By Niko Temores, Staff Contributor

A nail-biter of a game came down to the bottom of the 7th inning, when SDSU’s Julie Holcomb blooped a base hit over first, leading to Lala Macario crashing home from second, barely avoiding the catcher’s tag and cementing a 3-2 win in the season opener. 

SAN DIEGO- This game was a pitcher’s duel as both teams played excellent defense and had good control on the mound. Ava Schaffel took the mound for the Aztecs first, going 3 innings allowing only 1 hit, 1 run, and 1 error, adding 3 strikeouts to her belt. 

The Minnesota Gophers drew first blood as Sydney Schwartz raced home after a wild pitch by Schaffel.  

The Aztecs came firing back as eventual Mountain West Player of the Week Jade Ignacio hit a two-run bomb in the bottom of the 2nd over the right field wall. 

Golden Gophers’ starter Macy Richardson controlled most of the game, pitching 5 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 errors, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Cameron Chard knocked a base hit in the 4th to even the game at 2 runs apiece. 

Key-annah Pu’a took over as a reliever in the 4th for the Aztecs and allowed only one run to score, holding down the fort before the heroics from Holcomb in the 7th inning. 

The Aztecs kept up with their tradition of excelling in season openers, winning their 24th over the last 28 seasons. 

This was the first of a flurry of games for the Aztecs this weekend, as they took on Loyola of Chicago, Miami (Ohio), and Kentucky in the SDSU 2026 Season Kickoff from Feb. 6-7.

Aztec head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz is entering her fifth year as head coach, working to build off last season, as the Aztecs finished 38-19 overall and 16-6 in conference play, winning their third Mountain West Tournament title.