The No. 24 San Diego State  softball team defeated the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 6-1 in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 11 at the SDSU Softball Stadium.

After starting the season 0-2, the Aztecs rebounded on Saturday by winning both games against No. 25 Kentucky and UCSB. By winning both games, the team is now at .500 after the first four games of the season.

SDSU started the game hot after a one-out triple by Micaela Macario in the top of the first. She was then driven after a RBI single by Mac Barbara to give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead.

UCSB responded in the bottom half of the inning after an RBI single by Gauchos first base Elicia Acosta to tie the game up at 1. The Aztecs retook the lead in the top of the second after an RBI single by Katie Goldberg. At the end of the second inning, SDSU led 2-1.

In the bottom of the third, SDSU opted for a pitching change and brought in Dee Dee Hernandez to replace Cece Cellura. Coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz spoke after the game about the pitching change.

“That’s how we do things,” Nuveman-Deniz said. “Very rarely do we have complete game outings for our pitchers. Our philosophy is using our staff, so that was predetermined.”

Hernandez ended up pitching four innings for SDSU before being relieved by Cassidy West for the seventh inning. She would give up 3 hits, but allowed no runs and struck out 4 UCSB batters. Hernandez spoke about facing the Gauchos for the first time.

“We did a little bit of scouting on them,” Hernandez said. “We knew that some girls were a little passive and whatnot, but we just needed to stick to our plan as a staff and just let the defense work and throw some strikes.”

During Hernandez’s time on the mound, SDSU was able to open the game up offensively. In the top of the fourth inning, the team scored two runs off a sacrifice fly by Goldberg and an RBI single by Macey Keester.

The two runs gave the Aztecs a 4-1 lead in the fourth and it gave Goldberg her second RBI of the night. Goldberg spoke after the game about the team’s breakout offensive performance.

“Anytime you get a win, momentum is on your side,” Goldberg said. “We use it as fuel to keep moving forward and celebrate the win, but then we move on to the next game.”

SDSU kept the momentum going with a lead-off solo home run by Barbara to start the top of the fifth, the team now led 5-1. The Aztecs then took a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning after an RBI single by Macario. While SDSU kept scoring, the Gauchos failed to get anything going offensively.

West then came in the seventh and final inning to relieve Hernandez. She started the inning by hitting the first batter before shutting down the next three batters, including two strikeouts for the final two hitters to close out the game. SDSU won the game 6-1.

Women’s softball’s next game will be against University of San Diego on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. at the USD Softball Complex.