Every week The Daily Aztec will help San Diego State University fans get ready for the upcoming sports schedule with the Midweek Preview. Here is this week’s calendar of upcoming Aztec athletics events, all event times are in Pacific Standard Time:
Thursday, Feb. 23
Track and Field at Mountain West Indoor Conference Championships, all day through Saturday
The Aztecs head to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Indoor Conference Championships, where as a team they finished second place last year. During this year’s indoor season, SDSU has seen 12 podium finishes over their three meets; junior Hannah Waller won the 60-meter dash and freshman Shanequa Foote won the 400 dash at the UW Invitational, while senior Danae Dyer won the 60-meter hurdles at the WSU Open and Combined Events.
Softball (8-2) vs Cal State Fullerton (6-4) at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, 2:30 p.m.
San Diego State finished the Campbell/Cartier Classic with a 3-1 mark, earning wins against UC Riverside, Loyola Marymount and Utah Valley. SDSU and Cal State Fullerton are receiving votes in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today NFCA Coaches polls. Junior infielder Hannah Becerra has hit a double and two home runs with six RBIs for the Titans.
Softball vs No. 18/18 Kentucky (6-1-1) at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, 5:30 p.m.
Redshirt-sophomore Mac Barbara earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors after going 8-for-15 with a home run, a double, six RBIs and four runs scored last weekend. Wildcat junior Stephanie Schoonover was named D1Softball National Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 with a save over 16.2 innings with 34 strikeouts, including a no-hitter against North Texas.
Friday, Feb. 24
No. 22 Water Polo (3-5) vs No. 3 UCLA (10-1) at Barbara Kalbus Invitational, 12:30 p.m.
SDSU returns to action after a 1-3 finish at the Triton Invitational, closing out with a 9-7 win over No. 24 CSUN 9-7. Attacker duo graduate Amanda Legaspi (12 goals, 6 assists) and freshman Claudia Valdes (10 goals, 8 assists) are leading the Aztecs with 18 points. UCLA won the previous meeting 21-5 on Jan. 21; sophomore attacker Emma Lineback leads the Bruins with 28 goals. This event is being hosted by UC Irvine at the Anteater Aquatics Complex.
Women’s Tennis (4-2) at No. 20 University of California (2-3), 1:30 p.m.
The Aztecs are coming off a 4-0 win at Long Beach State on Feb. 18, with singles wins by junior Andjela Skrobonja, senior Alicia Melosch and sophomore Raina Azziz, as well as doubles wins by Melosch and Azziz as well as seniors Tamara Arnold and Dariya Detkovskaya. The Golden Bears have dropped their last three matches.
Lacrosse (1-3) vs No. 19 USC (1-1), Aztec Lacrosse Field, 2 p.m.
San Diego State is coming off an 11-9 win over University of California on Feb. 19, where senior attackers Deanna Balsama scored four times to add to her team-best 11 goals and Caitlin Jones netted a hat-trick. The Trojans are led by senior attacker Ella Heaney, who has scored 4 goals and 4 assists. This is the second game against a ranked opponent for the Aztecs, and second of four against a Pac-12 opponent this season.
Baseball (0-3) vs North Dakota State (1-3), Tony Gwynn Stadium, 6 p.m.
The Aztecs will open the annual Tony Gwynn Legacy after dropping their home opener 7-5 on a Tuesday night; SDSU allowed four runs in the first inning and two in the second, and couldn’t recover. North Dakota State is coming off an opening series defeat on the road at Sacramento State. The Bisons Friday starter in that series, junior righty Cade Feeny, took the loss allowing seven hits and four runs (all earned), with eight strikeouts over 5.0 innings.
Softball vs BYU (7-2) at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, 8 p.m.
The Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic features a field of 30-teams, with seven ranked and five receiving votes in both polls; BYU is receiving votes in both polls. The Cougars swept the WCC weekly awards, with freshman Kaysen Korth earning Pitcher of the Week and senior third base Martha Epenesa earning Player of the Week.
Saturday, Feb. 25
Women’s Basketball (21-8, 11-5) at No. 24/25 UNLV (25-2, 15-0), 2 p.m.
SDSU is once again in a three-way tie with Colorado State and Wyoming for second place in the Mountain West after beating the Rams then losing to the Cowgirls last week; both season series finished split. San Diego State has the top defense (59.3 points against) while UNLV has the top offense (77.5 points for) in the conference. Lady Rebels junior center Desi-Rae Young is the Mountain West’s rebounding leader (10.7) and is second in scoring (17.7).
Softball vs Ohio State (3-5) at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, 3 p.m.
