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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The University of New Mexico softball team travels to Tucson, Ariz., for a single game against the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats on Thursday evening followed by a five-game tournament in the Hillenbrand Invitational that begins on Friday.
The Lobos open up the tournament against two top-10 teams in the NCAA rankings in No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Arizona and against Cal State Fullerton, who is currently receiving votes. They will close the tournament with games against UIC and USF.
Thursday’s game at Arizona will mark the first game played in the newly renovated Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium and will be streamed on Arizona’s live stream for free. The non-Arizona games will be broadcast on FloSoftball, which will require a subscription.
UNM enter the weekend with a 2-1 record following wins over UTEP and Creighton, having outscored their opponents 31-15.
LAST TIME OUT
The Lobos opened the season winning their first two games in dominating fashion with a 15-6 season-opening win against UTEP and an 8-0, five-inning run-rule win over BIG EAST preseason favorite Creighton.
UNM never trailed in either game and broke both games open with five runs in the second inning.
The Lobos dropped their first game of the season in a back-and-forth contest against New Mexico State in which the Lobos got out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first and took a 7-6 lead going in to the bottom of the sixth on a three-run home run by Andrea Howard. The Aggies responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning and although Cameryn O’Grady led off with a solo home run to bring UNM within one and Bailey Klitzke reached second, the Lobos were unable to tally the tying run.
MIXING IT UP
The Lobos used three different lineups the first weekend, with all three pitchers getting a start.
Six Lobos (Cameryn O’Grady, D’Andra DeFlora, Andrea Howard, Lauren Wilmert, Bailey Klitzke and Monica Salas) started all three games.
UNM started four freshmen against New Mexico State, with Kennedy Ferguson, Daryn Haslam, MacKenzie Peterson and Leslie Romero each getting their first collegiate starts.
In her first start with the Lobos, junior left-handed pitcher Kiana Spencer threw a complete game shutout, limiting the BIG EAST preseason favorite Creighton to just three hits in five innings of work. The junior didn’t allow any extra-base hits in the 24 batters she faced. She threw 91 pitches in the outing, 42 of them going for strikes.
HOT STARTS
The Lobos have scored first in all three of their games this season, outscoring opponents 4-1 in the first inning and 15-1 through the first three innings. Against UTEP, the leadoff hitter reached base six times. UNM didn’t give up its first run until the fourth inning in the game against UTEP and starting pitcher Bailey Klitzke didn’t give up a hit until the bottom of the fourth.
SECOND INNING MAGIC
In the first two games, the second inning belonged to the Lobos, with UNM scoring five runs against UTEP and against Creighton. In the season opener versus the Miners, the Lobos scored five runs on two hits and drew five walks, leading to three runs on consecutive walks alone. Against the Bluejays, the Lobos scored five runs on three hits, a single by Monica Salas, a double by D’Andra DeFlora that scored three after Andrea Howard was intentionally walked to load the bases and a two-run home run by Cameryn O’Grady. The Lobos are outscoring their opponents 10-0 in the second frame.
TOP OF THE LINEUP= CLUTCH
Andrea Howard, D’Andra DeFlora and Cameryn O’Grady combined to produce 14 RBI for the Lobos, hitting a combined 15 hits with four doubles, a triple and three home runs. Howard was 4-for-6 in reaching base as the leadoff hitter in an inning, DeFlora was 1-for-1 and O’Grady was 2-for-2. When runners were in scoring position, DeFlora was a perfect 3-for-3 with Howard a perfect 1-for-1, and O’Grady coming through in 4-out-of-5 situations.
In the game against Creighton, DeFlora hit a three-run double in the bottom of the second to give UNM its first three runs of the game and O’Grady followed that at-bat with a two-run home run.In the bottom of the fourth, Howard reached based on a bunt, DeFlora followed with a walk and O’Grady drove a 3-1 pitch to right field for a triple to make it 7-0 Lobos. DeFlora leads the Lobos with two doubles, but Howard and O’Grady each have one to represent the only doubles hit by UNM through three games.
…BUT THE MIDDLE CAN DELIVER TOO
Monica Salas has batted sixth in all three games and has delivered for the Lobos in all three. The senior is batting .455 with five hits on 11 at-bats, with a home run and four RBI. Salas is second on the team in total bases (8), fourth in batting average and slugging percentage (.727), tied for second in hits and tied for third in runs-batted-in. Freshman Maggie Buckholz got her first collegiate hit in her first collegiate at-bat against UTEP and made it count. Starting in right field and hitting fifth in the lineup, the freshman hit a single down the left-field line to score O’Grady and Howard for the first two runs of the game and the season for UNM.
