LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of New Mexico softball team used a big eighth inning, on both sides of the ball, to edge UNLV 6-3 and tie the Mountain West series 1-1 on Saturday afternoon at Eller Media Stadium.
The Lobos came out swinging in the first inning. Brandi Heimburg led off the game with a double to left center. She was brought home off Jasmine Casados’ sacrifice fly.
After two scoreless innings, two more runs came in for the Lobos in the fourth as Karissa Haleman belted out her third home run of the season, a two-run shot over the left field fence, giving New Mexico a 3-0 lead, going to the fifth.
Lobo starter Lauren Soles and the Lobo defense kept UNLV off balance through five innings which included a huge double play in the second inning.
But UNLV wasn’t going down that easy as the Rebels came back to score three runs in the sixth. The Lobos made a pitching change to closer Krissy Fortner and recorded the outs to get out of the inning tied with the Rebels 3-3.
The Lobos went down in order in the seventh and UNLV put up a threat in the bottom of the inning but a UNLV pop up and a strikeout by Fortner sent the game into the eighth inning, giving the Lobos another chance for their offense to catch fire.
And the Lobo offense did just that.
Michala Erickson led off the inning with a single to left. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Casados. Mariah Rimmer walked on the next at-bat before Chelsea Johnson hit a shot to left to score Erickson and put Rimmer at third.
On the next play, the Lobos put together a successful squeeze play by Haleman that scored Rimmer to take a 5-3 lead. The Lobos added one more insurance run as Hignojos singled to center to score Shelbie Franc, who pinch ran for Johnson.
The three-run eighth inning gave the Lobos a 6-3 lead, a cushion going to the bottom of the inning.
But Fortner and the Lobo defense secured the 19th victory of the season with three quick outs, including a double play and a pop up to end the game.
Fortner earned the win in the circle. She is now 5-3 on the season. She allowed no runs and just two hits while striking out two. Soles gave up three runs off seven hits while walking one.
At the plate, the Lobos were led by many. Haleman went 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Hignojos and Johnson each went 2-for-4 with an RBI while Gabrielle Stacey went 2-for-3. Erickson and Brandi Heimburg and Rimmer also had one hit apiece.
The Lobos are now 19-15 on the season and 3-2 in the Mountain West. New Mexico and UNLV will wrap up the three-game series with the finale scheduled tomorrow at 12 p.m. PT/1 p.m. MT. Live stats and video will be available at GoLobos.com, as well as, in-game updates on Twitter (@UNMSoftball).