UNM GAME NOTES | FLOSOFTBALL
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– For the fourth weekend in-a-row this season, The University of New Mexico softball team is on the road for another non-conference tournament. The Lobos’ travel this week takes them to Fullerton, Calif., and the Judi Garman Classic, where UNM will again face some of the top teams in the country.
Of the five games on the schedule this weekend, UNM ( 5-9) will face No. 3 Florida on Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. MT and No. 7 Tennessee on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. MT. The Lobos will then play LMU on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MT and close the tournament with two games on Sunday- a 10:30 a.m. contest with UConn and the second meeting this season with Cal State Fullerton (2:30 p.m. MT). With the matchups with Florida and Tennessee, UNM will now have faced four top-10 teams.
Thursday’s game at the Judi Garman Classic will be first meeting all-time between UNM and Tennessee and just the second all-time with the Florida Gators.
All games will be streamed on FloSoftball, but will require a subscription.
LAST TIME OUT
UNM advanced to the Hawai’i Invitational championship game after defeating host Hawai’i 3-2 in the bracket game as the No. 3 seed. The Lobos lost 4-2 to DePaul in the championship. The Lobos had three, one-run games, all against Hawai’i, losing a single game prior to the invitational 2-1, and then losing 3-2 to finish the round robin. The Lobos finally got the upper hand the following day with a 3-2 win. UNM run-ruled Canisius, and was not only the only team to run-rule the Golden Griffins, but was also the only team to hold them scoreless in the 10-0, five-inning game.
MIXING IT UP
The Lobos have used 10 different lineups to date, only having duplicated their lineup three times. UNM used the same lineup in the Arizona and Alabama game, the same lineup in the Cal State Fullerton and UTEP game and the same lineup against Hawai’i on Feb. 22 and DePaul on Feb. 23. Cameryn O’Grady moved into the leadoff hitter spot in the game against Canisius and has played four games at the No. 1 spot in the batting order. Andrea Howard led off the lineup in 10 games and moved down to the No. 2 spot in the last four games. Five Lobos (Cameryn O’Grady, D’Andra DeFlora, Andrea Howard, Lauren Wilmert and Monica Salas) have started all 14 games this season.UNM started four freshmen against New Mexico State, with Kennedy Ferguson, Daryn Haslam, MacKenzie Peterson and Leslie Romero each getting their first collegiate starts.
EVEN INNING MAGIC
To date, UNM is outscoring its opponents 41-17 in the even innings, including a 14-4 advantage in both the second and fourth innings. In the first two games of the season, 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.
HOT STARTS
The Lobos have scored first in 10 games this season. UNM has scored in the first inning six times, with a season-high four runs scored in the first inning on Feb. 16 against Illinois-Chicago and again on Feb. 22 against Canisius.
TOP OF THE LINEUP= CLUTCH
D’Andra DeFlora and Cameryn O’Grady have combined to produce 29 hits with seven doubles, a triple and two home runs. Together, they have 44 total bases and 14 walks. O’Grady (16) and DeFlora (13) are first and second on the team in hits and runs scored (DeFlora, 13 and O’Grady, 12).
When leading off an inning, DeFlora is 7-for-11 (team high) and O’Grady is second at 7-for-12 this season. O’Grady is a team-best 19-of-27 in successfully advancing runners.
Last weekend at the Hawai’i Invitational, both DeFlora and O’Grady were 4-for-7 in reaching base as the leadoff batter in an inning, the highest rate on the team. Against USF in the final game of the Hillenbrand Invitational, DeFlora hit a single through the left side in the top of the sixth for UNM’s third-straight leadoff hitter to get on base. O’Grady delivered on the next at-bat with a double to right center that allowed DeFlora to easily score from first for the lone Lobo run in the game. In the opening weekend, 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.
…BUT THE MIDDLE CAN DELIVER TOO
Monica Salas has batted fifth in 11 games and sixth in three, and has delivered for the Lobos. The senior is batting .268 with 11 hits, with a double, three home runs and 10 RBI. Salas leads the team in home runs, is second in total bases (21), third in runs-batted-in and fourth in hits.
