San Diego State softball defeated the Colorado State Rams in a 2-0 shutout victory on Friday at the San Diego State softball stadium. The victory improved the Aztec’s record to 20-13 on the season.
Pitchers Cassidy West and Cece Cellura gave up a combined five hits in the seven-inning ball game while allowing zero runs. West, the starting pitcher, threw two strikeouts which ended up being the team’s only punchouts for the game.
Head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz commented on the team’s stellar pitching performance.
“It was awesome,” Nuveman Deniz said. “Cassidy West coming out in the first, right away throwing strikes, counting the zone as we talked about doing beforehand and it was awesome and just really set the tone for us.”
Despite giving up a hit in the top of the first inning, West settled down and finished off the inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Lala Macario got a leadoff single and eventually scored off of a sacrifice by catcher Cali Decker to give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead.
For most of the game, both teams failed to score any more runs. The Rams threatened to score in the top of the third with two runners on, but West was able to get SDSU out of the inning after a fly out to right-center field.
Cellura entered the game in the top of the fourth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. However, CSU was threatened to score again at the start of the fifth after a one-out triple by Colorado State’s first baseman Jailey Wilson.
The Rams failed to take advantage of the triple after Aztec third baseman Katie Goldberg caught a line drive for the second out and left fielder Bella Espinoza made a clutch catch to end the inning.
Cellura continued to pitch into the sixth inning. However, CSU shortstop Maya Matsubara hit a line drive right at Cellura that hit her in the leg, causing her to go to the ground and the runner to reach first base. Cellura would stay in the game and finish the inning after double play and then a groundout.
“Luckily, it hit the padding on my cleat,” Cellura said. “It didn’t hit me like (a) square on the ankle, so I was on the floor, and I was like, ‘This doesn’t actually hurt,’ and then I was good to go.”
The Aztecs maintained their 1-0 momentum entering the bottom of the sixth and eventually extended their lead to 2-0 after a solo home run by Mac Barbara on a 2-2 count.
Cellura returned to close out the game in the top of the seventh to give SDSU a 2-0 shutout victory over Colorado State.
Decker spoke after the game about the team’s pitching performance from her point of view behind the plate.
“I feel like our pitchers were ready,” Decker said. “We were prepared, just trying to do whatever is best for the team and they set the tone for us ultimately at the end of the day.”
SDSU’s next game will be against New Mexico in Albuquerque on Wednesday, April 3 at 11 a.m.
