PUEBLO, Colo. – After splitting the doubleheader Saturday, the University of New Mexico softball team held off Northern Colorado on Sunday to claim a 9-5 series finale win. The Lobos are now 9-9 on the season.
“I just really appreciate how much fight our team showed after a tough first game,” said head coach Erica Beach. “So many parts of our lineup produced today, so that was really fun.”
The Lobos’ offense got off to an early start as they scored two runs each in the first, second and third innings.
New Mexico used three hits to score the first two runs of the game. With one out, D’Andra DeFlora reach on an error. She then scored on Jasmine Casados’ double to right center. Chelsea Johnson kept the offense going as she singled to left field. Jade Gray reached on a fielder’s choice, which allowed Casados to score as Johnson was out at second.
In the second inning, Michala Erickson led off with a triple to right center. She would score an out later on Shelbie Franc’s single to center. The second run of the inning came on a Johnson ground out to second but it allowed Franc to cross the plate, giving the Lobos a 4-0 lead.
The Lobos’ lead extended to 6-0 in the third after Lauren Wilmert had an RBI-single with two outs, scoring Angelica Lujan. Cheyenne Smith came across home plate off Franc’s single to center field.
Jensen Main kept the Bears off balance for the first three innings but the Bears put together two runs in the fourth. Main would get out of the inning but the Lobos went to Tess McPherson in the fifth. McPherson allowed a single and two walks to load the bases for the Bears. The Lobos made another pitching change, going to Krissy Fortner to close things out. The Bears ended up getting two runs in that inning.
But in the sixth, the Lobos answered with three runs of their own to take a 9-4 lead. McGarrigle singled to center to score Jordan Gelfand, who pinch ran for Johnson. With one out, Erickson singled down the left field line to score Gray. And the final run came off Smith’s double to right center, scoring McGarrigle.
Fortner allowed one run in the sixth but shutdown the Bears in the seventh to earn her second save on the season and bump her career save record to 13.
Main earned the victory in the circle, improving her record to 4-3. She allowed two runs, one earned, off six hits. She struck out three in four innings of work.
At the plate, Erickson finished with a 3-for-3 effort with a run scored and an RBI. Franc finished with two RBIs.
The Lobos will return home for their home opener on Wednesday, playing host to UTEP for a doubleheader before hosting the Lobo Classic over next weekend. The doubleheader with UTEP will begin at 2 p.m. and will stream live on the Mountain West Network.