The Aztecs have participated in this event, hosted in Cathedral City at the Big League Dreams Complex, every season it has been held since 2010. The Buckeyes are coming off a 1-3 weekend at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge where they split against Notre Dame and then dropped both games to then-No. 6/7 Clemson.
Baseball vs Washington State (4-0), Tony Gwynn Stadium, 6 p.m.
Washington State is receiving votes in the current National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll after taking both games against Villanova and UC Riverside at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona. Righty Caden Kaelber started the front half of the Saturday doubleheader for the Cougars, earning the win with 5 hits allowed, 1 run (it was earned), 8 strikeouts, 2 walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter over 6.0 innings.
No. 22/20 Men’s Basketball (21-5, 12-2) at New Mexico (20-7, 7-7), 7 p.m.
SDSU will be looking to avenge a 76-67 loss to the Lobos on Jan. 14 at Viejas Arena. New Mexico stopped a four-game losing skid with a 96-68 win at San José State on Feb. 17. Senior guard Jaelen House returned in that game after missing two straight with a lower body injury; he scored his season-high 29 points in the game at Viejas. UNM is at Boise State tonight (Feb. 22).
Softball vs No. 10/8 Washington (9-2) at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, 8 p.m.
The only losses the Aztecs have suffered this season have been against ranked opponents, falling to then-No. 22/RV Arizona State on Feb. 9 and to then-No. 24/24 Oregon on Feb. 18. The Huskies have earned five of their wins by run-rule, and their pitching staff has the second-highest strikeout per seven innings rate and third-lowest ERA in the Pac-12.
No. 22 Water Polo vs TBA at Barbara Kalbus Invitational, TBA
If SDSU beats No. 3 UCLA, they will face the winner of No. 6 UC Irvine and No. 15 UC Santa Barbara at 11:45 a.m. and If they lose, the Aztecs will face the loser of that game.
Sunday, Feb. 26
No. 21 Men’s Golf at Southern Highlands Collegiate, all day through Wednesday
San Diego State travels to Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas for the event hosted by UNLV after finishing fifth in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate on Feb. 16-17. Sophomore Shea Lague had the top individual finish for the Aztecs, tying for ninth with an 11-under, while fellow sophomore Justin Hastings tied for 14th at 9-under.
Baseball vs Hawaii (3-1), 1 p.m.
Hawaii is coming off their opening series at home, where they took the last three games against Wright State and outscored the Raiders by a 36-21 margin. The Rainbow Warriors used 15 different pitchers over the weekend; none worked more than 3.2 innings as the unit limited Wright State to 24 hits.
No. 22 Water Polo vs TBA at Barbara Kalbus Invitational, TBA
The 16-team field at this event features 15 teams ranked in the top 23 of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll, as well as CWPA Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.
Monday, Feb. 27
Women’s Golf at Causeway Invitational, all day through Tuesday
SDSU is coming off a tenth-place finish at the San Diego State Classic, where junior Andrea Gomez was the top individual finisher with a tie for 31st at 19-over. The Causeway Invitational is hosted by UC Davis at Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento.
Baseball vs Hawaii, Tony Gwynn Stadium, 6 p.m.
Lefty Ben Zeigler-Namoa started the fourth game of Hawaii’s series against Wright State and allowed one hit with a strikeout and a walk over 3.0 innings, needing just 34 pitches to get through the 10 batters he faced. Ziegler-Namoa, who also plays infield, came out the weekend leading the Rainbow Warriors with seven RBIs as well, while redshirt-junior Kyson Donahue had a team-best seven hits.
Tuesday, Feb. 28
Women’s Basketball vs Air Force (12-15, 7-8), Viejas Arena, 6 p.m.
San Diego State will honor their seniors before their final game of the regular season; the Aztecs are 7-2 in their final home game under head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. This is the first and only meeting between SDSU and Air Force; the Falcons have won their last three against the Aztecs dating back to Jan. 24, 2021. The duo of guards sophomore Madison Smith (13.5) and senior Kamri Heath (11.4) lead Air Force in scoring in conference play.
No. 22/20 Men’s Basketball at Boise State (21-6, 11-3), 6 p.m.
The Aztecs are currently a game and a half up in the Mountain West Conference standings after beating Colorado State 77-58 on Wednesday at Viejas Arena. SDSU had five players in double figures, led by senior Jaedon Ledee’s 14 points off the bench. San Diego State won the first meeting of the season against the Broncos 72-52 on Feb. 3 at Viejas Arena; the Broncos were without fifth-year guard Marcus Shaver Jr for that game, who is their second leading scorer and has recently returned.
