UNM Opens Home Schedule with CSU
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– After six weeks, 26 games and over 11,000 miles traveled, The University of New Mexico softball team opens up its home schedule this weekend with a three-game series against Colorado State starting on Friday evening.
The Lobos (8-18, 1-2 MW) are coming off of a weekend series against San Diego State to open conference play, while the Rams (20-4, 3-0 MW) swept Fresno State to open their conference schedule. Friday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m., while Saturday is scheduled for 4 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
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HOME OPENERS
In the last 15 years, the Lobos are 15-0 in home openers. In 2018, UNM beat St. Mary’s 5-2 as part of the Lobo Classic. The last time the Lobos won a series to open their conference home schedule was in 2017, taking two of three games over Colorado State (lost the first game before winning the next two).
LAST TIME OUT
In two of the three games, the Lobos were the first to score and in both times, UNM scored in the first inning.The Lobos won the conference opener against SDSU with a 3-1 victory, with all three runs scored in the first inning. Lauren Wilmert tallied the first hit of the Friday night game, a two-run single up the middle that scored two runs. Monica Salas snuck the ball just inside the third-base line to score Cameryn O’Grady from second for the 3-0 Lobo lead.
In Saturday’s game, UNM took an 8-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth before the Aztecs scored four in the bottom of the frame to take a 9-8 lead, which would hold as the final score. O’Grady was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two singles and a two-run home run, while adding a walk in her fourth plate appearance. The junior accounted for four RBI in the game, tying a career high that the shortstop set earlier this season against Creighton. O’Grady provided the spark in the top of the third with a two-run shot over the right field wall on the 10th-pitch of her at-bat that cut the Lobo deficit to one at 5-4 and gave UNM its second lead of the game at 7-5 on a two-run single back up the middle in the fourth. In the series finale, Wilmert hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh with no one out to make it a one-run game, however, the rally fell short as the Lobos lost 4-3. The Lobos scored their first run of the game on a triple by Bailey Klitzke to right field following a leadoff triple by Andrea Howard.
Kennedy Ferguson went 13.0 innings in the circle and struck out six while not issuing a single walk.
Klitzke led the team in batting average (.571) with four hits on seven at-bats, in slugging percentage (.857) and in on-base percentage (.667). Wilmert had a team-high nine total bases, five RBI and six hits.
DON’T COUNT THEM OUT
UNM started off the LMU Tournament with an epic come-from-behind victory over Oregon State, scoring six runs in the final two innings to win 6-5. The Lobos scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh, walking off on a hit by Lauren Wilmert to score D’Andra DeFlora from third. Andrea Howard hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to two after Daryn Haslam led off with a single to right field. Kasey Halleen singled up the middle to keep the momentum going and Sydney Townes doubled to center to advance Halleen to third. DeFlora singled to score Townes and Halleen to tie the game, moving all the way to third, leading to Wilmert’s game-winning single.
MIXING IT UP
The Lobos have used 22 different lineups to date, only having duplicated their lineup four 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.
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 11 games and the seventh spot in five games. Bailey Klitzke hit in the leadoff spot in three games, D’Andra DeFlora led off in six games and Sydney Townes hit first in one. Maggie Buckholz has batted second in two games, DeFlora in 12 games and Aleyah Wilbon hit second versus Cal State Fullerton.
Four Lobos (Cameryn O’Grady, D’Andra DeFlora, Andrea Howard and Lauren Wilmert) have started all 26 games this season, while Monica Salas has started in all but one. UNM started four freshmen against New Mexico State, with Kennedy Ferguson, Daryn Haslam, MacKenzie Peterson and Leslie Romero each getting their first collegiate starts.
Freshman Emma Steltzer made her Lobo debut in the circle in the last game of the Judi Garman Classic versus Cal State Fullerton, retiring both batters she faced.
WALK IT OUT
UNM leads the MW in walks drawn through the first six weekends with 109, 11 more than the second-highest team (SJSU).
In the season opener against UTEP, UNM drew 16 walks alone for a season high. 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 on Feb. 15, the Lobos nearly reached double digits with nine walks.
Maggie Buckholz leads the team with 17 walks, followed by Cameryn O’Grady with 14 and Andrea Howard with 13.
LET’S GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT
After six weekends of competition for the MW teams, the Lobos lead the conference in two categories, are second in one and fourth in one.
The Lobos are first in the conference in walks (109) and tied for first in caught stealing by (8). UNM is tied for second in home runs (18), tied for fourth in triples (6).
As a team, UNM has at least one player listed in the top 10 in the conference in seven hitting categories, five pitching categories and four fielding categories.
To date, Cameryn O’Grady is in the top-10 statistically in the MW in three categories offensively. The junior is in the top 10 in on-base percentage, doubles and walks. Lauren Wilmert is third in caught stealing by, fifth in fielding chances and tied for sixth in home runs and Kennedy Ferguson is tied for fifth in batters struck out and second in innings pitched. D’Andra DeFlora ranks in the top 10 in runs scored and hit-by-pitches, Bailey Klitzke is ranked in batting average, on-base percentage and sacrifice flies, Maggie Buckholz in walks, and Andrea Howard in walks and fielding percentage.
In Mountain West play, Bailey Klitzke is second in the conference in batting average with .571 and tied for first in on-base percentage with .667.
Kennedy Ferguson is fifth in conference ERA in MW games with 2.69 and is the only pitcher in the top 17 that has not allowed a walk.
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Bailey Klitzke are Lauren Wilmert are tied for 56th in the NCAA in sacrifice flies with two and Maggie Buckholz is tied for 52nd in the country in walks (0.71). Klitzke is 92nd in batting average, D’Andra DeFlora is 128th in hit by pitch per game (0.19), Klitzke (116th, .492) and Cameryn O’Grady (148th, .484) are ranked in on-base percentage and Andrea Howard and O’Grady are tied for 82nd in walks (.65).
