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Stevens: Lobos Pound Out 17 Hits in Pounding CSU 13-7

New Mexico Tallies Two Victories in Fall Ball ActionNew Mexico Tallies Two Victories in Fall Ball Action

April 30, 2011

Lobo Softball – At Lobo Field
Saturday: Lobos 13, Colorado State 7
Up Next: Thursday, Utah at Lobos – Lobo Field

By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com

In her friendly battle to catch up with — and also stay ahead of — teammate Jessica Garcia, Lobo Stefanie Carramusa fell behind and pulled away.

Garcia pounded two balls over the Lobo Field wall Saturday in New Mexico’s 13-7 spanking of Colorado State to increase her home run lead over Carramusa. Garcia now has 12 and Carramusa, who hit one homer against CSU, has 10.

“We’ve been chasing back and forth for the past couple of weeks,” said Carramusa, who went 3-for-4 vs. CSU. “She gets one and I see her one. I tried to see her two today, but it didn’t work out all that well.”

Sure, Garcia pulled away in the race for the 2011 Lobo Long Ball Crown and the UNM junior is closing in on UNM’s season mark of 13. But Carramusa, for now, has the bragging rights in the only major UNM hitting category that doesn’t fall into Garcia’s pocket – RBIs.

Carramusa had three RBIs Saturday to pull ahead of Garcia by two. Garcia had two RBIs in the 13-7 romp and has 35 on the season to 37 for Carramusa.

“I haven’t brought that up to her, but I probably will now,” said Carramusa referring to her RBI lead over Garcia.

This Lobo race is an interesting sidebar in a season in which the Lobos have turned around a lot of the misfortune of 2010 and proved themselves to be a team that other Mountain West teams need to take seriously.

“We expect to win every game,” said Lobo Danielle Castro, who went 4-for-4 vs. CSU, scoring three runs in helping set the RBI plate for Carramusa. “We go out there thinking nobody can beat us.”

The Rams (7-37, 0-9 MWC) obviously came out wanting to beat the Lobos (18-21, 4-5 MWC) and make up for the 19-6 and 13-5 hurting the Lobos put on CSU earlier this season in Fort Collins, Colo. Carramusa hit two homers in that series.

The Rams jumped up 5-3 after two innings and Lobo Coach Erica Beach threw out a little pep talk.

 

"We know the power they have. We see it day-in, day-out. That's what we want to see out of them. It's exciting to see it happen. We swing the bat hard and we swing with confidence. We do the right things and we swing at the right pitches."

Lobo Coach Erica Beach on UNM's four home runs vs. CSU

“We started out kind of slow, kind of nonchalant, but coach Beach had a little talk with us,” said Castro.

Said Beach: “I wasn’t happy with how we started the game. I challenged them after two innings to step it up.”

Said Garcia: “The first two innings were a little bit rocky for us, but once we cleaned it up and went to work, everything fell into place.”

The Lobos plated three runs in the bottom of the third and three more in the bottom of the fourth to take control of the game, 9-5. Garcia hit her first homer in the fourth inning.

“I got the pitch I wanted,” said the MWC’s No. 2 home run hitter. “It was middle-outside. I love to hit that pitch. Even in practice, we’ve been hitting bombs left and right; each and every one of us, not just one person. Everyone is hitting the daylights out of the ball.”

Confidence at the plate is vital and Castro said UNM’s two-game sweep at CSU helped the Lobos feel good in the box. “Winning 19-6 and 13-5 in previous games gave us a boost of confidence,” she said. “Maybe that’s why we went out so nonchalantly.”

The Lobos put the hammer on CSU in the bottom of the sixth inning with a four-run outburst. Garcia opened the inning with a solo shot to deep center field. Shenise Cox singled up the middle to drive home Castro, who had singled. Cassandra Kalapsa ended the scoring with a two-run homer that also scored Cox.

“We had that confidence that we can beat them. We can hit their pitchers,” said Carramusa. “When we came out today, it was lights out. We did our job.”

The Lobos have three home games next week with Utah visiting on Thursday and Brigham Young playing at Lobo Field on Friday and Saturday. UNM ends the regular season at UNLV and at San Diego State.

“We want to finish the way we know how to play,” said Carramusa. “We can’t be like, `Oh, we’re going to lose this game because they are supposed to beat us.’ We have to go back to our mentality.”

UNM also got a 3-for-4 effort at the plate from leadoff hitter Kaity Ingram. Kari Gutierrez picked up the win going four innings and allowing only three earned runs.

The Lobos had a double happy ending Saturday. They beat CSU and then they held a free clinic for Little League.

“It’s my passion to work with kids and actually I want to do that when I’m older,” said Castro. “When I was little, I did camps and clinics and I loved doing it. I loved having the attention of older girls and learning from them anything and everything I could. To be out here for them, is just a blessing.”

Said Coach Beach: “We are trying to build a bond between our program and (Little League). We are really excited we could make it happen. It gives our girls a chance to interact with the community and try to help spread softball through this community.”