COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- San Diego State softball head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year, while redshirt freshman Mac Barbara (Long Beach, Calif.) and senior Maggie Balint (West Grove, Pa.) were selected as the MW Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, the league announced Wednesday. It is just the fifth time in league history that a team has swept the three aforementioned awards and the second occasion by the Aztecs (also Patrice Jackson, Rebecca Arbino and Kathy Van Wyk in 2013).
The postseason awards are voted on by the league's nine coaches and take into account MW games only.
Barbara and Balint were joined on the all-MW first team with freshman Bella Espinoza (Huntington Beach, Calif.), while senior Taylor Adams (Mill Creek, Wash.), freshmen Dee Dee Hernandez (La Crescenta, Calif.) garnered second-team accolades and AJ Murphy (Goodyear, Ariz.).
In her first season as SDSU's head coach, Nuveman Deniz has San Diego State on the verge of its league-record eighth MW regular-season title and first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015. The Aztecs sit atop the league standings with an 18-3 record, two games ahead of Boise State (16-5) and three ahead of UNLV (15-6). SDSU, which is 35-13 overall, has already won series against both Boise State and UNLV, and need just one win this weekend at New Mexico to clinch at least a share of the MW title and the league's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA tournament, regardless of what happens in any other series. Two victories by San Diego State will clinch an outright league championship. Nuveman Deniz is the second Aztec head coach to be named the MW Coach of the Year, joining Van Wyk, who won the award in 2002, 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2014.
Nuveman Deniz has taken over the pitching staff this year and has San Diego State leading the league in every major category in league games, including ERA (1.78), opposing batting average (.186), strikeouts (177), wins (18), winning percentage (.857), saves (4) and WHIP (0.88). In all games, the Aztecs lead the country with a 6.54 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while ranking 17th in ERA (2.06) and 26th in winning percentage (.729).
Barbara, meanwhile, is SDSU's fifth league player of the year, following in the footsteps of Haley Miles (2012 co-player of the year), Jackson (2013), Lorena Bauer (2015) and Jenavee Peres (2017). In conference play, Barbara is hitting .424 (25-for-59) with four home runs, 20 RBIs, 10 runs, six doubles, a triple, 19 walks (eight intentional) and three stolen bases, while owning a .763 slugging percentage and a .564 on-base mark. Barbara leads the MW in league-only games in batting average and on-base percentage, while ranking second in walks, third in slugging percentage and OPS percentage (1.327), tied for fourth in hits (25), doubles and total bases (45), tied for fifth in RBIs, tied for sixth in triples and tied for 10th in total plate appearances (78).
Overall, Barbara is batting .401 (59-for-147) with 14 home runs, 52 RBIs, 27 runs, 14 doubles, 31 walks and six stolen bases for a .796 slugging percentage and a .503 on-base percentage. Barbara, who reached base safely in 40 consecutive games from Feb. 17-May 6, which was the longest streak in the country this year and set a program record, ranks among the top 50 in the country in RBIs (T-23rd), total base (T-30th), slugging percentage (34th), on-base percentage (40th) and doubles (T-47th).
Balint became San Diego State's 10th MW Pitcher of the Year, the most in league history, but first since Danielle O'Toole in 2014. The Aztecs' other winners are Sandra Durazo (2001), Bre DeSanta (2002), Celena Velasquez (2003 and 2004), Christina Ross (2006 and 2008), Samantha Beasley (2010) and Arbino (2013). It was her third straight time making the all-MW team, making her the third SDSU pitcher to accomplish that feat along with Velasquez (2003-06) and Ross (2006-08).
Balint, who has tied Ross and Beasley for the most pitcher-of-the-week awards in league history (9) this year, is 8-1 with four saves and a 1.21 ERA in league play across 86 2/3 innings, striking out 123 against 18 walks while limiting the opposition to a .156 average. Balint leads the MW in league-only games in strikeouts, saves and opponent batting average while pitching for the top pitching staff in the conference, and is second in ERA, innings pitched and games started (13), tied for second in victories and tied for fourth in appearances (18).
In all games, Balint is 16-5 with six saves and a 1.43 ERA, striking out 257 batters against 33 walks in 166 innings, while limiting her opponents to a .168 average. Among the national leaders, Balint is tied for second in saves (6), 10th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.79), 12th in strikeouts per seven innings (10.84), tied for 12th in strikeouts (257), 20th in ERA (1.43) and 23rd in hits allowed per seven innings (4.22). Last week, Balint was one of 13 athletes chosen in the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Softball Draft Class.
Espinoza made the first team as well, becoming just the fourth San Diego State true freshman to make an all-conference first team since the league went to two teams (first and second) in 2014, joining Jaylene Ignacio (2014), Peres (2015) and Shelby Thompson (2017). In the midst of a standout freshman campaign, Espinoza is hitting .389 (28-for-72) in league games with 14 runs, two RBIs, and five stolen bases. Espinoza's 28 hits are the second most in league games, while her .389 batting average ranks fourth. The slapper is also tied for fifth in stolen bases, tied for sixth in at-bats (72) and triples (1), and tied for seventh in sacrifice flies. Overall, Espinoza is batting .387 (58-for-150) with team highs of 32 runs and 12 stolen bases (tied).
Adams became just the third Aztec to make four all-conference teams along with Velasquez (2003-06) and Thompson (2017-21). In league games, Adams is hitting .372 (16-for-43) with two homers, 13 RBIs, nine runs, two doubles and 10 walks, owning a .558 slugging percentage and a .481 on-base mark. In all games, Adams is batting .327 (32-for-98) with four home runs, 20 RBIs, 19 runs, four doubles, 14 walks and seven stolen bases for a .510 slugging percentage and a .417 on-base percentage.
Hernandez joined Adams on the second team and is 6-1 in league action with a 2.14 ERA in 36 innings, striking out 29 with just four walks. Overall, Hernandez is 9-4 with three saves and a 1.84 ERA, strikeout out 63 against 10 walks.
Murphy batted .343 (23-for-67) in league play with a home runs, 12 RBIs and five runs while committing just one error in 53 chances at shortstop. Overall, Murphy is hitting .306 (38-for-124) with two homers, 23 RBIs and 15 runs.
SDSU travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to take on the Lobos (25-25, 5-16 MW) this weekend with games set for 6 p.m. MT Thursday, 6 p.m. MT Friday and noon MT Saturday.
2022 Mountain West Awards
Player of the Year: Mac Barbara (San Diego State)
Pitcher of the Year: Maggie Balint (San Diego State)
Defensive Player of the Year: Samantha Diaz (UNLV)
Freshman of the Year: Aaliyah Jenkins (Nevada)
Coach of the Year: Stacey Nuveman Deniz (San Diego State)
All-Conference First Team (SDSU selections only)
DP/C Mac Barbara, RS-Fr. (San Diego State)
P Maggie Balint, Sr. (San Diego State)
OF Bella Espinoza, Fr. (San Diego State)
All-Conference Second Team (SDSU selections only)
1B Taylor Adams, Sr. (San Diego State)
SS AJ Murphy, Fr. (San Diego State)
P Dee Dee Hernandez, Fr. (San Diego State)