San Diego State scored four runs in the third inning before pulling away for a 7-0 win over Liberty in both teams’ first game at the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, Friday at UCLA’s Easton Stadium.

The Aztecs (36-15) pushed their winning streak to four games, a streak which started at last week’s Mountain West Championship. SDSU will take on Grand Canyon tomorrow at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, with the winner heading to Sunday’s Regional final.

Liberty (38-21) falls into the losers bracket and will take on No. 2 national seed UCLA in an elimination game tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Grand Canyon upset UCLA in today’s first game, 3-2.

Scoring Summary
SDSU – 3rd INNING – Decker homers to center, Celis and Barbara score, 3-0
SDSU – 3rd INNING – Murphy reaches on error, Brocki advances, scores on error, 4-0
SDSU – 4th INNING – Celis singles up middle, Barbara advances, Espinoza scores, 5-0
SDSU – 5th INNING – Murphy grounds out, Brockis scores, 6-0
SDSU – 6th INNING – Decker singles to second, Espinoza scores, 7-0

Turning Point
– Paige Bachman held SDSU to one hit through the first two innings before getting into trouble with two outs in the third. She allowed a single and a walk before Cali Decker’s three-run homer broke the scoreless tie. Karlie Keeney entered in relief, giving up an unearned run in the third to make it 4-0.

Notable Numbers
– San Diego State outhit Liberty 10-4 for the game, as the Lady Flames committed four errors. The Aztecs let seven runners on base, while Liberty stranded four.

– Allie Light (13-6) earned the win, allowing one hit in four innings pitched, striking out six before Dee Dee Hernandez (two innings) and Sarah Lehman (one inning) completed the shutout.

– Bachman (10-9) drew the loss, allowing three runs on three hits, walking one in 2 2/3 innings pitched. Keeney allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking one and fanning one in 2 1/3 innings. Emily Estroff yielded one run on two hits in two innings pitched.

– Decker went 2-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and one run scored, while Makenna Brocki and Bella Espinoza both batted 2-for-4 with two runs scored each.

– Four different Lady Flames recorded a hit, with Devyn Howard doubling.

Beyond the Box Score
– SDSU took a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series against Liberty, with all three meetings resulting in a shutout. The Aztecs defeated the Lady Flames 7-0 at the 2018 Mary Nutter Invitational, while Liberty defeated SDSU 8-0 in five innings on March 8, 2019 in Long Beach, Calif.

– Liberty is now 5-11 all-time in NCAA Division I Softball Championship play, including 5-7 under 10th-year Head Coach Dot Richardson. Liberty is 2-2 in Regional openers under Coach Richardson.  San Diego State holds a 19-25 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play.

– Liberty head coach Dot Richardson and San Diego State head coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz were teammates on Team USA during its Gold Medal run in 2000. Richardson and Nuveman-Deniz both won national championships as players at UCLA.

– Megan Fortner’s 15 putouts are the most by a Lady Flame in an NCAA postseason contest in program history, topping Caroline Hudson’s 14 putouts from last year’s Regional-opening win over Georgia.

– Savannah Woodard tied Liberty’s NCAA Softball Championship single game record with five assists.

Up Next
Liberty takes on No. 2 UCLA in an elimination game at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.

Featured in photo: Megan Fortner