New Mexico Lobo Softball – Wilson DeMarini Desert Classic
Friday (Feb. 13) – New Mexico vs. UCLA 2:30 p.m. MT (Live Stats), New Mexico vs. Cal State Northridge 7 p.m. MT (Live Stats)
Saturday (Feb. 14) – New Mexico vs. Utah Valley, 4:45 p.m. MT, New Mexico vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. MT
Sunday (Feb. 15) – New Mexico vs. Seattle U, 10 a.m. MT
GoLobos.com – game recaps, stats, scores
Twitter – Follow @UNMSoftball for in-game updates, final scores and other Lobo softball updates.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – For the first time in head coach Erica Beach’s era, the Lobo softball team will be heading to the Wilson DeMarini Desert Classic this weekend with a challenging schedule ahead of them.
It will be a good test for the Lobos as they have to top opponents in the country. They start the weekend off with No.12/10 UCLA, who claimed a 13-0 win over the Lobos in five innings last year at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Lobos second match up is another familiar foe in Cal State Northridge. The Lobos face them last weekend and suffered a 5-1 loss.
New Mexico will face two newer opponents in Utah Valley and Indiana. The last time New Mexico met up with Utah Valley was in Beach’s first season and UNM took the game 8-3. The last time Indiana met the Lobos, Indiana took a 5-4 win in 2002.
The final game of the weekend, the Lobos will face another opponent from last weekend, Seattle U. The Lobos claimed a 4-3 win over the Redhawks.
After last weekend, the Lobos are hitting .250 on the season with Brandi Heimburg leading the way with a .353 batting average. The Lobos pitching staff saw much improvement over the weekend compared to last season. The staff currently has a 1.94 ERA and allowed only 10 earned runs in 36.0 innings of work.
KAJIKAWA CLASSIC – WEEKEND RECAP
The Lobos started the 2015 season with a 3-2 record which is the best program start since 2012. UNM opened the season with a 4-3 win over Seattle U. The squad lost its next two games but only by a combined six runs. They lost to BYU 2-0 and Cal State Northridge 5-1.
New Mexico had a extra-inning game with San Diego that ended with the Lobos on top, winning 6-4. On Sunday, the Lobos capped off the weekend with a 6-3 win over UC Santa Barbara.
A LATE NIGHT
Saturday’s games started later than they were supposed too, almost two hours later. The Lobos’ game against Cal State Northridge was supposed to start at 6 p.m. but the first pitch didn’t go until 8 p.m. due to the game before, between Texas and Stanford, going about an hour and 40 minutes over schedule.
With the first game pushed back, that meant the second game was getting pushed back as well. The Lobos second game was at 8:15 p.m. but didn’t get started until 10:30. With the game going into extra-innings the Lobos didn’t get off the field until about 1:30 a.m.
But it didn’t phase the team as they were able to get a little bit of sleep and get the win over UC Santa Barbara the next day.
SOLES TABBED AS MW PITCHER OF THE WEEK
The Lobos saw much improvement in the circle over the weekend compared to the 2014 season but one Lobo proved she could be a big help for the Lobos. After her performance over the weekend, she has been tabbed as this week’s Mountain West Pitcher of the Week.
Junior Lauren Soles was the starting pitcher in the first game of the season against Seattle U. She pitched a complete game with no earned runs and four strikeouts. She came back on Saturday in relief of the San Diego game and pitched 7.1 innings which included the extra innings. She tallied three strikeouts and again had no earned runs. She also ended the game on a strikeout.
Sophomore Tess McPherson and newcomer Krissy Fortner also made impacts in the circle. McPherson started against BYU and UC Santa Barbara and showed much improvement from last season in the walk category and earned runs. Fortner was in a relief role this weekend but show movement on the ball that could be dangerous this season and help the Lobos.
COMING UP CLUTCH
The offense part of the game was a little bit of a struggle out the gate for the Lobos. But the Lobos had a spark in the lineup, freshman catcher Chelsea Johnson. Johnson helped the squad to tie the game up against San Diego. The Lobos were down 3-0 heading into the sixth until Johnson smashed one over the left field fence for her first career home run and to tie the game at 3-3. She also came up clutch in extra innings, slugging one up the middle for an RBI.
Against UC Santa Barbara, Johnson put together two RBIs from a double to a right center and an RBI single.
For the weekend, Johnson hit .333 with five hits, a three-run homer, two runs scored and six RBIs.
LOBOS PICKED NINTH IN MW PRESEASON POLL
New Mexico is picked to finish ninth in Mountain West action this season. The Lobos received a total of nine points which is nine points away from eighth pick Utah State. The Lobos finished eighth in 2014 with a 7-17 record, one more win than Utah State.
The favorite of the conference is Fresno State, who finished with a 15-9 conference record last season, one win behind 2014 conference winner San Diego State. The Bulldogs received seven first place votes for a total of 63 points.
San Diego State picked up 54 points and one first place vote for second while UNLV casted the other first place vote and 44 points for third place. Colorado State, San Jose State and Boise State are picked in the middle of the pack, four, five and six. Nevada is picked seventh while Utah State and New Mexico finish the list off.