March 3, 2011
Lobo Softball — At Lobo Field
Saturday: 3 p.m., No. 5 Washington at Lobos, doubleheader
Sunday: Noon, No. 5 Washington at Lobos
GoLobos.com: GameTracker, Recap, Stats
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer / Go Lobos.com
The challenge for Erica Beach’s young Lobos is obvious, but not daunting. That’s simply the way it is with Beach’s Lobos. It’s more or less a “Bring It On,” “No Fear,” “Let’s See What You Got,” attitude.
The Washington Huskies have a whole lot of everything, and maybe the Huskies` visit to Lobo field this Saturday and Sunday should be daunting. They have tradition, talent, hitting and pitching, and bring that plus a No. 5 ranking at the Lobos.
Oh, yeah, the 2009 NCAA College World Series champions also are undefeated at 13-0.
Maybe it should be an intimidating challenge for Beach’s Lobos to face a team that pitches and hits at such a high level, but the Lobos see this visit only as an opportunity to also play the game at a high level.
“We’re ready for Washington,” said Beach. “We’re excited. We plan to go at every team hard and we plan to give the Huskies a run for their money. We plan to put on a good show in front of our fans and hopefully take a couple of games from the Huskies.
“We are here to play good competition and we don’t care if our opponent is ranked or what their status is. We come out to play everybody the same and that’s hard and with a lot of confidence.”
The Lobos will have some newfound confidence in their swagger when they face Washington in a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. UNM is undefeated at home at 6-0 and 6-3 on the season.
But the Lobos have yet to play a team of Washington’s caliber and Washington’s rank. Beach, who once pitched for Arizona State, knows well the deep layers of softball talent that a Pac-10 team can throw on the field. That league has seven teams in the Top 20.
The Huskies obviously aren’t looking at a down year coming off a Pac-10 championship season in 2010 where they threw out a 50-9 record on their way to their 10th NCAA tourney. They are ranked and are the only Pac-10 program with no blemish on their record. They return six starters and nine lettermen.
For sure, the Huskies aren’t coming to Lobo Field expecting to see that undefeated mark get soiled. For sure, this will be a stern test for Beach’s first-year program.
“No doubt it will be a challenge,” said Beach. “They are ranked No. 5 for a reason and they are a proven program. But we competed well at Baylor and Baylor has excellent pitching, so that has prepared us for what we might see with Washington.”
|
Lobos 2011 Roster 16 Chelsea Anaya |
The Lobos have come out of the gates hitting the ball well. Jessica Garcia tops the UNM batting charts with a .464 average with two home runs. She has a .964 slugging percentage accented by six doubles. Kerry Hodgins is hitting .429 and Kaity Ingram is at .406. UNM has five other batters over .300: Danielle Castro (.346), Stefanie Carramusa (.345), Cassandra Kalapsa (.333), Chelsea Anaya (.323) and Shenise Cox (.316). UNM is hitting .336 as a team.
The Huskies’ pitching staff is young, somewhat unproven at the D-I level and one of the reasons the Huskies were picked to finish fourth (tied with Cal) in the Pac-10 behind UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State.
So far, that young pitching hasn’t been an issue. Freshman Kaitlin Inglesby is 7-0 on the season with a save. She got one win against No. 21 Texas A&M and another win over No. 22 San Diego State. Washington also has wins coming off the arms of freshmen Whitney Jones and Bryana Walker, and sophomore Baily Harris.
The Washington pitching staff is unbeaten, but that staff of young arms has gotten a lot of help at the plate. The Huskies are mashing the softball.
Consider these lopsided wins by Washington: 14-2, 9-2, 8-0, 23-4, 18-5 and 22-3. In Washington’s opening weekend of play, the Huskies scored 88 runs in 27 innings as the Mercy Rule was called into play in four of their five games.
The last time the Huskies rolled out an 13-0 start came in 2009 when they rolled to the national title. Washington has eight players hitting above .400 with Niki Williams at the top with a .594 average. Washington is hitting .401 as a team.
The Huskies aren’t touching the bases off of slaps and seeing-eye grounders. They have power and a eye-popping .682 slugging percentage. The Huskies have 24 home runs on the young season. To put that into perspective, the Lobos had 23 home runs in the 2010 season. The Lobos have six home runs so far this year.
You can’t make mistakes with these hard-hitting Huskies. Washington had nine home runs in one game: the second-most home runs in a single game in NCAA history. Junior Taylor Smith smashed three of those dingers, tying a school record. She has seven home runs on the year with Williams and Morgan Stuart with five apiece.
The Huskies are typical of many Pac-10 programs. They are the elite of softball and the Lobos are eager to take a shot — and a bite — at that upper crust.
“Washington is the caliber of team you have to beat in order to get to the postseason and then compete there,” said Beach. “This is the type of competition we have to get used to playing.
“But I love the fight in my team. We get down, but we don’t let up. We have had four come-from-behind wins. We never stop playing hard and that is so important in the growth of a team and a program. We fight in the circle. We fight in the batter’s box. We just need to continue to grow mentally.
“It should be a nice weekend and we are bringing in a high-caliber team and that combination should bring in a crowd. We’re excited to see how many people come out to support us.”