ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico softball team used four home runs and a pitching gem from Lauren Soles to get even with San Josè State 14-0 for its first shutout of the season Friday evening at Lobo Softball Field.
After falling short 12-9 to the Spartans yesterday, the Lobos were looking to get even and that’s just what they did and in shutout fashion. The Lobos pounded out four home runs, including a grand slam and three-run shot from Lisa Rodrigues.
But it all started in the circle, when starting pitcher Lauren Soles set the tone and retired the first three of four Spartan batters. That gave the Lobos a chance to get on the board early.
“It started in the circle,” said head coach Erica Beach. “For her to come in and shut them down sets the pace for our team and they followed suit. We hit the ball really well last night and even though it didn’t result in the win, we have confidence in what we were going to do today.
“We put barrel on the ball all day long and hit the ball hard. I was really proud of the fight they put in for the entire game and our defense played tough behind Lauren.”
The Lobo offense took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Jasmine Casados blasted out her sixth home run of the year over the right center wall.
New Mexico didn’t stop there as Michaela Erickson homered in the bottom of second, a three-run shot over the center field wall to take a 4-0 lead.
After Soles kept the Spartans off balance in the top of the third, the Lobos came out swinging again, scoring seven runs off six hits, which included Rodrigues’ grand slam, a RBI double from Chelsea Johnson and a two-out, two-RBI single from Casados.
The seven runs gave the Lobos an 11-0 lead and put the Spartans’ backs against the wall.
Soles continued to be effective in the circle as she did not allow a runner to get to third the rest of the game.
“She just threw a gem,” said Beach. “She was owning both sides of the plate and jammed them quite a bit.”
The Lobos added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth as Rodrigues blasted out her second home run of the game, a three-run shot over center.
“I think she got back into it when she hit the walk-off against Boise State last weekend,” said Beach. “She was seeing the ball really well today. She is a big strong kid so if she puts that barrel on it, it’s going to go along way. I am so happy for her to have that kind of night. She is a fun, coachable kid and you can’t help but smile when something like that happens.”
Soles came in to the final inning and shut down the Spartans to capture the win in run-rule fashion, her first shutout of the season, as well as, the Lobos. She tallied four strikeouts and walked two while allowing six hit in a complete game.
The Lobos pounded out 12 hits for the game with Rodrigues going 2-for-2 with a career-high seven RBIs. Erickson and Karissa Haleman each went 2-for-2 , Erickson with three RBIs. Casados went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
New Mexico improves to 29-24 on the season, which is now 13 more wins than last season’s win total. In the Mountain West, the Lobos are now 13-10, which is six more wins than last year. The Lobos will look to take their sixth series of the year tomorrow and will celebrate their four seniors. First pitch is set for noon MT. Live stats and video will be available on GoLobos.com.