LOS ANGELES, Calif.— The University of New Mexico softball team got back to its winning ways on Friday morning at the LMU Tournament, earning two hard-fought victories in varying fashion.
In the first game against Oregon State, UNM scored six runs in the final two innings, including a five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh, for the 6-5 walk-off victory over Oregon State at Smith Field. The Lobos carried that momentum onto the second game following the conclusion of the OSU game to score three runs in the top of the first en route to a 10-0 run-rule win over Western Carolina in five innings.
“It was great to come back to beat Oregon State for a quality win to start the day,” head coach Paula Congleton said.
Lauren Wilmert recorded three hits on the day, accounting for six RBI, on a single, a double and a grand slam. Cameryn O’Grady batted .500 with three hits, including a double, and D’Andra DeFlora had two hits and three RBI, accounting for the first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth and with two of them coming in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game against the Beavers.
Every starter in the two games tallied at least one hit with five players having multiple hits on the day.
Kennedy Ferguson and Kiana Spencer each threw a complete game in the circle for the Lobos with Ferguson registering her first collegiate win against Western Carolina in a two-hit shutout.
UNM scored 16 runs on Friday with 17 hits- four doubles and two home runs, one from Wilmert and one from Andrea Howard- while allowing just five runs on 11 hits.
GAME ONE:
Oregon State entered the game 12-4 and was receiving votes in both softball polls, sitting just outside of the top 25 after being ranked in both polls the previous week. Through the first five innings of play, the Beavers held a firm grasp on the game with starting pitcher Meehra Nelson keeping the Lobos off of the base paths and unable to record a hit.
To that point, Maggie Buckholz drew a walk in the bottom of the second and O’Grady was the only Lobo to record a hit, a double to right field in the bottom of the fourth that didn’t amount to anything as the next two batters struck out to leave her stranded in scoring position.
That all changed however in the sixth thanks in part to the bottom of the UNM order. Taylor Jones led off with a single to left field and moved to second on a wild pitch. Sydney Townes grounded out to short but was able to move Jones over to third. DeFlora brought in the first run of the game for UNM on the next at-bat with a single to score Jones.
After shutting down the Beavers in the top of the seventh with three fly outs to the outfield, the Lobos rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh, two runs with zero outs and three runs with one out, to walk-off 6-5.
Daryn Haslam started the inning off with a single, and Aleyah Wilbon was brought in to pinch run. Howard delivered a two-run home run, her second of the season and first hit in three games, to cut the deficit in half at 5-3.
Kasey Halleen kept the momentum going with a single back up the middle, at which point the Beavers made a pitching change to bring in Nerissa Eason for Nelson. Eason retired her first batter as Jones popped up to first for the first out to bring up the top of the order. Townes, hitting leadoff for the first time this season, doubled to center field for her first extra-base hit of the season to move Halleen to third and put two runners in scoring position. DeFlora tied the game on a single that scored both runners, advancing to third on the play. O’Grady was issued a walk to put runners on the corners with just one out, and the Beavers made another pitching change, putting Nelson back in. Wilmert came through on the next at-bat with a single to left field that scored DeFlora for the winning run. UNM tallied six of its 10 hits in the seventh inning to give OSU its third consecutive loss, its fifth of the season, and Eason’s first loss of the year.
O’Grady and DeFlora each notched two hits in the game, with O’Grady hitting her sixth double of the season, as eight Lobos recorded at least one hit.
Spencer threw her sixth complete game of the season throwing 123 pitches in seven innings of work to earn her fourth win of the season.
The defense kept the Lobos in the game, throwing three runners out at home in the game, and leaving six OSU runners on base.
Oregon State tallied the first run of the game in the top of the second with a double from Kayleen Shafer to score Frankie Hammoude from second.
Back-to-back doubles to start the top of the third inning scored another run for the Beavers. A triple by Jessica Garcia produced the third run for OSU, but UNM was able to throw Garcia out at home on an attempted steal.
UNM recorded a double play on a bunt in the fourth, getting the out at first followed by a tag out at home as Karla Calderon tried to score from third after advancing to third on the bunt.
In the top of the fifth, the Beavers had two runners in scoring position with one out, scoring one run on a single up the middle by Hammoude. Missy Nunes tried to score from second but was thrown out at home on a throw from Howard in center to Wilmert.
From there, it was all UNM as the Lobos scored the final six runs of the game.
The 10 hits produced by UNM were the most hits allowed by Oregon State this season.
“Kiana (Spencer) had a good showing and was great to see Daryn (Haslam) get the rally started with her single followed by a home run by Andrea (Howard) giving us the momentum we needed.
“D’Andra (DeFlora) was also a little spark hitting in Kasey (Halleen) and Sydney (Townes), which allowed Lauren (Wilmert) to drive in the winning run.”
GAME TWO:
The Lobo offense picked right back up from the end of the Oregon State game and as the designated visitors scored three quick runs to get out to an early 3-0 lead.
Howard drew a one-out walk and scored on a Wilmert double to left center for the first run of the game. Buckholz’s at-bat mirrored that of Wilmert, hitting a double to left center and scored Wilmert from second. Monica Salas followed that up with a single to short to score Buckholz and advanced all the way to third on the play. All of UNM’s runs came with two outs in the inning.
After not much offense by either team in the next two innings, the Lobo offense extended their lead in the top of the fourth, scoring seven runs to enter run-rule territory.
Buckholz and Salas started the inning off with consecutive walks and a Haslam single through the right side loaded the bases with no one out. Halleen capitalized on the bases-loaded situation, hitting a single to right center to score two runs for a 5-0 advantage, advancing to second on the throw.
The Catamounts went to the bullpen to pull starting pitcher Kinsey Liscio, who pitched 3.0 innings and gave up six hits, seven runs (five earned) and four walks on 17 batters faced in the loss to move to 4-2 on the season.
In the first two hitters that Brewer faced, the WCU pitcher recorded an error that allowed Jones to reach base and Haslam to score and a hit-by-pitch that allowed DeFlora to earn her way on base and move Jones to second to again load the bases. Brewer retired the next two hitters to bring up Wilmert, who promptly cleared the bases on a grand slam, just the third home run given up by the Catamount this season and the third of the year for Wilmert. UNM scored seven runs on three hits.
Ferguson needed just 67 pitches to record her sixth complete game and earn her first win as a Lobo, allowing just two hits- a single in the bottom of the first and a single in the bottom of the second- and striking out three while not issuing a single walk.
Wilmert went 2-for-3 in the game on a double and a home run with five RBI, tying a career high, and Howard had two of the team’s four walks in the game.
The Lobos recorded 10 runs on seven hits and left just one runner on base, compared to WCU’s two hits and four runners left on base. Seven runs came with two outs in the inning as well.
The two hits were the fewest given up by UNM this season and the shutout was UNM’s third on the year, all of which came in a run-rule decision.
“It feels good to get two wins today,” Congleton said.
Up next: The Lobos have a rematch with Oregon State in the Lobos’ lone game on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MT.