The San Diego State softball team opens Mountain West competition this weekend with a three-game series in Logan, Utah, at Utah State.
SDSU (15-9) and USU (13-10) will play three times on two different days. On Friday, the teams will compete twice. The games are currently scheduled for 12 p.m. MT/11 a.m. PT and 2:30 p.m. MT/1:30 p.m. PT. After having the day off Saturday, the series will conclude with a game set to start at 12 p.m. MT/11 a.m. PT on Sunday. The schedule was changed on Thursday morning due to inclement weather scheduled to hit the Logan area. Originally, the series was set for games on Friday at 4 p.m. MT/3 p.m. PT, and Saturday and Sunday at 12 p.m. MT/11 a.m. PT.
The Aztecs are 29-18 against the Aggies in the all-time series. The teams met to open conference play in San Diego last season, with the Aztecs winning 6-4 Friday and 14-0 Saturday before the Aggies took Sunday’s game by a 1-0 score. After the teams did not play in 2020 due to the pandemic-shortened season, SDSU has won two of the three games in each of the last four years.
Last week, the Aztecs were also impacted by rain. A scheduled home doubleheader on Friday against Loyola Marymount turned into a single game, which SDSU won by a 6-2 score. On Saturday, San Diego State played Sacramento State and fell behind 2-0 in the first inning but shut down the Hornets the rest of the way, earning a 5-2 victory. After that game, the Aztecs played No. 6/6 UCLA at home and were shut out by the Bruins in a 5-0 result.
San Diego State has fared very well in Mountain West play through the first three seasons of Stacey Nuveman Deniz’s tenure as head coach. In 2022, the team went 20-4 during conference play to win the Mountain West title. The next year, SDSU lost three of its first four Mountain West games but righted the ship and finished with a 16-6 Mountain West record, finishing a half game shy of another championship, however the team went 3-0 in the conference tournament to win that title. A season ago, the Aztecs won both MW championships, going 15-7 during the regular season and 3-0 in the tournament.
Cece Cellura (3.09 ERA, 33 Ks, 11.00 K:BB, 1.16 WHIP, 54.1 IP) has pitched well this season as have Grace Uribe (2.98 ERA, 34 Ks, 44.2 IP) and freshman Ava Schaffel (0.86 ERA, 16 Ks, 24.1 IP), who began her career with 18.1 scoreless innings. Cali Decker, (1.151 OPS, .512 OBP, .444 BA, 17 RBI, 9 R, 2 HR, 8 2B) Shannon Cunningham (.762 OPS, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 8 R, 6 2B), Jazmin Williams (.805 OPS, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 16 R, 7 2B, 1 3B), Uribe (.914 OPS, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 11 R, 4 2B), Bella Espinoza (.769 OPS, .402 OBP, 5 RBI, 18 R, 12 SB, 2 2B) and Angie Yellen (.832 OPS, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 15 R, 1 3B) have all been regulars in the Aztec lineup and contributed significantly to the offense. Defensively, Quinn Waiki has been making flashy plays all season long.