SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State softball team is back at SDSU Softball Stadium this week for a midweek doubleheader against the Fresno State Bulldogs. The teams are scheduled to play at noon PT and then again afterwards on Wednesday. Both games will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
SDSU (22-12, 6-3) enters the week tied for second in the Mountain West with Nevada and Utah State while Fresno State (23-11, 7-2) currently sits in first place.
SDSU trails 26-69 in the all-time series against Fresno State. However, the Aztecs have found more success in recent seasons. Since 2019, the Aztecs have won 11 of the 15 contests. In its first three seasons under Stacey Nuveman Deniz, SDSU has won the series against Fresno State every year with a combined record of 7-2 and an average score of 4.2-2.8.
Last week, the Aztecs were in Reno, Nevada, for a three-game series against the Nevada Wolf Pack. Both teams relied heavily on their pitching over the weekend. In Thursday’s series opener, both starters pitched the entire game and Nevada scraped a run across in the sixth for a 1-0 win. The Wolf Pack followed it up with a 5-2 final on Friday before the Aztecs claimed the series finale on Saturday by a 1-0 score in eight innings when Bella Espinoza singled in Jade Ignacio before Cece Cellura slammed the door.
San Diego State has fared very well in Mountain West play during 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 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. After three weeks this year, SDSU is tied for second place.
Cece Cellura allowed just one run in 10.2 innings with ten strikeouts last week while pitching in a pair of 1-0 games to be named the Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Week. Cellura (2.73 ERA, 51 Ks, 5.67 K:BB, 1.19 WHIP, 77.0 IP) has pitched well this season as have Grace Uribe (3.36 ERA, 41 Ks, 60.1 IP) and freshman Ava Schaffel (1.29 ERA, 23 Ks, 32.2 IP), who began her career with 18.1 scoreless innings. Last week’s Mountain West Player of the Week Cali Decker (1.188 OPS, .508 OBP, .410 BA, 27 RBI, 16 R, 4 HR, 13 2B, 1 3B), Shannon Cunningham (.853 OPS, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 16 R, 9 2B), Uribe (.876 OPS, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 13 R, 5 2B), Bella Espinoza (.754 OPS, .400 OBP, 10 RBI, 27 R, 17 SB, 2 2B) and Angie Yellen (.830 OPS, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 20 R, 3 2B, 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.