San Diego State softball opened Mountain West conference play Friday night against the Colorado State Rams in a 2-0 losing effort.
After a competitive 15-10 non-conference start to the season, the Aztecs began their quest for a fifth straight conference championship on Friday night.
“We want to capitalize on it being a new start to the second part of the season. We’re flipping the page from preseason, we’re in a good place, we just got to keep going,” head coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz said.
The Aztecs struggled against a strong performance from Rams starting pitcher Reagan Wick, who brought her stellar 1.71 ERA into Friday night’s start. After a runless first inning from both teams, the Rams clawed across the only two runs of the game off the backs of two infield singles and a line drive off the glove of senior third baseman Angie Yellen.
“This game is very fickle. It all balances out in the end, as long as you’re playing and competing to the best of your ability,” Nuveman-Deniz said. “The game will pay you back when it needs you to.”
Junior starting pitcher Faith Jordan impressively buckled down after a frustrating second inning, surrendering just two more hits while striking out three in three more shutout innings.
“It’s always going to be a little frustrating, but my plan is to just keep throwing my stuff and let my defense work for me,” Jordan said.
Despite outhitting the Rams 7-5, the Aztecs were unable to bring home any runs, with costly moments on the basepaths taking away from multiple opportunities. A single from sophomore left fielder Kiara Cisneros in the third inning was quickly negated by an inning-ending lineout to first, where Cisneros was tagged out for the double play. Similarly, a single from senior catcher Jade Ignacio in the fourth inning brought sophomore outfielder Mia Rodriguez on to pinch run, who was then caught stealing the next play.
“Some days it’s your day, some days you can’t hit the broadside of a barn. [We’re] just riding the wave and the ups and downs of the season,” Nuveman-Deniz said.
The Aztecs threatened late in the fifth inning, after a double from junior infielder Kaila Pollard put runners on second and third base with just one out. Wick was able to find the zone again, punching out sophomore outfielder Jayleen Hernandez for her third strikeout of the game before getting Cisneros to pop out to third base to get out of a crucial jam.
With the game entering its final inning, the Aztecs put pressure on Wick, with sophomore shortstop Quinn Waiki hustling for a double and advancing to third on a fielder’s choice groundout induced by Pollard.
A two-out walk drawn by sophomore pinch hitter Gabriella Terrones brought the winning run to the plate, prompting Nuveman-Deniz to send sophomore infielder Emma French in to pinch hit. After a hotly contested at bat, Wick came through again, getting French to ground out to end a close game, 2-0.
“It’s a week-in, week-out battle,” Nuveman-Deniz said. “You got to take care of who’s on your schedule, it’s really just a one game at a time mentality.”
After the loss on Friday, the Aztecs looked to bounce back Saturday afternoon against Colorado State. Strong pitching, putting the ball in play and limiting strikeouts were aspects to bring into the second game of Mountain West play, but the inability to bring home runners was something to leave behind.
That’s exactly what happened Saturday.
Heading into the fifth inning and down a run, the Aztecs had the chance to score their first runs of the series, this time with runners on first and third. Up to this point, the Aztec offense mirrored Friday’s performance, striking out only once and out-hitting the Rams 5-4. Ignacio stepped up to the plate and flipped the script, crushing a double in the left-center gap to tie up the game.
Waiki followed up by delivering the go-ahead sacrifice fly to bring home senior infielder Lala Macario, giving the Aztecs a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.
“We’ve had runners in scoring position, we just haven’t been able to cash in,” Nuveman-Deniz said about offensive inconsistencies. “Today, we got a couple.”
Senior pitcher Key-annah Pu’a locked down the win for the Aztecs, providing 4.2 IP of one-run relief, and retiring the last six Rams she faced in quick succession to finish off the game.
This was Pu’a’s second game in a row coming out of the bullpen to relieve, as her brilliance in the circle has certified her as a reliable option for Coach Nuveman-Deniz to go to in any role necessary.
“[Pu’a] can start, she can come and close, she can middle relief. I feel like we can use her in any number of ways,” Nuveman-Deniz said. “She’s definitely stepping up to be a really important piece for us.”
It was a team victory, and all fronts had to be covered to grind out a win.
Starting for the Aztecs was sophomore Ava Schaffel, who tossed 2.1 scoreless innings behind a shutdown defense. In the second inning, the Rams had runners at second and third with one out, but a hard ground ball from Kaylynn English right at Yellen allowed the senior to quickly tag the runner at third and fire a strike to first for an inning-ending double play.
“It’s just about reacting to the ball,” Yellen said about her mentality at third base. “We know where our pitchers have their tendencies and where the ball is likely to go, so really just relying on them to make their spots so I can do my job.”
Timely defense and dependable pitching are facets Coach Nuveman-Deniz can count on, but the offense as a whole needs to join that group of reliable performers.
“For us, we’ve got to be different offensively. We’ve got to have a better plan, a better approach, and commit to it and execute it more effectively,” Nuveman-Deniz said.
This 2-1 victory for the Aztecs provided much-needed momentum into Sunday as the series finale was another low-scoring bout in favor of San Diego State by a score of 2-0. Yellen provided the runs with two RBIs, and Faith Jordan and Key-annah P’ua were once again dominant to shut out the Rams.
Up next, softball will head to Las Vegas to play UNLV in a three-game weekend series from March 20-22.
