Weber State softball takes down No. 23 San Diego State in extra innings
Greg Merrill, for WSU Athletics
Weber State freshman Sadie Kirk (5) arrives at third base in a game against SIU-Edwardsville on Feb. 8, 2025, during a tournament at UTSA in San Antonio, Texas.Weber State softball’s schedule is as tough as it gets but the Wildcats claimed one big win Friday afternoon to open play at the Judi Garman Classic hosted by Cal State Fullerton.
Freshman Sadie Kirk poked a single through the 5-6 hole in the bottom of the ninth, scoring junior Riley Whalen and giving Weber State a 7-6, extra-innings victory over No. 23 San Diego State (12-4).
Kirk spoke with D1 Softball on a video posted to social media site X about playing college softball and winning the game.
“I’ve dreamed of this as a little girl and playing on this college field is beautiful. Getting the win made my heart happy,” Kirk said.
Having already played No. 14 Oregon and previously ranked Washington, Weber State (5-11) finishes the Garman Classic with games against No. 10 Arizona, No. 6 LSU, No. 4 UCLA and the University of Utah.
The game-winning single gave Kirk a 3-for-5 finish at the plate in a nine-hit game for WSU.
Senior Olivia Birkinshaw hit her second home run of the season, a solo homer in the second inning, to tie the game 1-1.
SDSU’s Shannon Cunningham doubled in a run, stole third and scored on an error to put the Aztecs up 4-1 in the fourth. Weber answered in the bottom half, tying it 4-4 with RBI singles from seniors Abby Grundy and Eva Richardson.
In extra innings, SDSU used an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to go up 6-4 in the eighth. WSU again answered, extending the game with run-scoring singles by sophomore Kiaira Smith and freshman Jordan McMahon.
Those eighth-inning runs were the only two senior Cali McCraw allowed in the circle; she pitched the final five innings of the game for WSU, allowing five hits and striking out three.
With tiebreaker runners placed at second base in extra innings, Weber erased SDSU’s lead runner when shortstop Taegan Smith took a ground ball to the plate, throwing out SDSU’s Julie Holcomb to preserve the 6-6 tie.
Whalen was WSU’s lead runner in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, she took third on a passed ball, setting up Kirk’s winner.
Weber State gave the Big Sky Conference its second win over a ranked opponent in the day. Idaho State (now 12-3) hit a walk-off homer to defeat No. 13 Texas Tech on Saturday morning at a tournament hosted by Texas A&M.
