San Diego State’s rally in the final two innings came up short against the Utah Utes 4-3 at the SDSU Softball Stadium Wednesday.
The Aztecs (9-11) were down 4-1 to the Utes (14-6) after the top of the sixth inning, but were able to scratch across two runs in the sixth and load the bases in the seventh. Utah’s crafty pitching halted the seventh inning to ultimately end the game at 4-3 in their favor.
Utah started scoring early with a two-out RBI single by Julia Jimenez that scored Haley Denning and advanced Kaylah Nelsen to second base.
SDSU’s starting pitcher Allie Light escaped the jam quickly, forcing Sophie Jacquez to ground into a fielder’s choice to third baseman Katie Goldberg.
The Aztecs responded in their half of the inning thanks to Mac Barbara’s single, scoring outfielder Bella Espinoza after reaching on a fielding error. The inning ended shortly after, courtesy of a Cali Decker lineout to left field that doubled off Barbara after she advanced to second.
In the top of the third inning, Utah’s Aliya Belarde reached on a one-out triple. The very next at-bat, Abby Dayton singled to right center, scoring Belarde and extending the Utes’ lead to 2-1. Allie Light again eluded more trouble by getting the next two hitters to fly out and line out, respectively.
After a two-run home run by Karlie Davison in the top of the fourth inning to lengthen Utah’s lead to 4-1, Aztecs head coach Stacey Nuveman Diaz pulled Light after her fourth inning of work.
Nuveman Diaz elected for freshman Cece Cellura to finish the game; she did not allow a run in three innings. Cellura struck out two batters while allowing two hits.
When asked about her success, she credited her defense.
“I just try to trust my defense and my approach is to go low in the zone,” Cellura said.
SDSU’s Macey Keester was three for three with a double and two singles. One of those singles pushed across two runs in the sixth inning to bring the Aztecs within one run.
The Aztecs threatened again in the last half of the seventh inning with runners on first and third. Utah reliever Sarah Ladd got Katie Goldberg to ground out to second base to end the game.
The Aztecs had no problem getting runners on base, hence their 10 hits and reaching on three Utah errors. The issue the Aztecs faced was getting the runners across home. In total, there were nine SDSU runners left on base compared to Utah’s five left on base.
“You have to take advantage of the opportunities and we didn’t do that,” said Coach Diaz when asked about the offensive execution.
With this loss, SDSU’s home record this season falls to 4-6.
The Aztecs look to turn things around in a doubleheader Friday at the Louisville Slugger Invitational in Long Beach.
SDSU will play Grand Canyon at 4:30 p.m. and Long Beach State at 7 p.m.
