SAN DIEGO – Coming off a high scoring weekend at Utah State, the San Diego State softball team looked to keep its bats hot on Wednesday night in its return to America’s Finest City. The Aztecs took on crosstown opponent San Diego at SDSU Softball Stadium. San Diego State scored ten runs across the first three innings and limited the Toreros to just a pair of infield singles in a 10-0 run-rule win that needed just five innings.
After walking the Toreros (14-17) leadoff hitter, Carly Ruiz, Grace Uribe retired the next three hitters including a strikeout of Michelle Delgado to keep San Diego off the board in the first. In the Aztecs (18-10) half, Cali Decker walked before a double off the bat of Angie Yellen down the left field line put runners on second and third for Shannon Cunningham. She came through with a two-run double to left center as San Diego State led 2-0 after one.
In the second, Uribe retired the side in order, all on groundouts to Yellen at third. SDSU exploded for five runs in the bottom half. Quinn Waiki led off with a double to right center and advanced to third when Jade Ignacio doubled off the glove of the shortstop. Waiki came home when Kate Farren singled to right to make it 3-0 and ended the day for USD starter McKenna Braegelmann. Kelsey Tadlock came in for the Toreros but also struggled against SDSU’s hitters. Farren stole second before Espinoza hit a grounder back to the pitcher, scoring Ignacio and allowing Farren to get to third base. Espinoza stole her way to second and catcher Shawnese Hogue-Lacy’s throw down to second bounced into the outfield, allowing Farren to score. Decker doubled down the right field line to bring in Espinoza and keep the rally going. Decker advanced to third on a flyout and came around to score when Julie Holcomb singled through the right side to put the Aztecs up 7-0.
Mikalyn Emanuelli and Kaitlyn Wynia both singled to shortstop for San Diego in the third but Uribe was able to keep the Toreros off the board by striking out Ruiz and getting Delgado to line out to first base in foul territory. Ignacio led off with a double for SDSU, moving up to third on a groundout. Espinoza bunted for a single and stole second, putting two in scoring position for Decker. San Diego went to the bullpen again, this time bringing in Kaitlyn Bartlow. Decker welcomed her to the game with a deep ball to right field that nearly cleared the fence but bounced back in for a two-run triple. The next hitter, Yellen, singled to right to bring home Decker, putting San Diego State up 10-0.
Ava Schaffel entered in the fourth and retired the side in order including a strikeout of Hogue-Lacy. She stayed in for the fifth and sat down the Toreros in order again, striking out EJ Joyner to start the inning and Emanuelli to end the game.
THE NOTE
Ten runs was San Diego State’s largest margin of victory since beating San Jose State 14-1 in five innings on April 12, 2024. The last time the Aztecs won by ten or more runs in a non-conference game was a 16-0 victory over Montana on USD’s campus on March 5, 2023, as part of the San Diego Classic.
THE NOTE II
Bella Espinoza stole two bases on Wednesday. She broke Kayla Jordan’s SDSU career record of 66 and finished the night with 68.
THE NOTE III
Over the last seven days, Cali Decker is hitting .538 (7-for-13). All seven hits are for extra bases, bringing her slugging percentage during that stretch to 1.462 and her OPS to 2.109. Over a larger 18 game sample since the beginning of the Mary Nutter Classic, Decker is hitting .536 (30-for-56) with a .929 slugging percentage and a 1.541 OPS. During that time, Decker has driven in 17 runs and scored ten times.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs are back at home this weekend for a three-game series against New Mexico with scheduled start times of 6 p.m. on Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
San Diego State 10, San Diego 0
San Diego (14-17) 000 00 – 0 2 1
San Diego State (18-10) 253 0X – 10 11 0
W – Uribe, 5-0; L – Braegelmann, 1-3
HR: None