New Mexico Softball – At Fresno State
When: Tuesday – 5 & 7 p.m. (MT); Wednesday – 1 p.m. (MT)
Who: Fresno State Bulldogs
GoLobos.com: Live stats, live stream, box score, postgame recap and stats
Video: All games will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network which can be found at GoLobos.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico softball team will face its toughest challenge yet as the Lobos head to Mountain West foe Fresno State for a midweek three-game series.
Fresno State comes into the series with a 25-13 overall record and currently sits tied for second with New Mexico in the Mountain West with a 6-3 record.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-1 weekend at San Diego State as they beat the Aztecs by a combined score of 13-4 in the three-game series.
Historically, the Lobos have struggled with the Bulldogs as Fresno State leads the all-time series 31-6. Last season, the Lobos claimed the first game of the series 11-9 in eight innings but fell in the next two games by a combined score of 29-0.
Fresno State is led at the plate by senior Brenna Moss. Her numbers are in many categories of the top-10 in the conference. She owns a .472 batting average. She has recorded 60 hits, including 10 doubles and two triples. She has scored 39 times which is a team-best along with a team-best 18 walks.
In the circle, the Bulldogs have relied most on junior Jill Compton. She is 15-9 on the season with a team-leading 2.21 earned run average. In 155 innings, she has collected 148 strikeouts and allowed 68 runs off 149 hits. She holds her opponents to a .250 batting average.
New Mexico is hitting .304 for the season and .305 in conference games compared to Fresno State’s .317 average for the season and .309 conference average. The Lobos have a earned run average of 3.79 in conference action while the Bulldogs are leading the conference with a 1.19 earned run average in Mountain West games.
UNM comes to the Fresno State series after its third win of a Mountain West three-game series — vs. Nevada, UNLV and Utah State. The Lobos have had five games in those series determined by a single run. The Lobos put together their first-ever win over Nevada on Thursday before claiming another one-run game, a 6-5 victory over Friday. The Lobos are 22-16 on the season and the 6-3 MW start is the best since the 2007 season.
The Lobos are led at the plate by Mariah Rimmer. She is hitting .411 for the season with a team-leading 11 doubles. She has tallied 26 RBIs off 51 total hits. Rimmer also leads the team in stolen bases as she is 9-for-10.
New Mexico has looked to sophomore pitcher Krissy Fortner in the circle. She leads the team with a 2.68 earned run average. She owns a 7-3 record and has allowed 33 runs off 63 hits while striking out 47 in 75.2 innings of work.
The two teams are set to meet Tuesday for a doubleheader with the final game of the series on Wednesday. The Lobos return home for more Mountain West action as they play host to Colorado State this weekend.
MAKE IT THREE SERIES WINS
After claiming two straight Mountain West series, the Lobos did it again for the third straight weekend, claiming the series over Nevada last weekend. The Lobos and the Wolf Pack battle it out all weekend. The Lobos claimed the first game by a score of 4-3 which was the first time ever the Lobos beat Nevada. The Lobos came back on Friday and one another one-run game, this time 6-5. UNM made a comeback on Saturday but it wasn’t enough to claim the sweeping, falling in the final game 7-4.
FORTNER BREAKS UNM SAVE RECORD
Sophomore Krissy Fortner broke UNM softball’s single-season save record on Friday as she claimed her fifth save of the season. She pitching 1.2 innings and allowed one run off one hit while walking two and striking out two to help the Lobos a 6-5 win and their third straight Mountain West series win.
Fortner leads the team with a 2.68 earned run average. In 75.2 innings of work, she has allowed 33 runs, 29 earned, off 63 hits while striking out 47 and walking 27. Fortner has made the most appearances for the Lobos this season with 31. Her record is the best on the team of 7-3.
RIMMER GETS THE WALK-OFF
In the first game of the Nevada series, the Lobos were tied with the Wolf Pack 3-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Brandi Heimburg led off the half-inning with a triple to right field. The next two Lobos struck out which put Rimmer at the plate with tough pressure. But the pressure didn’t seem to phase her as she took the second pitch of the at-bat over the left fielder’s head to score Heimburg and gave the Lobos their first-ever win over Nevada and in walk-off fashion.
CASADOS NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After the Nevada Series, Jasmine Casados was named Mountain West Player of the Week after leading the Lobos to its third straight Mountain West series win.
She led the Lobos at the plate, hitting .625. She went 5-for-8 on the weekend with a double, triple, a home run and four walks. She had a total of three RBIs, including two RBIs that helped the Lobos win their first-ever game over Nevada with a 4-3 victory.
Casados went perfect in the second game of the series, going 2-for-2 with a double, a home run, two walks and two runs scored.
For the weekend, she had a slugging percentage of 1.375 slugging percentage to go along with a .750 on-base percentage.
At third base, she did not have an error in her eight chances.
MISCELLANEOUS STREAKS
Brandi Heimburg’s hitting streak came to a stop on Saturday as she did not get a hit in the final game of the Nevada series but she had an impressive 16-game hitting streak going. However, she still has reached base 17-straight games.