OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – San Diego State sophomore Mac Barbara (Long Beach, Calif.) has been named to the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List, USA Softball announced on Wednesday morning. Barbara is one of 50 players on the list.
Barbara becomes the fourth Aztec to be named to the watch list joining Aztec greats such as Erin Flores (2007), Hayley Miles (2013, 2014), and Jenavee Peres (2017,2018). Additionally, head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz won Collegiate Player of the Year during her playing days in 2002.
Barbara is the only representative from the Mountain West on the list of 50 student-athletes.
In 2022 Barbara was named a third-team NFCA All-American, first-team all-NFCA West Region selection, the Mountain West Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year as a redshirt freshman. During the 2022 campaign she batted .395 (68-for-172) with 18 home runs, 61 RBIs, 32 runs, 14 doubles and a triple for a .802 slugging percentage and a .493 on-base mark. Barbara, who reached base safely in 40 consecutive games from Feb. 17-May 6, which was the longest streak in the country in 2022 and set a program record, finished the season tied for 14th in the country in RBIs (61), 16th in total bases (138), 26th in slugging percentage (.802) and tied for 28th in home runs (18).
Among the Aztec single-season leaders, Barbara ranked second in RBIs (61) in 2022, third in total bases (138), tied for third in home runs (18) and extra-base hits (33), fourth in on-base percentage (.493), slugging percentage (.802) and OPS percentage (1.295), tied for fourth in walks (34), tied for sixth in doubles (14), seventh in batting average (.395) and eighth in hits (68).
SDSU finished the 2022 season with a 39-16 record (.709), the second-best record in program history, before falling to No. 8/5 Arizona State, 8-4, in the NCAA Tempe Regional final. San Diego State also captured its league-record eighth MW title with a 20-4 conference record.
The Aztecs begin their 2023 season with the SDSU season kickoff Feb. 9-12. San Diego State will open the season with two games on Thursday (vs. CSUN and Arizona State), then play Notre Dame on Friday, Memphis on Saturday, and Northern Illinois on Sunday the 12th to wrap up the tournament.
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