Aztecs softball team loses NCAA Regional opener to Virginia Tech, faces elimination

During last year’s run to the first NCAA Super Regional in program history, San Diego State’s softball team mostly got ahead and stayed there.

The Aztecs won seven consecutive games in the 2023 Mountain West tournament, NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals before falling to Utah in back-to-back games, ending their season. During that streak, SDSU outscored its opponents 43-10.

San Diego State will need to get hot again if it hopes to extend its 2024 season. Friday afternoon’s 5-1 loss to No. 15 Virginia Tech puts the Aztecs in the losers’ bracket of the Los Angeles Regional; to advance past the weekend, they’ll have to win twice Saturday and twice on Sunday without losing again.

First up is Saturday afternoon’s elimination game versus either UCLA or Grand Canyon. The game starts at 4:30 p.m. at UCLA’s Easton Stadium. Win, and SDSU will play again Saturday night.

SDSU and Virginia Tech were tied until the bottom of the third inning. Annika Rohs and Emma Ritter registered back-to-back singles, chasing SDSU starting pitcher Allie Light from the game. Reliever Dee Dee Hernandez allowed a bunt single and a sacrifice fly, and the Hokies took a 1-0 lead.

VT added two runs in the fourth on Kylie Aldridge’s RBI single and Rohs’ run-scoring groundout, and tacked on solo runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Light, San Diego State’s senior ace, allowed hits to four of the 10 batters she faced. Cece Cellura replaced Hernandez and allowed two earned runs on six hits over two frames.

Aztecs slugger Mac Barbara drove in SDSU’s only run with a sixth-inning single to right. The Aztecs were otherwise baffled by Hokies ace Emma Lemley. The right-hander allowed one unearned run on three hits on the way to a complete-game shutout. She struck out six and did not walk a batter.

The Mountain West’s regular-season and tournament champion, San Diego State is making its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA softball tournament. The Aztecs won last year’s regional, also played at UCLA.