SAN DIEGO – Riding a three-game win streak, all via the run-rule, the San Diego State softball team carried a lot of momentum into Sunday’s series finale. Grace Uribe homered in the second inning and Jazmin Williams hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning while Ava Schaffel and Cece Cellura limited the Rebels to just two hits in the game as the Aztecs earned a 4-0 shutout win to complete the weekend sweep.
San Diego State’s (27-14, 11-5) starting pitcher, Schaffel worked around a two-out walk to shut out UNLV (18-22, 2-12) in the first inning. All three outs came on flyouts to Bella Espinoza in left field. Espinoza completed her busy inning by leading off the bottom of the inning with an infield single.
The Rebels got a pair of runners on in the second with a walk and a hit by pitch, but Schaffel retired the other three hitters. With two outs in the bottom of the frame, Uribe launched a solo homer high off the scoreboard in right field to put the Aztecs on the board.
Cellura took over in the third inning and allowed a single but nothing more. Espinoza walked and Holcomb singled to begin the bottom of the inning, but the Rebels escaped without any damage.
In the fourth, Cellura pitched a perfect inning including a strikeout of Bri Williams. Jade Ignacio singled, Uribe walked, and Quinn Waiki singled in the bottom of the fourth to load the bases with one out. Pinch hitter Olivia Gigante grounded out to shortstop, but it was enough to bring home the run from third to make the score 2-0.
Jesse Farrell doubled with two outs in the fifth for UNLV and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but Cellura induced a groundout from Sofia Morales to end the inning without a run crossing the plate. Julie Holcomb opened the bottom of the inning with a single back up the middle. Williams followed her with a two-run homer to left to double the Aztecs’ lead again, this time to 4-0. Angie Yellen also doubled in the inning for the Aztecs.
Cellura retired the final six hitters of the game in order including a strikeout of Karmyna Becerra. She finished the day with just two hits and no walks allowed while striking out three hitters over the final five innings to earn the win as the Aztecs closed out the 4-0 victory.
THE NOTE
San Diego State limited its opponent to just two hits for the fifth time this season but the first time in a conference game. The last time the Aztecs held a Mountain West team to two or fewer hits in a game was in a 3-1 win at Colorado State on March 28, 2024.
UP NEXT
Next weekend, SDSU hits the road for the final time this season. The Aztecs will play a three-game series at Boise State from Thursday through Saturday. The games on Thursday and Friday are scheduled for 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT while Saturday’s game will start at noon MT/11 a.m. PT. All three games will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
San Diego State 4, UNLV 0
UNLV (18-22, 2-12) 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
San Diego State (27-14, 11-5) 010 120 X – 4 10 0
W – Cellura, 11-6; L – Weber, 8-13
HR: Williams, SDSU (3); Uribe, SDSU (6)