FRESNO, Calif. – After a tough two days of the series, the University of New Mexico softball team battled tough in the series finale but fell 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Lobos are now 20-27 on the year and 6-15 in the Mountain West.
After a scoreless first inning, Fresno State was on the board first, scoring one run off Lobo starter Krissy Fortner. The Bulldogs led off the second with a triple and singled on the next play to take a 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs put up another run in the fourth off Fortner, a home run over the center field wall, taking a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, the Lobos finally broke up the Bulldogs’ no-hitter. Doris Smith singled up the middle with one out. Jordan Gelfand came in to pinch run for Smith. Kasey Halleen plated, Gelfand with two outs. Halleen hit a ball hard to right center for a double. She then advanced to third on an error by the right fielder. Gelfand scored easy from second to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 2-1.
Fresno State answered in the bottom of the fifth with a run. A hard hit ball down the right field line gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead.
Fortner and the Lobos shut down the Bulldogs in order in the sixth, giving them a chance in the seventh to put together some offense.
In the seventh D’Andra DeFlora led off with a single through the left side, the third hit for the Lobos on the game. But the Bulldogs came up with a double play to get a quick to outs and clear the bases. Callie McGarrigle came in to pinch hit with two outs and kept the inning going with a double to center. But the game ended on a fly out to right field.
The Lobos pounded out four hits on the game with Halleen, McGarrigle, Doris Smith and DeFlora each with a hit.
Fortner takes the loss in the circle, falling to 5-5 on the season. She allowed three runs, off seven hits, while striking out two.
The Lobos will celebrate the four seniors next weekend as they look to finish the season strong with a series against Boise State. The season finale will begin on Thursday, May 11 with a 5 p.m. game. The senior celebration will be on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. The series finale will be Saturday at 10 a.m.