SAN DIEGO – Following two wins on the first day of the season on Friday, the San Diego State softball team (3-1) was back in action with two more games on Saturday in the SDSU Season Kickoff Tournament. The Aztecs came up on the short end of a 7-1 score against Miami (Ohio) (3-1) during the day before bouncing back with a 4-3 walk-off win over Kentucky (3-1).
The Aztecs’ first game of the day, against Miami, did not feature an extra base hit for either side.
The RedHawks scored on an error in the top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, Jazmin Williams reached on an error and moved into scoring position on a Kaila Pollard fielder’s choice. Jade Ignacio singled to move Williams to third before she scored on a single by Olivia Gigante.
Miami scored again in the second inning and threatened another run but a relay from Ally Dueker to Lala Macario to Jade Ignacio gunned down pinch runner Jeneva Mitchell on an inning-ending double play.
The RedHawks scored three more runs in the third inning, with two runs coming on errors and the third coming by a player that reached on an error. SDSU started off well in the bottom of the frame with a Williams single and a Pollard hit by pitch putting two runners on base with one out, but a double play ended the inning.
Pitching took over for both sides until Miami added two more runs in the seventh inning and hung on to win 7-1.
The Aztecs had a break between games as Kentucky no-hit Loyola Chicago ahead of the San Diego State game against the Wildcats to finish the night.
The Wildcats scored first. Carly Sleeman singled, moved up on a wild pitch and a ground ball and scored on an error in the second inning. In the bottom of the frame, Gigante was hit by a pitch and run for by Mia Rodriguez. Pollard singled up the middle before Macario bunted both runners into scoring position. Quinn Waiki singled off the glove of the second baseman to bring home Rodriguez and tie the score at one. Pollard moved to third base but was unable to go the final 60 feet to take the lead.
Ignacio hit a ground rule double to right-center field in the third inning.
Kentucky went back on top in the fourth inning due to a Peyton Plotts leadoff double and a Sleeman RBI single. Macario doubled with one out in the bottom half and moved to third base on a grounder but was stranded there.
Ava Schaffel worked around a leadoff double to keep the Aztecs within one in the fifth inning. Angie Yellen led off with a single in the latter half of the inning but tried to move all the way to third base on a sacrifice bunt and was thrown out.
Freshman Matti Kwarta came in and was strong in the sixth to give the Aztec bats an opportunity in the bottom half. Ignacio led off with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a wild pitch. Gigante walked and was replaced on the basepaths with Andrea Tall, who stole her way into scoring position. Pollard drove in both runners with a go-ahead two-run single over the head of the first baseman as SDSU took its first lead of the day.
Kwarta stayed on in the seventh to try and close out the Wildcats. She induced a groundout from Reaghan Oney and struck out Maddy Anson for two quick outs. She was one strike away from a win before Emory Donaldson doubled. Donaldson moved up to third on a wild pitch. Kwarta got one strike away once again before Allie Blum singled to the left side of the infield, scoring Donaldson and tying the game. The Aztecs were not fazed. Yellen fielded a grounder and threw out Maddy Clark at first to end the inning. In the bottom half, Yellen walked to open things up and was run for by Kiara Cisneros. Holcomb and Williams each singled to load the bases, still without any outs. Ignacio stepped up to the plate with a big opportunity but did not need to lift the bat off her shoulder as Cisneros raced home on a wild pitch and slid in for the winning run and the third San Diego State walk-off win in two days.
THE NOTE
Jade Ignacio had at least one hit in all four games this weekend including multiple hits in three games. In the SDSU Season Kickoff, Ignacio hit .636 with a 1.727 OPS, 12 total bases, three extra base hits and a stolen base.
UP NEXT
SDSU is back home next weekend when it will host the Campbell/Cartier Classic and play six games. The Aztecs open the weekend against Baylor at 6 p.m. PT on Thursday. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
Miami (Ohio) 7, San Diego State 1
Miami (Ohio) (3-1) 113 000 2 – 7 4 2
San Diego State (2-1) 100 000 0 – 1 5 4
W – Ricciardi, 2-0; L – Tarle, 0-1
HR: None
San Diego State 4, Kentucky 3
Kentucky (3-1) 010 100 1 – 3 6 0
San Diego State (3-1) 010 002 1 – 4 9 2
W – Kwarta, 2-0; L – Haendiges, 1-1
HR: None