SAN DIEGO – After a 10-0 win over San Diego on Wednesday, the San Diego State softball team was looking to carry over that momentum into Friday night’s Mountain West home opener at SDSU Softball Stadium. The Aztecs faced the New Mexico Lobos. Both teams put runners on base regularly but had trouble bringing them in with the Aztecs scraping across the only run of the game in the bottom of the fifth for a 1-0 victory. The teams totaled 17 combined runners left on base.
New Mexico (16-14-1, 2-2 Mountain West) got singles from Ashley Archuleta and Allie Williams in the first inning, but Aztec (19-10, 3-1) starter Cece Cellura got Jessica DeLeon to hit into an inning-ending double play to keep the Lobos off the board.
In the second, Miracle McKenzie singled and Sydney Carithers walked, and both moved into scoring position, but Cellura induced a flyout to end the frame. Grace Uribe and Jade Ignacio singled to begin the second inning for the Aztecs and Julie Holcomb walked to load the bases before a grounder to third and a strikeout by Lobo starter Natalie Fritz kept the score knotted at zero after two.
Cellura retired the side in order in the third. Bella Espinoza led off with a bunt single and stole second for SDSU. With two outs, she advanced to third base on a wild pitch and Uribe walked and stole second. However, a flyout ended the inning without any runs crossing the plate.
During the fourth, Cellura pitched another 1-2-3 frame. Shannon Cunningham walked and stole second but was unable to get any farther.
New Mexico loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth inning, but Cellura got Williams to hit a ground ball to third to escape the jam. In the bottom of the inning, Espinoza led off with a walk and moved up to second on a flyout. With two down, Uribe walked again, and both runners stole, moving to second and third base. Jade Ignacio came through with a single up the middle, scoring Espinoza from third and Uribe followed her home but was thrown out by center fielder Hayden Luderer to end the frame, but the damage was done.
Cellura’s day was done once she was in line for the win and Dee Dee Hernandez entered to try and get the save. She sat down the Lobos in order in the sixth inning with strikeouts of McKenzie and Luderer. Julie Holcomb singled in the latter half of the frame but was caught stealing for the first time this season and an Olivia Gigante pinch-hit single didn’t lead to anything for San Diego State.
Hernandez went back out for the seventh. After a lineout to left began the inning, Emma Bramson singled. Hernandez quickly got the second out. However, Archuleta reached on an infield single, and DeNae Vasquez-Dickson walked to load the bases once more before Hernandez got Williams to ground out to first to end the game with an Aztec victory.
THE NOTE
San Diego State put together consecutive shutout wins for the first time since four straight between the 2023 Mountain West Tournament and that season’s NCAA Los Angeles Regional, when the Aztecs beat San Jose State 7-0 on May 12 and 8-0 (5 innings) on May 13 to win the Mountain West Tournament title before taking down Liberty 7-0 on May 19 and Grand Canyon 6-0 on May 20 to begin the NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs and Lobos are back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT before the series wraps up at noon on Sunday. Both games will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
San Diego State 1, New Mexico 0
New Mexico (16-14-1, 2-2) 000 000 0 – 0 7 0
San Diego State (19-10, 3-1) 000 010 X – 1 6 0
W – Cellura, 7-5; L – Fritz, 4-5; S – Hernandez, 3
HR: None