COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In the first week of the season, San Diego State softball has the Mountain West Player of the Week, the league announced Monday. Jade Ignacio earned the honor for her play in the SDSU Season Kickoff tournament, in which SDSU went 3-1 with a trio of walk-off wins.
San Diego State (3-1) started the season with a 3-2 win over Minnesota on Friday, finishing with a Julie Holcomb walk-off single. In the nightcap on Friday, the Aztecs followed it up with a 9-1 win over Loyola Chicago in six innings, capped off by a three-run Olivia Gigante home run. Following a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, SDSU bounced back with a 4-3 win against Kentucky, finished off by Kiara Cisneros scoring the walk-off run on a wild pitch.
The 2025 All-Mountain West Second Team selection started behind the plate in all four games. During the week, Ignacio hit .636 with a 1.727 OPS (.636 on base percentage and 1.091 slugging percentage). Ignacio had at least one hit and two total bases in each game of the weekend, including multiple hits in three of the four contests. Across the four games, she went 7-for-11 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs, three runs scored and 12 total bases while succeeding on her lone stolen base attempt.
In the win against Minnesota, Ignacio hit a two-run go-ahead home run in the second inning. She came through in the second inning again facing Loyola Chicago, singling, stealing second base and scoring the go-ahead run. The Aztec backstop added another hit an inning later. The next day, against Miami (Ohio), Ignacio accounted for two of SDSU’s five hits and was the only Aztec to reach base multiple times in the contest. She was not done yet, doubling twice against the Wildcats and coming around to score the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
San Diego State is back home this weekend, hosting the Campbell/Cartier Classic. The Aztecs will play six times between Thursday and Sunday. SDSU will face Baylor at 6 p.m. on Thursday and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, North Dakota at 7 p.m. on Friday, Fordham at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Oregon State at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. San Diego State’s games on Thursday and Saturday will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network and the first 100 fans to the Aztecs’ game against Oregon State on Saturday will receive SDSU softball valentine cards.