HOUSTON, Texas – The University of New Mexico softball team finished as the winner of the Hilton Houston Plaza Classic after a 6-2 final game win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, giving them a 4-1 record on the weekend.
“Today was a great way to close out the weekend,” said head coach Erica Beach. “Corpus Christi played tight games all weekend with everybody. Our last game against them was a really close one and we wanted to come out of this weekend 4-1 and we did that.”
Once again, the Lobos were on the board in the first inning against the Islanders. With one out, Franc walked and advanced on Jasmine Casado’s ground out to short. She then advanced and scored on a throwing error which also put Chelsea Johnson on first. Johnson then scored on Mariah Rimmer’s two-out double through the left side.
The Islanders weren’t going to back down easy as they kept the Lobos scoreless in the second and put one on the board themselves in the bottom of the inning.
“Corpus Christi did a good job of putting the pressure on us throughout the game but we responded well. That was the biggest thing.”
But it didn’t phase New Mexico as it responded with a pair of home runs in the top of the third. Brandi Heimburg led off the inning with a blast over the right-center field wall and one out later, Casados put one over the same spot. It was the first home runs this season for both Heimburg and Casados.
Bats were quiet the next couple innings as Lobo starter Carrie Sheehan kept the Islanders off balance. She retired the side in the third, fifth and seventh innings.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi did get a run across in the sixth off a pair of hits but New Mexico’s offense responded again with two more in the top of the seventh.
Lisa Rodrigues led off with a double down the right field line. Michala Erickson followed with a single to right field. Erickson advanced on a ground out on the next play, putting runners in scoring position. The two then scored on Casado’s single to right center.
Sheehan went one-two-three in the seventh for her third victory on the season. It was her second full seven innings of the season as she allowed two runs off five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
“We had a great pitching performance from Carrie. She really kept them off balance and didn’t really let them get a rally together.”
At the plate, Casados led the offense with a 3-for-4 performance to go along with one run scored, a home run and three RBIs. Heimburg, Johnson, Rimmer, Rodrigues and Erickson all pounded out hits for a total of eight hits for UNM.
The Lobos are now 8-7 on the season which is still the best start since 2012. Next weekend, the Lobos will have off and will return to action on March 3 as they debut their home schedule with a doubleheader against UTEP.