NM- CAN BOX SCORE | NM-UH BOX SCORE
HONOLULU, Hawai’i — The University of New Mexico softball team split its two games on Friday at the Hawai’i Invitational, winning via a run-rule in the first game against Canisius before falling to Hawai’i.
The Lobos posted their second shutout of the season in a 10-0 contest against Canisius that went five innings before losing to host Hawai’i in a close 3-2 tilt to close the evening.
GAME 1:
The Lobos scored early and often, posting runs in three of the five innings-two innings with four runs scored- as they dominated the scoreboard with a 10-0 final.
Kiana Spencer threw her fourth complete game and her second shutout of the season, allowing just four hits in the game and striking out four. The junior went 2.2 innings before giving up a hit and threw a total of 81 pitches against 22 batters faced.
Spencer didn’t allow a single leadoff batter for Canisius to reach base or allow an extra base hit as she earned her second win of the season.
Meanwhile, at the plate, UNM outhit Canisius 11-4 and also had the advantage in walks (5-1) and strikeouts (4-2). While Spencer didn’t allow a leadoff hitter to reach, UNM was 3-for-5 with D’Andra DeFlora going 2-for-2 and Cameryn O’Grady going 1-for-1 as the true leadoff batter for UNM in the lineup.
Utilizing a new lineup in the first game of the day, UNM had three players hit 2-for-2 at the plate. One of those 2-for-2 performances was by designated player Bailey Klitzke, who tallied a triple, a stolen base and two RBI, as well as second baseman Daryn Haslam and left fielder Maggie Buckholz, who also added a walk and contributed two RBI. Catcher Lauren Wilmert was just as effective, going 2-for-3 with a double and a home run for a team-high three RBI in the game.
UNM had seven players record at least a hit in the game and four players account for the team’s nine RBI. Monica Salas was 1-of-2 in her at-bats, with her one hit being a two-run home run to finish as one of three players to have two RBI.
As the designated visitors in the game, O’Grady led off the game with a single to right field and DeFlora drew a one-out walk to put runners on first and second. Wilmert delivered as the cleanup hitter, hitting her second home run in as many games to clear the bases and give UNM the early 3-0 lead. After Salas fouled out to third for the second out, Klitzke tripled with a hit down the right field line. Following back-to-back walks for Buckholz and Haslam that loaded the bases, Klitzke stole home to record the fourth run of the inning. The Lobos scored four runs on three hits.
A walk and a hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second with just one out in the bottom of the inning, but Spencer got out of it on a foul out to Buckholz in left and her first strikeout of the game.
After a scoreless frame from both teams in the second, UNM doubled its lead in the top of the third.
DeFlora reached base on a throwing error by the Golden Griffin shortstop and Wilmert moved her to third on a double to left field to put runners in scoring position with no outs. Salas earned a walk to load the bases, which led to Klitzke driving two runs in on a single through the right side. A wild pitch once again put two runners in scoring position for Buckholz, who drove them in on the next at-bat on a single to right center.
Canisius went to its bullpen after six Lobos had reached base in the inning without an out being recorded, bringing in Alexis Churchill for starting pitcher Emily Nicosia. Churchill was able to get out of the inning without any further runs scored, but the Lobos added four runs on four hits and one error.
Nicosia lasted just 2.0 innings, giving up eight runs, seven of them earned, on seven hits and allowing four walks to just one strikeout on 17 batters faced to be charged with the loss.
The Golden Griffins used a two-out rally to load the bases in the bottom of the third, but a grounder to O’Grady at short ended the inning and the threat.
UNM’s final runs of the game came in the top of the fourth with DeFlora leading off with a single up the middle. After Wilmert popped up to center for the first out, Salas notched her second home run in as many games with a shot to center field for the last two runs of the game for either team.
Spencer retired Canisius in order in the bottom of the fourth, but in the bottom of the fifth, they were able to put runners on the corners with two outs before a ground out to third ended the inning and the game.
GAME 2:
UNM lost its second one-run game against Hawaii on the week, this time by a score of 3-2.
Lauren Wilmert and Andrea Howard each tallied two hits in the game, with both recording a double.
Maggie Buckholz and Daryn Haslam produced the two runs in the game with Haslam hitting her second home run of the season and her second in two days.
UNM (4-8) outhit Hawaii (10-3) 7-4 in the game with each team leaving six runners on base, but the Lobos had three errors, which proved to be costly, compared to just one by the Rainbow Wahine.
It was another defensive dual in the first inning of the game with the teams going down in order in the first. Hawai’I recorded the first baserunner of the game in the bottom of the second with a leadoff walk that reached second on a fielding error by Cameryn O’Grady at shortstop, but a fly out to D’Andra DeFlora in center ended the inning still scoreless.
New Mexico scored first on a one-out solo home run to left center by Haslam on the first pitch of the at-bat in the top of the third for her second home run of the season.
However, Hawaii took the lead in the bottom of the third on two runs on two hits. A leadoff walk and a one-out double to right field put runners on second and third. A fielding error by Monica Salas at third allowed Hawai’I to tie the game at one on the unearned run and for the runner on second to move to third. A single on the next at-bat drove in the run from third to give UH a 2-1 advantage.
The Lobos found a way to tie the game at two in the top of the fourth with three hits in the inning. Wilmert hit a one-out double to right center on a 2-2 count and Salas followed that at-bat up with a single to left field to push Wilmert to third. With two outs in the inning, Buckholz singled through the left side to score Wilmert and tie the game.
While UNM couldn’t put anything together in the top of the fifth, UH took the lead in the bottom half with a leadoff single followed by a failed pickoff attempt that allowed the runner to move to second. A fly out to Howard in right advanced the runner on a tag and a one-out single scored the runner from third for the 3-2 Rainbow Wahine lead.
The Lobos tried to put together one final rally to tie the game at three in the top of the seventh and started off well with a fielding error by the second baseman to help Buckholz reach base as the leadoff hitter. Haslam drew a walk on a full count to put runners at first and second with no outs. MacKenzie Peterson popped out to the third baseman for the first out and O’Grady reached on a fielder’s choice to the pitch that resulted in an out at third. Howard singled to center field on the first pitch she saw, however Taylor Jones, who pinch ran for Haslam, was thrown out at the plate by the centerfielder for the final out of the game.
Kennedy Ferguson threw a complete game in the circle for UNM, throwing 60 of her 91 total pitches for strikes. The freshman allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on four hits and struck out three while walking two on 27 batters faced.