats earned a 7-6 walk-off win.
SDSU got a pair of runners on in the top of the first against Notre Dame (10-9) when Decker singled and Uribe walked.
Waiki and Yellen singled in the second but were unable to advance to third. Notre Dame’s Jane Kronenberger led off with a double in the bottom half and scored on a single by Olivia Levitt. Rachel Allen also doubled but Aztec starter Ava Schaffel was able to prevent any more runs. It would end Schaffel’s night as Cellura took the circle in the third.
Both teams’ pitchers cruised until the bottom of the fifth. After Cellura struck out the first two hitters of the inning, Emily Tran doubled down the left field line. Mickey Winchell drove her in with a single up the middle and advanced to second on the throw. Addison Amaral knocked in Winchell with a single to right to extend the Fighting Irish lead to 3-0. Dee Dee Hernandez came in and needed just one pitch to end the frame.
Notre Dame extended its lead in the sixth as Paige Cowley singled and Allen homered down the left field line to tack on two more runs.
After a quick first out in the seventh, Kiara Cisneros pinch hit and walked. Cali Decker singled to left to put two on. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and then again as Grace Uribe hit a sacrifice fly to right center. Mia Rodriguez, who ran for Decker, scored as Ignacio legged out a single to shortstop. Shannon Cunningham launched a two-run homer to center field to make it a 5-4 game and bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Waiki. She hit a fly ball to right center field, but it was caught to end the game.
THE NOTE
Shannon Cunningham launched her third home run of the season against Notre Dame. Even though she has only played 17 games (10 starts), her next homer will already tie her career-high of four, set last season in 38 games (23 starts) at Arizona State.
THE NOTE II
Grace Uribe’s home run against Weber State was her first since March 1, 2023, against Houston, when she was a member of the Texas A&M Aggies.
THE NOTE III
After beginning her career with 18.1 scoreless innings, Ava Schaffel’s scoreless streak came to an end when she allowed the first run of her career with one out in the second inning against Notre Dame.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs continue the Judi Garman Classic on Saturday against Utah at 4:30 p.m. The weekend wraps up against No. 12/10 Arizona at 9:30 a.m. and host Cal State Fullerton at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday.
Weber State 7, No. 23/23 San Diego State 6
San Diego State (13-4) 011 200 020 – 6 9 2
Weber State (5-11) 010 300 021 – 7 9 2
W – McCraw, 4-1; L – Cellura, 5-3
HR: Uribe, SDSU (1); Birkinshaw, WSU (2)
Notre Dame 5, No. 23/23 San Diego State 4
San Diego State (13-5) 000 000 4 – 4 7 0
Notre Dame (10-9) 010 022 X – 5 9 2
W – Kastor, 6-1; L – Schaffel, 2-1; S – Becker (2)
HR: Cunningham, SDSU (3); Allen, ND (2)