ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico scored 10 runs in the fourth inning and Lisa Rodrigues homered in the fifth to claim an 11-3 run-rule five-inning win over Boise State for its first Mountain West sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon at Lobo Softball Field.
The sweep was also head coach Erica Beach’s first Mountain West sweep since the conference went to a three-game series in 2012. The run-rule game is the second of the season for the Lobos but first one in five innings.
After trailing 3-0 in the first three and half innings, the Lobos came together to score 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth. The last time the Lobos scored 10 runs in an inning was last season against Utah State when the Lobos claimed a 20-3 five-inning win.
“I never felt that we were going to be out of the game, even though they had the lead,” said Beach. “I knew our offense was going to get the job done and they were going to get to that pitcher eventually.”
The bottom of the inning started off with a single from Mariah Rimmer. Karissa Haleman followed with a double to score Rimmer from first and Chelsea Johnson singled to center to score Haleman, cutting the Bronco lead to 3-2.
The Lobos took the lead in the next two at-bats as Mia Hignojos doubled on the next play and her and Johnson both scored on Rodrigues’ single down the left field line to take the lead for good.
New Mexico then used a hit-by-pitch, a walk, a Bronco error, a sacrifice fly and two hits to score six more runs, which included Johnson’s fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot to right center.
“Any time your team puts up 10 runs in an inning, it is a special event. Very proud of their fight and the tenacity that they showed. That was a really fun inning to be apart of. It shows how dangerous our offense really is.”
Rodrigues homered in the bottom of the fifth, her sixth of the year, for the walk-off which wouldn’t allow the Broncos to come back.
“We couldn’t play two more innings with them. We knew they would just continue to fight back so that was our chance to really end the game.”
Carrie Sheehan started the game in the circle for the Lobos but gave up three runs. Rodrigues came in to the circle in the fourth inning. She was able to get the final two outs of the inning and shut down the Broncos in the top of the fifth for her second win of the season in the circle.
“Carrie threw well the first four innings but Lisa came in and shut the door for us. She kept us in the game and gave us a chance to put runs on the board.”
At the plate, the Lobos pounded out 11 hits with a 2-for-3, four-RBI performance from Johnson. Rodrigues and Hignojos each went 2-for-3, Rodrigues with three RBIs. Rimmer, Haleman and Heimburg each had one hit.
The Lobos improve to 28-23 on the season which is now 12 more wins than last year’s win total of 16. In the Mountain West, New Mexico is now 12-9 on the season which is five more wins than last year’s MW win total of 7.
Next weekend, the Lobos will play its final Mountain West series of the season, hosting San Jose State Thursday, Friday and Saturday with Senior Day activities on Saturday. Live stats and live video will be available at GoLobos.com.