ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— On a day in which The University of New Mexico softball team recognized the collegiate careers of seniors D’Andra DeFlora, Kasey Halleen, Monica Salas, Sydney Townes and Aleyah Wilbon, the Lobos dropped their final home game of the season to San Jose State.
Wilbon and Halleen each registered a hit in the contest as did Bailey Klitzke and MacKenzie Peterson.
Each team left four runners on base, but it was the visiting Spartans who concluded the series with a 10-0, five-inning win on Sunday.
The Spartans put runs on the board in the top of the first for the third-straight game after loading the bases with two outs. A double to left field by Arianna Miranda scored two to begin the scoring. A pop up to Peterson at first ended the inning with two left on base.
SJSU added another run in the second on a double to center field that scored a leadoff walk.
Klitzke replaced freshman starting pitcher Kennedy Ferguson to begin the third and would go on to retire the next nine batters to record three scoreless innings.
UNM’s best opportunity to get on the board came in the third with a leadoff single up the middle by Peterson and a throwing error to second by the pitcher with one out that put Peterson and Halleen on base. On the next at-bat, Wilbon beat out a throw to first by the shortstop to load the bases. However, a strikeout and a fly out to center ended the inning without the Lobos able to cut into the 3-0 deficit.
The Spartans outhit the Lobos 7-4 with four of those hits coming in the sixth as the Spartans added seven runs to the scoreboard.
Ferguson went a total of 3.0 innings in the circle after re-entering the game in the sixth. The right-hander faced 18 batters and threw 72 pitches with a final line of five runs on five hits, four walks and one strikeout. Klitzke tallied two strikeouts while walking three while allowing five runs on two hits on 14 batters faced. The junior threw 62 pitches with half going for strikes.
Up next for UNM is the final series of the season at UNLV. First pitch is scheduled for Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. MT.
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