SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State softball team (12-8) wrapped up its time on the campus of the University of San Diego with a pair of games on Saturday. Both finished in five innings due to the run rule. The Aztecs came up short against by --/No. 24 Washington (14-6) 11-3 before beating Kansas City (8-8) by a 10-2 score.
In the first inning against Washington, Jazmin Williams homered to center field to give the Aztecs an early 1-0 lead. Kaila Pollard also walked in the inning. The Huskies went ahead in the bottom of the frame. Jadyn Glab doubled and Alexis DeBoer walked to start things. Key-annah Pu’a got a flyout before Glab scored on a passed ball. Following a walk, Ava Carroll hit a go-ahead RBI single. Matti Kwarta entered the circle after another walk and struck out Gabi Toney, the first batter she faced, for the second out of the inning. The Huskies added two more runs on bases-loaded walks before Glab hit a two-run single to center field and DeBoer followed her with a three-run home run to center to make it a nine-run inning. A groundout finally ended the frame.
Gabriella Terrones was hit by a pitch and Julie Holcomb singled in the second for the Aztecs. Kwarta pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout in the bottom of the frame.
In the third, Pollard was hit by a pitch and Angie Yellen singled against her former team. Washington added two runs in the inning after Kaycie Burdick walked and Glab hit a two-run homer.
The Aztecs got those runs back in the fourth inning. Olivia Gigante was the next to be hit by a pitch and Andrea Tall reached while Gigante was thrown out on a fielder’s choice. Holcomb walked before a Lala Macario infield single loaded the bases. Tall crossed the plate on an error by the third baseman, Marley Teasley. Following a pitching change, Holcomb scored on a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of Williams. Ava Schaffel hit the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the inning, but retired the next three, highlighted by a strikeout of Jade Bubke, to end the inning.
SDSU needed to score in the fifth inning to keep the game going. Quinn Waiki was hit by a pitch and Tall singled with two outs, but the Huskies finished off the game, winning by an 11-3 score.
Williams continued her hot hitting in the second game. She singled with one out, stole second and moved up to third base on a double by Ignacio. Yellen singled to short, allowing Williams to cross the plate while Ignacio advanced to third. However, a flyout ended the frame without any additional runs. The Roos loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning, but Yellen fielded a grounder and took the out at home before catching a line drive to end the inning without a run.
Jayleen Hernandez, making her first start of the season, singled in the second for San Diego State. Kansas City loaded the bases with one out again after singles by Monica Franklin, Adelyn French and Ella Husak. Pinch runner Ava Martinez scored on a fielder’s choice while French was out at third base and Faith Jordan struck out Megan Johnston to end the inning with the score tied at one.
The Aztec bats returned to life in the third inning. Ignacio singled up the middle with one out and trotted the rest of the way around the bases when Gigante hit a high fly ball down the left field line that cleared the fence for a two-run home run. Yellen followed with a single and Waiki doubled to center. Both came around to score on a bloop double down the left field line off the bat of Hernandez. Jordan allowed a one-out single but nothing more in the third while striking out Maya Anthony.
SDSU continued to add to its lead in the fourth inning. Williams singled through the right side and Ignacio singled up the middle. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Gigante singled to left to bring in Williams and Ignacio scored on Yellen’s sacrifice fly to right field to extend the lead to 7-1 midway through the fourth inning. Jordan ended a scoreless bottom of the inning with her fourth strikeout of the game.
Andrea Tall led off in the fifth inning with a double to right center field. Once again, Hernandez blooped a double down the left field line, this time to score Tall. Hernandez scored on a single by pinch hitter Emma French. French advanced on the throw and moved up to third base on a groundout before scoring on an RBI single up the middle by Jade Ignacio. Key-annah Pu’a took over in the circle in the bottom of the inning. Mary Cunningham tripled with one out for Kansas City. She scored on a two-out double to left center field by Leilani Bustamante. Pu’a retired the next hitter, Franklin, on a groundout to end the game with the run rule by a 10-2 score.
THE NOTE
Jazmin Williams homered for the third straight day, becoming the first Aztec to accomplish the feat since Mac Barbara did so between February 24-26, 2022. Williams’ homers came against San Diego, Washington and Washington while Barbara’s were against Cal State Fullerton, Northwestern and Missouri in the 2022 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
UP NEXT
SDSU heads up to Long Beach, California, to face the Long Beach State Beach on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and is the first midweek game of the season for the Aztecs.
Washington 11, San Diego State 3
San Diego State (11-8) 100 20 – 3 5 0
Washington (14-6) 902 0X – 11 6 1
W – Ramuno, 5-1; L – Pu’a, 2-3
HR: Williams, SDSU (5); DeBoer, UW (8); Glab, UW (4)
San Diego State 10, Kansas City 2
San Diego State (12-8) 104 23 – 10 16 0
Kansas City (8-8) 010 01 – 2 8 0
W – Jordan, 4-1; L – Seppi, 1-4
HR: Gigante, SDSU (4)