ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– Following a five-game homestand, The University of New Mexico softball team returns to the road to Fresno State for a three-game conference series set to begin on Friday night.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Last season, UNM went 1-2 against Fresno State at home, winning the first game 4-3 before dropping the final two in five-inning games.
Kasey Halleen led the Lobos with a .600 batting average (3-for-5) and slugging percentage, as well as a .714 on-base percentage. Cameryn O’Grady tied a team high with three RBI in the series, with a two-run double and a bases-loaded walk. Andrea Howard and O’Grady each drew three walks to lead the team with seven different players ultimately reaching on a walk. The three walks for O’Grady on March 30 tied a career high.
UNM holds the advantage in home runs (33-29) and walks (163-153).
LAST TIME OUT
UNM fell in five innings to NMSU in its last non-conference game of the season on Tuesday night at Lobo Softball Field. Sydney Broderick broke up a no-hit bid with a single in the third and Monica Salas walked in the fifth to reach base. With their hit and walk, both extended their on-base streaks to four games.
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARDS
At the UNM Scholar-Athlete Awards on Monday night, D’Andra DeFlora was presented with the Loren Dils Lobo Courage Award, an award that recognizes a student-athlete who has overcome adversity with courage, unyielding perseverance and a positive spirit.
Andrea Howard was named to the 2019 UNM All-Academic Team made up of the top academic performer on each team.
The Lobos had 12 sttudent-athletes named scholar-athletes: Cameryn O’Grady, Skylar Jenkins, Daryn Haslam, Monica Salas, D’Andra DeFlora, Andrea Howard, Kasey Halleen, Sydney Townes, Sydney Broderick, Aleyah Wilbon and Lauren Wilmert.
MIXING IT UP
The Lobos have used 29 different lineups to date, only having duplicated their lineup eight times. UNM used the same lineup in the Arizona and Alabama game, the same lineup in the Cal State Fullerton and UTEP game, the same lineup against Hawai’i on Feb. 22 and DePaul on Feb. 23 and the same lineup against Tennessee and UConn. The Lobos used the same lineup in the second game at SDSU and the second game vs. CSU, the same lineup in the first and third games against Nevada and the second game against North Dakota and the second game against Nevada. Recently, UNM used the same lineup in both games at NMSU, in all three games at USU, versus UTEP, the first two games with Boise State and Tuesday’s game vs. NMSU.
UNM has had five different players in the leadoff spot in the lineup. Cameryn O’Grady moved into the leadoff hitter spot in the game against Canisius and played six 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 for 14 games, the third spot for 15 and the seventh spot in five games. Bailey Klitzke hit in the leadoff spot in three games, D’Andra DeFlora has led off in 24 games and Sydney Townes hit first in one. Maggie Buckholz has batted second in two games, DeFlora in 12 games and Aleyah Wilbon has hit second in 15. Taylor Jones hit second in the first game versus North Dakota and Townes hit second in the last game against BSU.
Four Lobos (Cameryn O’Grady, D’Andra DeFlora, Andrea Howard and Lauren Wilmert) have started all 44 games this season, while Monica Salas has started in all but three.
WALK IT OUT
UNM leads the MW in walks drawn to date with 163, 10 more than the second-highest team (Fresno State).
Cameryn O’Grady leads the team with 26 walks, followed by Andrea Howard (23) and Maggie Buckholz (17).
IT’S ALL O’GRADY
Junior shortstop Cameryn O’Grady leads the team in slugging percentage (.650), on-base percentage (.483), hits (43), runs scored (32), total bases (78), walks (27) and doubles (15). The California native is second in batting average (.358), home runs (6) and hit-by-pitches (3) and tied for second in RBI (26).With two outs, O’Grady is 10-for-31, with six RBI coming with two outs, the second-best percentage on the team. When it comes to success advancing runners during an at-bat, O’Grady also is second on the team at 43-for-81 (.531). O’Grady is also 17-for-30 (.567) as the leadoff batter in an inning.
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 reached half that in the first three games this season and matched the total with a home run against North Dakota on March 26. She surpassed that number against Nevada on March 31. The junior has surpassed her totals in total bases, doubles and has matched her totals in RBI and hits.
O’Grady is ranked in the top 10 of the Mountain West in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, doubles, total bases and walks.
3-2, WHAT YOU GOING TO DO?
Lauren Wilmert leads the team in RBI (35), and home runs (7) and is second in total bases (65), slugging percentage (.520) and in hits (33) and tied for second in doubles (9). The catcher/ first baseman is fourth in runs scored (23), while hitting in the cleanup spot in 29 games before hitting in the five spot in the last 15 games starting against North Dakota. Since moving to the five-spot, Wilmert is 11-for-39 with three doubles, a triple and three home runs with four walks and 15 RBI for a batting average of .282, a slugging percentage of .641 and an on-base percentage of .341. The junior is also tied for the team lead in sacrifice flies and hit her first career triple against North Dakota on March 26.
Wilmert has a team-high 15 RBI with two outs and is 12-for-39 when hitting with 2 outs. She is also 3-for-8 with bases loaded and 9-for-19 when there is a runner on third with less than 2 outs.
