February is here, and that only means one thing: San Diego State softball is back to defend its Mountain West throne as reigning four-time conference champions.
San Diego State (1-0) defeated Minnesota (0-2) 3-2 in walk-off fashion in game one of their doubleheader Friday night.
Head coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz started sophomore pitcher Ava Schaffel after a noteworthy freshman campaign in 2025. Schaffel lasted three innings, with 51 pitches, three walks, a hit, an earned run, a strikeout and a wild pitch.
In her first inning, Schaffel rolled up a double play right back to her, flipping the ball to last season’s Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Quinn Waiki, who then threw it to first baseman Kaila Pollard just in time.
Schaffel would put herself in trouble in the second, allowing Minnesota to get on the board first with a wild pitch to send home infielder Sydney Schwartz. The third would prove a get-right frame for Schaffel, as she would retire three of four faced.
The Golden Gopher lead would not last for long, however, because after a hustle single from junior Jazmin Williams in the second inning, 2025 Second Team All Mountain West catcher Jade Ignacio blasted a home run to right field, giving the Aztecs a 2-1 lead.
The Aztecs planned to keep the scoring coming in the third, and Ignacio had her sights set on an encore. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ignacio drilled a hard liner to left but stayed up just enough for the third out of the inning.
Fresno State transfer Key-annah Pu’a entered in relief in the top of the fourth. The senior joined the Aztecs this past summer alongside fellow Fresno State transfer RHP Faith Jordan.
Pu’a struck out two in her first inning, though a double by Minnesota Brooklyn Jones and a single from Cameron Chard tied the game at 2. Pu’a finished her debut with 3.0 innings pitched on 48 pitches, three strikeouts, two hits, one earned run and a hit batter.
The following two bottom-half innings didn’t amount to much for the Aztecs, with Minnesota starter Macy Richardson dealing after the blemish to Ignacio. The Golden Gopher pitcher ended her night with 5.0 IP and only two runs allowed.
Matti Kwarta, one of six freshmen signed for 2026, was given the seventh inning. In her one inning of work, Kwarta delivered. A scoreless 1-2-3 inning with only 13 pitches in a tie ballgame? That’ll do.
Tied at two, SDSU wanted to call the game. Leadoff hitter Lala Macario reached first via a fielding error, and Pollard reached on a hit by pitch directly after. On a 2-2 pitch, Julie Holcomb lined a single to right, bringing home Macario for an opening-day walk-off victory, sending the Aztec faithful into a frenzy.
The Aztecs ended the night with another walk-off victory, this time in six innings against Loyola Chicago (0-2) by a score of 9-1, with junior Olivia Gigante hitting a game-ending home run to center field.
The Aztecs (2-0) looked to continue their early-season success as they took on the visiting Miami (OH) RedHawks (3-1) during the opening slate of the Scarlet and Black’s Saturday double at home. However, too many walks and traffic on the base paths, along with costly defensive mishaps and dormant offense, cost the Scarlet and Black their first loss of the season.
The game opened with a tightly contested first inning, as the Redhawks had traffic early on, as Senior Center Fielder Bailey Manos led off the top of the first with a single into left field. However, she would soon be erased after being caught stealing and called out for leaving the base early. Despite this, Miami Ohio would get another runner in scoring position after Freshman UT player Mia Fleming walked and later moved to second after a wild pitch.
Fleming would later go on to score and give Miami Ohio a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first on a throwing error from freshman third baseman Emma French(E5) as she attempted to throw out Senior Right Fielder Katy Olive on a ground ball hit deep in the hole. The Aztecs would respond in the bottom half of the first, tying the game on an RBI single to left field from Junior DH Olivia Gigante, sending the game into the top of the second tied 1-1.
However, the Redhawks would take control of the game from then on, retaking a 2-1 lead during the top of the second on an RBI fielder’s choice from Center Fielder Manos. They added three more runs in the top of the third due to a throwing error from senior pitcher Key-Annah Pu’a, allowing two runners to score. Senior shortstop Danzanita Hernandez would tack on the Redhawks third run of the inning with an RBI single back up the middle, pushing the lead to 5-1.
Miami Ohio would tack on two more and fully solidify the route on an RBI Sacrifice Fly from Mia Fleming before Senior right fielder Katy Olive would add on an RBI of her own with a single back up the middle, pushing across the final run of the game and eventually ending the game, 7-1.
The Aztecs, however, did manage to salvage a split during their Saturday day-night doubleheader, with a walk-off wild pitch securing a 4-3 win for the Aztecs.
”We talked about after the first game, about you know, these are two different games, and we can treat them like two different days,” coach Stacy Deniz commented after the game.
The Scarlet and Black are set to face off next week in the Campbell/Cartier Classic at home, against Baylor, Oregon State, Fordham and North Dakota.