WALK IT OUT
UNM leads the MW in walks drawn through the opening weekend with 23. In the season opener against UTEP, UNM drew 16 walks alone. Against the Miners, eight different players drew a walk, with Andrea Howard reaching base four times via a walk. Cameryn O’Grady and Lauren Wilmert each drew three walks, Maggie Buckholz two and Monica Salas, Taylor Jones, Kasey Halleen and Daryn Haslam each had one. Andrea Howard leads the team with five walks, one of which was intentional, with Lauren Wilmert second with four.
LET’S GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT
After the first weekend of competition for the MW teams, the Lobos lead the conference in seven categories and rank second in two.The Lobos are first in the conference in batting average (.373), double plays per game (1.0), home runs per game (1.33), on-base percentage (.520), scoring (10.33), slugging percentage (.613) and walks (23). They are tied for first in home runs (4) and caught stealing by (2), and are second in runs scored (31) and RBI (30).
NATIONALLY KNOWN
The Lobos rank fourth in the country in on-base percentage, sixth in scoring, 14th in slugging percentage and 21st in batting average. D’Andra DeFlora and Cameryn O’Grady are tied for second in the NCAA in runs scored per game (2.0).
IT’S ALL O’GRADY
Junior shortstop Cameryn O’Grady was nearly unstoppable in the first three games of the season, going 7-for-9 at the plate (.778 batting average), registering one double, a triple and two home runs as well as a team-high seven RBI.
O’Grady tallied 16 total bases, drew three walks and posted a slugging percentage of 1.778 and an on-base percentage of .833. The junior was 2-for-2 as the leadoff hitter in an inning, 4-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-2 batting with two outs, in which she recorded two of her seven runs-batted-in. During her at-bats, O’Grady was 6-for-8 in successfully advancing runners and 5-for-7 in getting a hit with runners on base. O’Grady was a perfect 3-for-3 against Creighton, finishing just a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Through the first weekend, O’Grady leads the Mountain West in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs and total bases, and is tied for second in runs-batted-in and triples.
O’Grady leads the NCAA in slugging percentage and on-base percentage and is second in batting average. She is sixth in RBI per game (2.33) and 11th in home runs per game (.67).
Last season, O’Grady led the Lobos in triples (four), doubles (12), walks (32), on-base percentage (.444) and runs scored (31) last season. She was second on the team with 43 hits, 75 total bases and 26 RBIs, and third in batting average (.301) and slugging percentage (.524). O’Grady hit just four home runs last season, which the junior has reached half that in just three games this season.
HOW ABOUT HOWARD?
Serving as the leadoff in the last three games, sophomore outfielder Andrea Howard is 3-for-7 on the season, with one double and one home run, but has reached base .667 percent of the time. Howard has drawn five walks and tallied three runs-batted-in. The outfielder is tied for first in the NCAA in runs per game (2.33), and fourth in walks (1.67). Howard’s highlight of the weekend came in the top of the sixth versus NMSU on a 1-2 count with two outs, delivering a three-run home run that put UNM back in front 7-6.
In her rookie season, Andrea Howard earned Mountain West second-team distinction after finishing second on the team in batting average (.313), slugging percentage (.534), on-base percentage (.414), and was tied for second in home runs with seven. Howard was third in hits (41) and total bases (70), fourth in runs scored (20) and RBIs (18). After being a utility player in 2018, playing predominantly at first base, Howard has moved to the outfield in her sophomore season.
NOT JUST A PITCHER
Bailey Klitzke got the ball to start the season against UTEP, but has played in all three games either in the circle or as the DH. The junior is second on the team in batting average (.625), fifth in slugging percentage (.625) and tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.636). She went 5-for-8 on the weekend, which her five hits are tied for the second most on the team, with five RBI and drew two walks. The five RBI tally is also second on the team.
At the plate, Klitzke was 3-for-5 with runners on base and 2-for-2 with bases loaded. She was 3-for-4 with 2 outs in the inning and 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Four of her RBI came with two outs and she was 5-for-7 in successfully advancing runners in her at-bat.
However, in the circle, the LHP earned her first win of the season in her first appearance in a Lobo uniform, pitching 5.0 innings and giving up five hits and five earned runs. Klitzke struck out eight batters and finished the weekend with nine total in 6.0 innings pitched. She threw for 146 pitches, 120 of which came in the first game against UTEP.
GOING HOME
UNM has three players on its roster from Arizona: sophomore catcher Sydney Broderick, freshman outfielder MacKenzie Peterson and junior pitcher and first baseman Bailey Klitzke.