SAN DIEGO – San Diego State head softball coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz has announced the team added two position players, Olivia DiNardo from Nebraska and Ava Sin from Seattle University, as well as pitcher Carley Mulcahey from Pacific.
Coach Nuveman Deniz is enthusiastic about her new additions, “We are extremely excited to add Olivia DiNardo, Carley Mulcahey and Ava Sin to our Aztec softball tribe. All three bring invaluable experience and success and we anticipate each of them making an immediate impact.”
On the addition of DiNardo, Nuveman Deniz said, “Olivia DiNardo is a special offensive talent who hits with both power and high average from the left side. She is a versatile defensive player who could be in multiple positions in the field.”
DiNardo did not compete in 2026 but played for Nebraska in 2025 following two seasons at Arizona. A three-time NFCA All-Region selection, DiNardo’s career totals include a .351 batting average, a .999 OPS, 24 doubles, 25 home runs, 53 walks, 255 total bases, 116 RBIs and 66 runs scored. With the Cornhuskers in 2025, DiNardo was named to the NFCA All-Mountain Region First Team and started 46 of her 50 contests, primarily at designated player with nine starts behind the plate. The Huskers finished a win away from a trip to the Women’s College World Series. Her best game with Nebraska came on March 26 at Omaha, when DiNardo doubled and homered, driving in five runs. She had a trio of three-hit games, coming against Baylor, Iowa and Purdue. During the postseason, she helped the Cornhuskers earn ranked wins over No. 11 Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament and No. 7 Tennessee in the NCAA Super Regionals. Across her two seasons with Arizona, DiNardo played in 106 games, starting 102 of them including 28 at catcher with the remaining starts at designated player. With the Wildcats, she tallied 25 doubles, 20 home runs, 52 runs scored, 74 RBIs and hit .340 with a 1.005 OPS. In 2024, DiNardo’s 13 home runs placed second on the team and seventh in the Pac-12. During the season, she put together 13 multi-hit games and had five-RBI games against North Texas on February 9 and Washington on May 9. Her season garnered NFCA All-West Region Third Team and Pac-12 All-Tournament Team accolades as well as Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on April 15 after a .500 week with three home runs and a 1.850 OPS. As a freshman in 2023, DiNardo’s .382 batting average led the Wildcats, ranked ninth in the Pac-12, 15th among DI freshmen and eighth among Arizona freshmen all-time. The Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection tallied 15 multi-hit games and ten multi-RBI contests. DiNardo hit .857 with five doubles and seven RBIs during the Hillenbrand Invitational to earn NFCA Player of the Week, Pac-12 Player of the Week and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors. She was named to the Second Team for the NFCA All-West Region as well as All-Pac-12.
When talking about Sin, Nuveman Deniz stated, “Ava Sin is a versatile and athletic addition to the roster from the left side, combining speed and gap power with consistently getting on base. She is capable of playing multiple defensive positions all over the field at a high level.”
Sin has spent the last four years at Seattle U, playing during the 2023, 2024 and 2026 campaigns. A 2026 All-WCC Second Team selection, she started 48 contests for the Redhawks during the spring and has drawn 117 starts in her 142 career appearances. During that time, Sin is a .304 hitter and has tallied a .854 OPS with Seattle U. Across the board, she has shown development, improving both her power and on-base numbers in 2026 from her first two seasons. From 2022-23, Sin logged 59 hits including 14 doubles, three triples and two home runs while scoring 34 times, tallying 85 total bases, 26 walks and 33 RBIs in 94 games. In just her 48 games in 2026, she recorded 57 hits including 20 doubles, a triple and seven home runs, along with 33 runs scored, 100 total bases, 14 walks and 46 RBIs. She got off to a hot start in February, hitting a pair of home runs as well as a double and a sacrifice fly and driving in nine runs in a 23-7 win against North Dakota on February 6. On February 21, she faced off against San Diego State, drawing a walk and scoring in a 7-6 Aztecs win at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. She continued her stellar performance at the dish into WCC play, notably tallying three doubles and driving in six while scoring twice in a 12-1 win at Pacific on April 3. The native of West Linn, Oregon, has also excelled in the classroom, being named Academic All-WAC in 2023 and 2024 as well as Academic All-WCC First Team in 2026.
“Carley Mulcahey is a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher whose specialty is keeping the ball down in the zone and mixing speeds very effectively. She is a competitor who will be an asset to our pitching staff,” Nuveman Deniz said about Mulcahey.
Mulcahey played her only season of collegiate ball so far at Pacific in 2026. She started in four of her 20 appearances and threw 43.1 innings, totaling a 3.72 ERA with 24 strikeouts. The winner in two of her six decisions, Mulcahey, earned her first win with 3.2 innings of one-run softball at Montana on March 22. On April 4, Mulcahey pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning against Seattle U, getting future teammate Ava Sin to ground out to second base. Her second win of the season came against Santa Clara on April 19, when she pitched 4.1 innings without ceding a run. A native of Glendale, California, Mulcahey attended Crescenta Valley High, the alma mater of San Diego State’s career saves leader Dee Dee Hernandez.
San Diego State is entering its inaugural season in the Pac-12 conference. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State are all coming with SDSU from the Mountain West. Also joining the conference is Texas State from the Sun Belt. The new schools are joining forces with Oregon State. Coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz competed in the conference with UCLA during her playing career and was a three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1999 and 2001-02.