AZTECS SOFTBALL TEAM MAKES HISTORY
San Diego State’s stunning spring continues.
AJ Murphy, Cali Decker and Jeweliana Perez all homered and SDSU outlasted Liberty 6-3 in Sunday’s NCAA softball regionals in Los Angeles to advance to the first Super Regional in program history. The Aztecs will play No. 15 Utah in Salt Lake City in a best-of-three series next weekend, with the winner advancing to the Women’s College World Series.
“We’ve got to keep rolling with the bats, the energy, the pitching,” Murphy told ESPN in the minutes following Sunday’s win. “I think we’re really coming together now and it’s looking great.”
And while Sunday’s win wasn’t quite Lamont Butlerat-the-buzzer, it was equally as important a step for an Aztecs program looking to become a regional power. The Mountain West Tournament champions have won six straight games, outscoring their opponents 39-7 in the process.
Still, experts tabbed No. 2 UCLA — the Pac-12’s regularseason champion — as the favorite to win the Los Angeles Regional. In one of the bigger upsets in recent regional history, the Bruins fell to Grand Canyon in Friday’s opener and were eliminated by Liberty on Saturday evening.
San Diego State, which was 2-69 all time against UCLA, didn’t even have to face the Bruins during its days in Westwood. Of course, the way the Aztecs were hitting, maybe that wouldn’t have been a big deal.
The Aztecs and Flames were tied 2-2 in the sixth when SDSU erupted for four runs.
Jillian Celis led off with a double, and the Flames went to the bullpen. Decker reached on a fielding error, and Celis scored. Makena Brocki flew out to center field before Murphy homered to left, making it 5-2. After Taylor Okada grounded out, Perez ripped a massive home run just inside the foul pole in right field.
Allie Light was solid in the circle, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out three before being lifted with one out in the seventh inning. She did not walk a batter.
Things didn’t start well: Light allowed three consecutive singles to start the game. A putout at home kept the game scoreless, but not for long. LU’s Megan Fortner ripped a two-run double to left field, giving the Flames a 2-0 lead. Things might have been worse had San Diego State not thrown out a Liberty runner at third base ... and had Light not picked off Fortner to end the inning.
San Diego State pulled even in the fourth, when Decker ripped a two-run homer that also scored Celis, who reached to start the frame.
Dee Dee Hernandez replaced Light with one out in the seventh inning and the Aztecs winning by three. She got the final two outs, setting off the biggest celebration in program history. Following a brief huddle at the circle, the Aztecs sprayed each other with water bottles. The biggest soaking was reserved for coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz, who received a Gatorade jug’s worth of the wet stuff from her elated players.
Nobody knows more about the importance of advancing through the Los Angeles Regional than Deniz, who — as Stacey Nuveman — won a Women’s College World Series during a storied college career. Her team? UCLA.