Freshman Maggie Buckholz went 3-for-4 and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle against Illinois-Chicago, batting sixth in the lineup. Her first collegiate home run was a grand slam and she was responsible for seven RBI in the game. The last time a Lobo had that many RBI in a game was in 2015. In the Hillenbrand Invitational, Buckholz led the Lobos in batting average (.364), slugging percentage (.818), on-base percentage (.563), runs-batted-in (7), triples (1), home runs (1), total bases (9) and walks (5). 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.Buckholz leads the Lobos with 16 RBI and 11 walks. Buckholz is tied for second in home runs (2), third in slugging percentage (.548), on-base percentage (.476) and fourth in total bases (17). The freshman is 7-for-13 on the season with runners in scoring position, the highest rate on the team, and has six RBI with two outs, the most on the team.
NEWCOMERS NO MORE
Freshman Daryn Haslam led the Lobos at the Hawai’i Invitational with a slugging percentage of .846 and on-base percentage of .467, while hitting the first two home runs of her collegiate career. Three of her RBI on the weekend came with two outs
Fellow freshman Maggie Buckholz hit a three-run home run that proved to be the difference in UNM’s 3-2 win over host Hawai’i to advance the Lobos to the championship game. On the weekend, Buckholz had a team-high six RBI and drew three walks.
The freshmen have accounted for 16 hits, 10 runs scored and 20 RBI on the sason, while hitting four of the team’s 12 home runs.
Pitcher Kiana Spencer has pitched five complete games this season and tallied a season-high six strikeouts in her last appearance against Hawai’i on Feb. 23. The LHP has recorded two shutouts, both coming in run-rule games (vs. Creighton, vs. Canisius).
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. Spencer also earned the start against Alabama, pitching another complete game, going 7.0 innings and allowing just one run and six hits, only one of which went for extra bases, and allowing just three walks on 29 batters faced.
WALK IT OUT
UNM leads the MW in walks drawn through the first three weekends with 67, 16 more than the second-highest team (UNLV).
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.
Versus Cal State Fullerton, the Lobos nearly reached double digits with nine walks.
Maggie Buckholz leads the team with 11 walks, followed by Cameryn O’Grady with nine.
LET’S GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT
After three weekends of competition for the MW teams, the Lobos lead the conference in one category, is second in two and rank third in five.
The Lobos are first in the conference in walks (67) and second in home runs with 12. The Lobos are tied for second in triples (3). They are third in on-base percentage (.376), runs batted in (65), runs scored (71), and tied for third in strikeouts thrown () in sacrifice flies (2), triples (2) and caught stealing by (3).
Through the first three weekends, Cameryn O’Grady is in the top-10 statistically in the MW in nine categories offensively. The junior is in the top 10 in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles, triples and walks. Monica Salas is tied for second in the MW in home runs.
All three Lobo pitchers rank in the top-10 statistically in the MW. Kiana Spencer is in the top-10 statistically in ERA (2.50), opposing batting average (.232), innings pitched (33.2), while Kennedy Ferguson is in the top 10 in innings pitched (37.0) and batters struck out (22) and Bailey Klitzke is in the top 10 in batters struck out looking (8).
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Kiana Spencer is tied for 20th in the country in shutouts with two, tied for first in the conference, while fellow pitcher Bailey Klitzke is 44th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.1), which ranks second in the conference.
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NOT JUST A PITCHER
Bailey Klitzke got the ball to start the season against UTEP, but has played in 12 games either in the circle or as the DP, starting in 11.Klitzke leads the team in batting average (.400), is third in hits (12), and is fourth in slugging percentage (.533) and on-base percentage (.457).At the plate, Klitzke is 3-for-4 with bases loaded. She is 5-for-10 with 2 outs in the inning and four of her RBI on the season came with two outs. Klitzke is 9-for-14 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. Klitzke matched her strikeout count against Illinois-Chicago and pitched her first complete game with 6.0 innings pitched to move to 2-1 on the season.
GOING HOME
The Lobos have a team-high six players from California, including three less than 40 miles away from Fullerton.
Junior Cameryn O’Grady is from Orange, the closest hometown to Fullerton, but the hometowns of seniors Kasey Helleen (Torrance) and Aleyah Wilbon (Fontana) are within close proximity.