Lobos Lose Lead Late; Drop Series to Boise State
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— D’Andra DeFlora hit a three-run home run to right field in the bottom of the fifth that pushed The University of New Mexico softball team back in front 10-9 in a back-and-forth Saturday contest at Lobo Softball Field, but Boise State answered in the top of the sixth with six runs for the final lead change to win the game 22-10 and the series.
DeFlora led the Lobos with four RBI on a 3-for-5 outing at the plate, hitting a RBI double and a single to open the game in addition to the home run. The home run was the senior’s third of the season and second of the series and extended the senior’s hit streak to three games and her on-base streak to four games.
Monica Salas went 2-for-4 with two RBI on a double in the third, as did Sydney Townes, who made her 11th start of the season in the outfield, on two singles while also reaching base on a walk. The two hits tied a career high for the senior.
Junior Cameryn O’Grady also tallied two RBI in the game while going 1-for-3, hitting a two-run double in the third and reaching base on a hit-by-pitch. O’Grady extended her on-base streak to eight games and her hitting streak to five, while also tallying her seventh multiple RBI game of the season.
Andrea Howard was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks, one of five Lobo players to be issued a walk.
Much like in the two previous games in the series, Boise State put runs on the board in the first inning on a two-run home run and added a run in the second on a solo home run to go up 3-0.
In the bottom half of the first, the Lobos had bases loaded with one out after a leadoff single through the left side by DeFlora, a four-pitch walk for Townes and O’Grady being hit by a pitch. Unfortunately, a double play ended the inning without any runs coming across.
The Broncos extended their lead to 5-0 in the top of the third on two UNM errors.
UNM rallied in the bottom of the third to score six runs on four hits to take its first lead of the game. Taylor Jones led off getting hit by a pitch and with an 0-2 count DeFlora drove the ball down the left field line which allowed Jones to score from first. However, on the play, the Broncos tried to throw home, moving DeFlora to third on the throw, and after the throw hit Jones and rolled towards the visitor’s dugout, DeFlora slid into home for the second run of the game for UNM.
Townes kept the momentum going for the Lobos with a single to left and Howard walked after working a full count to put two more runners on. O’Grady hit the ball to the gap in left center on the next at-bat for her 15th double of the season, and the speed on the base paths produced two more runs to make it a one-run game at 5-4.
After a pop up by Lauren Wilmert, Bailey Klitzke walked and Salas hit a double to center field, scoring Klitzke and O’Grady and gave UNM a 6-5 lead. Salas slid safely into third after advancing as a result of the relay to the plate.
Back-to-back walks for Sydney Broderick and Jones loaded the bases and caused the second pitching change of the inning, which proved to be effective as Veronica Lynch retired the next two batters to end the scoring.
The Lobos kept the Broncos off of the board in the fourth and added a run in the bottom half to push the lead to 7-5.
Howard led off with a double to center and a fly out to center by O’Grady allowed Howard to tag to third. Wilmert sent another fly ball to deep center for the sacrifice fly to plate Howard.
BSU retook the lead in the fifth with back-to-back home runs that led to three runs and caused Kiana Spencer to replace Klitzke in the circle. The Broncos added another run that made it 9-7 before Spencer was able to get out of the inning.
UNM would go on to respond once more and create another lead change in the game on the bat of DeFlora. Salas started the inning with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Broderick. Jones reached on a fielding error by the third baseman and DeFlora capitalized on the third pitch of her at-bat with a home run to the bleachers in right to give the Lobos the 10-9 advantage.
Unfortunately, Boise State would score six runs on five hits in the sixth to cause one final lead change, in which the Lobos utilized three pitchers in the inning. The Broncos went ahead on a single up the middle that scored two runners from second and third and would tack on four more runs on two home runs to pull away in the sixth before scoring seven in the seventh.
The Lobos were unable to push across any more runs in the sixth and seventh as reliever Kelsey Broadus didn’t allow a hit in 2.2 innings of work.
UNM used five pitchers in the contest with Klitzke getting the start and going a total of 5.1 innings and throwing 118 pitches. Spencer was charged with the loss after going 0.2 innings and giving up three runs on two hits. In comparison, BSU used four.
The Lobos conclude their homestand with a final game against New Mexico State on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.