MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The University of New Mexico softball team fell in a doubleheader sweep to Georgia Southern yesterday but rebounded back to take a 6-1 win over Memphis and 9-2 win over Marist on Friday afternoon.
It was a more productive day at the plate for the Lobo offense and also a more productive day in the circle. The Lobos pounded out 21 hits on the day for 15 runs.
In the circle, both Lisa Rodrigues and Tess McPherson captured their first wins of the season, keeping both teams off balance. Rodrigues threw 6.1 innings in game one allowing one run off five hits. McPherson pitched six innings and allowed two runs off six hits while walking three.
The day started off with a run in the top of the first against Memphis. Mariah Rimmer singled to third and scored off Chelsea Johnson’s double to right center.
The Lobos added three more runs in the third. Rimmer singled, stole second and scored off Mia Hignojos’ sacrifice fly. Rodrigues doubled to left center to score Karissa Haleman and Johnson.
Rodrigues and the Lobos’ defense kept Memphis off balance as they did not score through the first six innings of the game. That gave the Lobos chances to add more insurance runs to the board.
Two more runs came across the board for the Lobos, one in the fifth and one in the sixth. Rodrigues singled up the middle in the fifth to score Haleman. In the sixth, Shelbie Franc doubled to left center and later scored on a Memphis error.
Memphis began to get a hole of Rodrigues as it had runners in scoring position with one out. Beach put in closer Krissy Fortner to finish out the inning. Memphis got a run on the board but Fortner shut the next two hitters down to finish out the game.
Rodrigues was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs. Rimmer went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Rodrigues improved to 1-2 on the season in the circle.
In game two, the Lobos came out on top first. After a scoreless inning on both sides in the first inning, New Mexico plated five runs in the second.
The inning started with a Hignojos walk. She advanced to second on Gabrielle Stacey’s bunt-for-base-hit. Michala Erickson singled through the left side to load the bases for Brandi Heimburg. Heimburg singled down the left field line to score Hignojos and Stacey. Erickson and Heimburg moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt from Franc and then bases were loaded after Rimmer was intentionally walked. Johnson came to the plate with two outs and doubled to clear the bases and take a 5-0 Lobo lead.
McPherson kept Marist off balance for two innings. They did score a run in the third to bring the score to 5-1. But the Lobos added one in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead.
Erickson led off the inning with a bunt single. An out late, she scored on Franc’s triple to right center.
Marist put up another run in the bottom of the inning but the Lobos put it away on offense and defense in the seventh.
The Lobos scored three runs in the seventh. Two runs came off Franc’s single to left center. The Lobos capped their scoring off Rimmer’s single up the middle that scored Heimburg.
McPherson improved to 1-3 on the season. At the plate, Franc went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Stacey and Erickson each went 2-for-4. Erickson tallied three runs scored.
The Lobos improve to 14-11 on the season and are two wins away from the 16-win mark in 2014. They continue the College of Charleston Invitational Saturday with a game against Furman and a game with College of Charleston. First game starts at 7 a.m. MT.