IT’S ALL O’GRADY
Junior shortstop Cameryn O’Grady leads the team in slugging percentage (.600), hits (27), hits per game (1.04), total bases (45), total plate appearances (93), doubles (7) and is tied for the team high in walks (17). The California native is second in batting average (.360), on-base percentage (.492), runs scored (18) and tied for second in RBI (17).
With two outs, O’Grady is 6-for-14, the second-highest success rate on the team, with four RBI coming with two outs. When it comes to success advancing runners during an at-bat, O’Grady is second on the team at 28-for-50 (.560). O’Grady is also 10-for-18 (.556) as the leadoff batter in an inning which leads the team. O’Grady was nearly unstoppable in the first three games of the season, going 7-for-9 at the plate (.778 batting average), registering one double, a triple and two home runs as well as a team-high seven RBI. O’Grady tallied 16 total bases, drew three walks and posted a slugging percentage of 1.778 and an on-base percentage of .833. The junior was 2-for-2 as the leadoff hitter in an inning, 4-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-2 batting with two outs, in which she recorded two of her seven runs-batted-in. During her at-bats, O’Grady was 6-for-8 in successfully advancing runners and 5-for-7 in getting a hit with runners on base. O’Grady was a perfect 3-for-3 against Creighton, finishing just a double shy of hitting for the cycle. In the LMU Tournament, O’Grady was a team-best .500 in batting with runners on (4-for-8), 2-for-2 as the leadoff hitter in an inning, 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-2 with runners on third and less than two outs as well as with two outs. The shortstop was 4-for-9 with success in advancing runners.
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.
3-2, WHAT YOU GOING TO DO?
Lauren Wilmert leads the team in RBI (20), home runs (4) and at-bats (77), is second in total bases (37), is tied for second in hits (20), is third in doubles (5), and tied for third in runs scored (14), hitting in the cleanup spot in all 26 games. The junior is also tied for the team high in sacrifice flies. Playing 16 games behind the plate, Wilmert has thrown out five runners attempting to steal, bringing her career total to 10. 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.
SCOUTING COLORADO STATE
The Rams enter the weekend at the top of the Mountain West standings with a 3-0 conference record and a 20-4 overall record after sweeping Fresno State to open conference last weekend. They have won their last 11 games dating back to a 16-0, five inning game against Idaho State on Feb. 28.
CSU doesn’t share any common opponent to date with UNM, but the Rams have played two ranked teams, defeating then-No. 16 Oklahoma State 2-1 and losing to then-No. 2 UCLA 3-0. They are 2-1 against Pac-12 schools, beating Utah 6-1 and Stanford 5-0, and have beaten Nebraska (12-9) and Syracuse (8-6) and 8-0 (5), but lost to Iowa State (6-5). Colorado State has won eight games this year via run-rule and have shut out its opponent nine times. Conversely, CSU has been shutout just once to UCLA (3-0). The Rams are outscoring their opponents 174-55 and outhitting them 207-114. Against Fresno State last weekend, CSU outscored the Bulldogs 31-13 and outhit them 28-21.
Last season, Colorado State went 27-23 overall and 10-14 in the MW and advanced to the second round of the NISC.Colorado State returns 11 letterwinners from 2018, including eight starters and have nine newcomers.
Amber Nelson leads the Rams with a .400 batting average, a .743 slugging percentage, 12 walks and 52 total bases, and is tied for home runs with five. Danni Klein leads in runs scored with 31 and Ashley Michelena leads with 32 hits and three triples on the season. Corina Gamboa has a team-high 28 RBI and nine doubles.
As a team, CSU is 13-of-14 in stolen bases with six players perfect in stolen bases attempted. Danni Klein is 3-for-3, Ashley Michelena is 3-for-3, Jordan Acosta is 2-for-2, and Isabella Navarro, Tara Shadowen and Haley Donaldson are all 1-for-1. Opponents are 10-for-13 in attempted steals.
Colorado State pitchers have an ERA of 2.07 as a staff, allowing 114 hits on the season and 55 runs (45 earned). As a unit, they have struck out 93 batters while walking 58. Opponents are hitting .206 against the SDSU pitchers. Of the 114 hits, 22 were doubles, four triples and eight home runs. CSU has used three pitchers this season, with Bridgette Hutton pitching a team-high 67.1 innings. Hutton has an 8-2 record on the year wuth 13 appearances and 10 starts, pitching six complete games and three shutouts. In the circle, the senior has given up 49 hits, 31 runs (24 earned), 37 strikeouts and 36 walks. Jessica Jarecki has pitched 60.2 innings, compiling an 8-1 record after making 12 appearances and 11 starts with eight complete games and four shutouts. With an ERA of 1.85, Jarecki has allowed 47 hits, 18 runs (16 earned), 44 strikeouts and 17 walks. Taylor Gilmore has pitched just 24.0 innings in eight appearances and three starts, with a 4-1 record. The redshirt-freshman has thrown two complete games, two shutouts and one save on the season. Gilmore has been charged with 18 hits, six rus (five earned), 12 strikeouts and five walks. She has allowed just four doubles but no doubles or home runs.
The Rams rank first in the NCAA in doubles per game (2.33), 10th in slugging percentage (.586), 11th in scoring (7.25), 15th in batting average (.331), 19th in on-base percentage (.411) and 26th in home runs per game (1.21). Danni Klein ranks sixth in runs per game (1.29) and 15th in sacrifice hits per game (0.29). Ashley Michelena is 26th in triples, 44th in triples per game (0.13) and 48th in runs per game (1.04). Corina Gamboa (1.17) and Amber Nelson (1.08) are 31st and 49th in RBI per game, respectively.