ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After falling behind 6-0 after the second inning, the University of New Mexico softball team chipped away but the comeback wasn’t enough to outlast a hot offense from New Mexico State, falling 12-6 in the annual Rio Grande Rivalry on Tuesday.
New Mexico State went off for a hot start in the first and second innings. The Aggies pounded out seven hits which included two home runs off Lobo starter Lisa Rodrigues.
“It is a little difficult to come back,” said third baseman Jasmine Casados. “I know that we are the type of team that is scrappy. It didn’t really affect us. It is really hard to come back from that kind of lead.”
But head coach Erica Beach’s Lobos did not go down that easy as they fought back to score two runs in the bottom of the third inning.
“We know our offense is going to put up runs,” said Beach “We are very potent offensively. We have power. We have speed. We needed a little bit better pitching at the beginning so our offense could catch fire.”
After reliever Lauren Soles kept the Aggies scoreless in the top of the third, Brandi Heimburg led off the inning with a single through the left side. She was then brought home on Casados’ blast over the center field wall. The two-run shot was her fourth of the season and 11th career home run.
New Mexico State answered back with three runs of its own to take a 9-2 lead over the Lobos in the fourth. New Mexico put Tess McPherson in circle to get out of the inning.
The Aggies kept the Lobos scoreless in the bottom of the inning and put up one more run in the top of the 5th to extend the lead to 10-2 and putting the Lobos in a mercy rule situation.
But the Lobos stayed alive as two more runs came across the plate. Heimburg led off with a walk and two outs later, advanced on Mariah Rimmer’s single through the right side. Karissa Haleman hit a ball off the fence for a two-RBI triple that kept the Lobos alive for at least another inning.
New Mexico State capped its scoring in the sixth with two more runs off reliever Krissy Fortner, forcing another mercy rule situation.
For the second time, the Lobos responded by matching those two runs off back-to-back RBI singles from Casados and Rimmer.
Both teams went scoreless in the seventh as New Mexico State claimed its 24th victory of the season.
The Lobos used four pitchers in the game but Rodrigues was credited with the loss. She drops to 1-3 on the season. She allowed five runs off seven hits while striking out one. Soles had a team-high of three strikeouts.
Casados was the top performer at the plate as she went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Haleman and Rimmer each went 2-for-4, Haleman with two RBIs and Rimmer with one, respectively. Heimburg scored two runs.
The Lobos are now 18-14 on the season. The Lobos will play the second game of the Rio Grande Rivalry on April 14 down in Las Cruces. They return to Mountain West action this weekend as they travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for a three-game series with UNLV. Live stats and video will be available all weekend at GoLobos.com.