Glenn Connelly / Assistant Photo Editor

Before the start of last weekend’s 19th annual Campbell/Cartier Classic, the San Diego State softball team knew its biggest challenges were going to be Pac-10 powerhouses Stanford and Washington.

But after losing to both the Cardinal and the Huskies on Saturday and Sunday mornings, SDSU figured it could at least salvage the weekend with a victory against Long Beach State.

Such was not the case on Sunday afternoon, though, as the Aztecs suffered a 3-2 loss to LBSU in their final game of the tournament at the SDSU Softball Stadium.

“This was a tough one, a tough one to swallow because we should be beating them,” head coach Kathy Van Wyk said. “But we did some real good things. That was actually a better game for us; we fought harder in that contest than we did against Washington. You’re going to lose some tough ones like that, but offensively we looked a lot better in this game and came out more aggressively.”

SDSU couldn’t capitalize when it mattered, as it was unable to score in the bottom of the sixth inning, despite having four chances to do so with runners in scoring position.

The No. 24 Aztecs struggled on offense and left a season-high 11 runners on base. A contributing factor to SDSU’s offensive woes was 49er pitcher Brooke Turner, who allowed just one earned run on eight hits in seven innings of work.

Earlier in the day, the Aztecs played against No. 8 Stanford in a game that had been postponed because of inclement weather Friday evening. SDSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but failed to score again in a 9-2 loss to the Cardinal.

“We went in with the approach that we’re going to swing the bats and we stopped,” Van Wyk said. “We just sat back and let them come back into the game. We’re learning hard lessons in that regard, and I just hope we come away from here with a little bit more fight in us and come out playing with some heart.”

The Aztecs didn’t have any trouble with heart in their home opener on Thursday night, as they pulled off a 3-1 win in an eight-inning thriller against Utah State.

SDSU kept the Aggies offense in check behind a solid performance from pitcher Bailey Micetich. The freshman pitched all eight innings, struck out 13 batters and walked just two.

While Micetich was the difference-maker in the circle, senior outfielder Tonye McCorkle came through for the Aztecs with a bases-loaded triple in the top of the eighth.

“I just knew that I had to get a hit,” McCorkle said. “She had been throwing strikes to me and that’s what I was going after. I was like, “Swing hard and see what happens.'”