ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After trailing 3-1 in the seventh inning, the University of New Mexico softball team used a rally in the bottom half of the inning to claim a 4-3 win over Colorado State and snap a five-game losing skid Saturday afternoon at Lobo Softball Field.
The Lobos scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Gabrielle Stacey reached on a throwing error to start the inning. She then advanced to third off Brandi Heimburg’s double to left field. Jasmine Casados singled to third to load the bases for Mariah Rimmer. Rimmer reached on a fielding error and scored Stacey, cutting the CSU lead to 3-2.
New Mexico’s next run came off a RBI walk from Karissa Haleman, scoring Heimburg. That walk brought Mia Hignojos to the plate and she took advantage of the second pitch and smashed it in to left field to score Casados, snagging the victory in walk-off fashion.
“It was a great Job,” said head coach Erica Beach. “Their backs were against the wall. We took advantage of some miscues and then came up with the clutch hits when we need them. That is what we have need the past five games. We scattered hits throughout the whole game but need that one clutch hit. I am very proud of their fight and grit.”
Colorado State took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning off a base-loaded wild pitch from Lobo starter Lauren Soles. The Rams took advantage of another wild pitch from Soles in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead over the Lobos.
“Lauren threw a great game,” said Beach. “They did score two runs off wild pitches and one error but she did a good job of not giving up big hits. We just have to eliminate all the free runners.”
New Mexico matched that run in the bottom half of the inning. Michala Erickson doubled down the right field line and advanced to third as the right fielder had trouble getting control of the ball. She then scored on Heimburg’s single up the middle.
Both teams went scoreless through the next two innings before CSU took a 3-1 lead in the sixth.
Soles claimed the complete-game victory, improving her record to 8-5 on the season. She allowed three runs off two hits while walking three and striking out four. CSU’s Trinity Harrington suffered the loss for the Rams, she allowed four runs off 10 hits while walking one and striking out one.
At the plate, the Lobos pounded out 11 hits through the seven innings which included a perfect 3-for-3 performance from Haleman. Heimburg, Casados, Hignojos and Erickson each had two hits in the win.
The Lobos improve to 23-20 on the season and are back at .500 in the Mountain West with a 7-7 record. CSU drops to 22-21 on the season and 3-8 in the MW. The two will meet for the rubber match tomorrow at noon MT. Live stats and video will be available at GoLobos.com.
“Every game against them is a dog fight. I don’t care about any of the record because every time that we play them it is a hard fought, intense game. We just need another good pitching performance from our starter and have our lineup get on the board earlier.”