San Diego State Softball (21-10) and the University of Nevada (24-8) face off for a three-game set in Reno, Nevada.

The two teams have been simply fantastic this year. With the two years each team are having, there is a possibility the Mountain West get two teams in the college softball tournament.

The Aztecs and the Wolfpack have faced similar competition.

Both teams have a loss to UCLA and beat Sacramento State. The difference is in the Mary Nutter Classic. The Aztecs run ruled Hawaii, while the Wolfpack got shut out by the Rainbow Warriors 4-0. The Wolfpack is led by former SDSU assistant Victoria Heyward, along with Aztec for life Jillian Celis and former SDSU assistant Delanie Wisz.

Nevada is led by two star players, senior Aaliyah Jenkins and junior Hailey McLean.

Jenkins is the Wolfpack’s best batter. Jenkins owns a .427 average with an OBP of .529. She also has seven home runs this year. The catcher started the year slow, with either getting on base once or not at all in eight of the first ten games of the year. Since then, she has caught fire over the past month, getting a hit in 13 of the last 17 games. If the Aztecs are going to take two games, minimizing what Jenkins does in the box will be a huge key to that.

Junior pitcher McLean has been the leader of the Wolfpack pitching staff. McLean has appeared in a team-high 19 games and started 12 of them. Hitters against McLean are batting a measly .179 against her; she has 102 strikeouts through 80.2 innings pitched. She is undoubtedly the front-runner for Mountain West Pitcher of the Year.

The Wolfpack pitching staff has simply been elite this year. With four pitchers they frequently use, the staff pose an ERA of 2.65 with a WHIP of 1.32. This staff is really tough to get solid contact against, and it shows in the numbers so far.

As for the bats, the Wolfpack lineup is very top-heavy, with the bottom four of the lineup hitting under .300 on the season. The Aztecs’ pitching staff needs to keep the ball in the yard and on the ground when traveling to elevation in order to have success. Cali Decker along with Jade Ignacio, if she keeps time behind the plate, need to hold down the basepaths with their impressive arms. The Wolfpack have attempted to steal 80 times this year through 32 games, succeeding on 69 of those attempts. Not only can the Wolfpack punish you with the long ball, but they can also hurt you with their speed.

The group that is the most important in securing a series victory is the entire pitching staff.

Grace Uribe, Dee Dee Hernandez, Cece Cellura, and Ava Schaffel. All four need to have fantastic outings while keeping the ball low and away, preventing the Wolfpack from hurting them with the long ball. Along with the pitching staff, Decker needs to shape back into form after struggling this past weekend against the Lobos. The Aztec offense absolutely need to capitalize when they get runners on base.

These two teams are a must-watch for not just Mountain West softball enjoyers but college softball enjoyers in the nation.

This should be a fun and competitive three game set between two squads led by some great coaching staffs.

All three games will be streamed on the Mountain West Network app and website.

Thursday, March 27 at 3 PM PT.

Frida,y March 28 at 3 PM PT.

Saturday, March 29, at noon PT.

Set the alarms and get ready for some awesome softball.

Bryant Thursby

Assistant Coach at Heritage High School. A big time SDSU fanatic and Padres fan.