Fresh from winning a third straight Mountain West Tournament championship, San Diego State’s softball team will face Arizona State (35-19) Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at UCLA.
The 37-17 Aztecs are in the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time. UCLA (49-10) is seeded ninth in the 64-team field and will host the four-team, double-elimination regional. The Bruins will play UC Santa Barbara (34-24) Friday.
The Aztecs didn’t play Arizona State during the regular season. UCLA, which was then ranked sixth in the nation, defeated the Aztecs 5-0 on March 8 at San Diego State. The Aztecs defeated UC Santa Barbara 4-0 back on Feb. 22 during a tournament at Cathedral City.
“I’m always excited when we’re involved in the NCAA Tournament,” said San Diego State head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz. “But I’m kind of tired of going to UCLA.
“I’d like to see a different, look, location and experience for our players. In my 17 seasons, I’ve been to one of two places for the first round, UCLA or Arizona State. And here we are playing both of them. It’s a tough regional and a tough bracket. It is easy travel for our families.
“We’re just going to do our thing, show up and play our best softball.”
Texas A&M (45-9) is the No. 1 overall seed in the 64-team field. Seven of the top eight seeds are from the Southeastern Conference.
Behind Mountain West Tournament Most Valuable Player Cece Cellura, the host and second-seeded Aztecs scored two 3-1 wins over third-seeded Fresno State Saturday to win a record 12th Mountain West title. The Aztecs lost to Fresno 3-0 in Thursday’s opener before winning two games Friday – 6-1 over No. 4 seed Boise State and 5-4 over top-seeded Nevada — to earn a rematch with the Bulldogs.
Cellura, a right-handed sophomore from Glendale, pitched in all five of the Aztec games in the Mountain West Tournament, starting and winning each of the final three games. In the final two games against Fresno, the sinkerballer gave up one run on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings.
For the weekend, Cellura allowed three runs on 17 hits and five walks with 11 strikeouts over 22 innings for a 1.23 earned run average and a 1.00 WHIP. She is 18-7 on the season.
Catcher Cali Decker was 3-for-3 with a double and drove in all three Aztec runs in Saturday’s Mountain West championship game. Center Julie Holcomb was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored in the opening 2-1 win. Pinch-hitter Gabriella Terrones hit a two-run home in the win over Nevada, while Holcomb was 2-for-4 with a RBI.
San Diego State was one of three local college softball teams advancing in postseason play over the weekend.
Cal State San Marcos (42-21) will host Western Washington for a best-of-three NCAA Division II Super Regional series after scoring back-to-back wins over San Francisco State Saturday to win the West Regional. Delaney Prater was 4-for-7 with a double, seven RBIs and two runs in the final two wins over San Francisco State. First baseman Paige Donnelly was 4-for-8 with a double, four RBIs and two runs.
The Super Regional games will be played Thursday and Friday.
Palomar College (40-3) scored back-to-back shutout wins at home over Cerritos to reach the state championships this week in San Jose. The Comets are ranked No. 1 in the state and riding a 15-game winning streak. Nevaeh Haywood (20-2) started and won both games for the Comets, allowing nine hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over 11 scoreless innings. Zoe Karam and Taylor Armstrong homered in the first game. Second baseman Josephine Heuberger went 3-for-5 with a double, four RBIs and two runs in the second win.
