ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico softball team dropped another heartbreaker, falling in the seventh inning to UNLV 7-6 on Saturday afternoon at the Lobo Softball Field. New Mexico is now 20-19 on the season and 5-8 in the Mountain West. UNLV improves to 22-24 overall and 6-11 in the conference.
UNLV jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning off a double steal. But the Lobos answered with three runs in the third off a Mariah Rimmer home run, her seventh on the season.
In the third, with two outs, Rimmer smashed a bomb straight over the centerfield wall to score Michala Erickson and Shelbie Franc, giving the Lobos a 3-1 lead going to the fourth.
UNLV responded by getting one run across with an RBI single and they put up two runs in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead over the Lobos.
But another three-run inning for New Mexico helped them regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Erickson single up middle with one out and was safe at second on Rimmer’s fielder’s choice due to an error by the shortstop. The two then scored off junior Jasmine Casados’ double to center, giving the Lobos a 5-4 lead.
The Lobos extend their lead to 6-4 that same inning as Casados scored on senior Karissa Haleman’s single down the left field line.
The two teams went scoreless in the sixth but UNLV busted opened its offense again in the seventh, putting up three more runs to take a 7-6 lead.
The Lobos tried in the bottom half to regain that lead as Rimmer walked and Johnson followed one out later with a single through the left side. Haleman then reached on a fielder’s choice, putting two outs on the board. Gray ended the game with a pop up to first.
At the plate, the Lobos had a total of nine hits with six of those coming from Rimmer, Johnson and DeFlora. Rimmer led the team with a 2-for-3 effort with three RBIs off a home run.
In the circle, Soles took the loss falling to 4-7 on the season. She went the distance, allowing seven runs, six earned, off 12 hits while walking one.
The Lobos finish out the three-game series tomorrow with UNLV. The game will begin at noon and will stream live on the Mountain West Network.