Playing 21 games behind the plate, Wilmert has thrown out five runners attempting to steal, bringing her career total to 10.
Wilmert has hit two grand slams this season, once against Western Carolina on March 8 and on April 6 at Utah State, which came with two outs in the third inning and gave UNM a 4-2 lead. Wilmert recorded a career-high three hits against SDSU on March 17, while also recording her sixth home run of her career and tied a career-high six total bases.
The junior ranks in the top 10 of the Mountain West in home runs, putouts and caught stealing by.
WHAT ABOUT WILBON?
In the 13 starts that Aleyah Wilbon has hit second in the Lobo lineup, the outfielder has tallied 14 hits on 37 at-bats for a hitting- and slugging-percentage of .378 and an on-base percentage of .395 while being 1-for-1 in steals.
Wilbon has three times recorded three hits in a game, once going 3-for-3 and twice going 3-for-4, which were career highs for the outfielder. She has tallied at least one hit in seven of the 13 games.
In the last 13 games, Wilbon went 5-for-10 with runners on base, 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-9 with 2 outs in the inning. The California native was 8-for-12 in success advancing runners.
Wilbon leads the team in batting average (.362), is fourth in on-base percentage (.388) and tied for fifth in runs scored (13).
NOT JUST A PITCHER
Bailey Klitzke got the ball to start the season against UTEP, but has played in 38 games either in the circle or as the DP, starting in 36.
Klitzke leads the Lobos in triples (3) and tied for first in sac flies (3) and stolen bases (2), while also third on the team in batting average (.330), slugging percentage (.505) and on-base percentage (.393), total bases (49), and hits (32), tied for fourth in doubles (5) and tied for second in RBI (26).
At the plate on the season, Klitzke is a team-best 4-for-6 with bases loaded. She is 7-for-11 with a runner on third with less than 2 outs, 14-for-33 with runners in scoring position, 14-for-36 with 2 outs in the inning and 11 of her RBI on the season came with two outs- the second-highest total on the team. Klitzke is 30-for-53 in successfully advancing runners in her at-bat, which is the highest success rate on the team.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE
Fresno State enters the weekend 30-15 overall and 8-7 in the Mountain West having lost its last game against Stanford, but is 7-3 in its last 10 games.
The Bulldogs share five non-conference opponents with the Lobos in Tennessee,Hawai’i, Oregon State, Loyola Marymount, and North Dakota. The Bulldogs lost to Hawai’i (7-6), Oregon State (5-0) and Tennessee (4-2), but beat LMU (4-1) and North Dakota (5-3).
Fresno State was picked to finish second in the MW Preseason Poll with one first-place vote and 57 points.
The Bulldogs are outscoring opponents 229-149 and outhitting opponents 353-260. They are 46-60 in steal attempts while opponents are 24-31.
McKenzie Wilson leads the Bulldogs in hits (54), batting average (.378) and in steals and attempts (30-35); Vanessa Hernandez leads with 18 doubles, 79 total bases, a .585 slugging percentage and is one of three players with 35 RBI and six home runs on the team. Miranda Rohleder has a team-high three triples and 30 walks. Jade Nua leads in on-base percentage with .475 and hit-by-pitches (12).
The pitching staff has a collective ERA of 3.03 with the Bulldogs using three pitchers. Of the 260 hits allowed, 49 were doubles, five triples and 26 home runs. They have 224 strikeouts to 141 walks. Of the 149 runs allowed, 129 have been earned. Danielle Lung has appeared in 27 games and 16 starts, with three complete games, one shutout and one save in 104.1 innings of work. To date, Lung is 13-4 with a 3.22 ERA, allowing 85 hits, 58 runs (48 earned), 77 walks and struck out 82. Hailey Dolcini is 13-5 on the season, making 23 appearances and 17 starts with 10 complete games and five shhutouts. In 110.0 innings of work, Dolcini has allowed 100 hits, 41 runs (36 earned) and 39 walks while striking out 102, and has a team-best ERA of 2.29. Danielle East has a 3.75 ERA with 84.0 innings in the circle, appearing in a team-high 30 games, starting in 12 with three complete games and one shutout, and compiling a 4-6 record. East has given up 75 hits, 50 runs (45 earned), and walked 25 while striking out 40.
The Bulldogs are ranked 23rd in the NCAA in on-base percentage (.403), 29th in shutouts (11), 36th in batting average (.307), 42nd in doubles per game (1.51), 48th in double plays per game (0.42) and 57th in slugging percentage (.459). Vanessa Hernandez is fifth in the country in doubles (18) and eighth in doubles per game (0.40). Jade Nua is 24th in hit-by-pitch (0.32) and Danielle East is 36th in saves (3). McKenzie Wilson is 15th in stolen bases (0.67) and Rachel Minogue is the fourth hardest to strike out (70.0). Miranda Rohleder is 49th in walks (0.67).
Fresno State leads the conferencee in shutouts (11), steal attempts (60), caught stealing (14) and sacrifice bunts (30). Hernandez leads in doubles, Nua in hit-by-pitches, Lung in hits allowed per seven innings (5.70) and Wilson in stolen bases.