Lobos Open Home Schedule with Run-Rule Win Over UNC
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The bats came alive for The University of New Mexico softball team in the Lobo home opener on Friday night, needing just five innings to defeat the Northern Colorado Bears by a score of 12-3.
The Lobos found themselves behind early after a three-run home run by Paola Villegas in the first, but UNM would close the game scoring the next 12 runs in its first game of the Susan Craig Classic to move to 3-3 on the season and 1-0 at Lobo Softball Field.
UNM recorded a season-high 12 runs, 13 hits, 12 RBI and three doubles and had four of its five leadoff batters reach base.
Andrea Howard tallied a career-high five runs-batted-in on the night, including a two-run home run that put the Lobos in run-rule territory to walk-off with the win. The junior outfielder went 2-for-3 at the plate, with Cameryn O’Grady and Lauren Wilmert also going 2-for-3 in their plate appearances.
For the second straight game, freshman Briana Martinez went 3-for-3 at the plate, one of five Lobos to register multiple hits and one of seven hitters to record a hit, with the Lobos outhitting the Bears 13-5. Six different Lobos reached base via a walk and seven players posted at least one RBI.
Fellow freshman Reyan Tuck was also perfect at the plate, going 2-for-2 and delivered two RBI.
Getting the ball in the circle, senior Kiana Spencer (2-0) threw another complete game, responding to the early deficit by going the next four innings without a run and allowing just five hits on the night. The left-hander finished with a stat line of 5.0 innings of work, two walks and 67 pitches thrown with 40 of them called strikes.
Of note, Martinez, Howard and Rachael Hathoot extended their streaks of reaching base safely to six games while Howard extended her hitting streak to five games.
Allowing a run for the first time this season in the first inning, the Lobos got a run back in the bottom of the second, putting together consecutive hits to start the inning. After Wilmert and Tuck tallied singles, a single by Gavyn Shafer that stayed in the infield allowed Wilmert to score from second.
After Spencer retired the side in the third, the Lobos pushed three runs across to take the lead with some aid from errors by UNC (1-6).
O’Grady started the bottom of the third with a single but was able to advance to second on an error by the shortstop. On the next at-bat, O’Grady advanced to third on a single by Martinez, who used heads-up base running to move to second on UNC’s throw to third. O’Grady was brought home to make it a one-run game on a double by Bailey Klitzke to left field. The second error of the inning occurred on a dropped fly ball to the right fielder, allowing Martinez to score and Klitzke to move up a base to tie the game at three. Tuck put the Lobos in front with a line drive to right field that allowed Klitzke to tag from third and score the final run of the inning.
The fourth inning was where the Lobos really did their damage, batting around the order as they scored six runs on five hits.
UNM had its third leadoff batter reach base after Taryn Young drew a full-count walk following a seven-pitch at-bat, and the outfielder would come around to score following an O’Grady double to right center, her fourth of the season. Martinez followed that up with a double to left field to bring in O’Grady, doubling the lead at 6-3. The Lobos were aggressive on the base paths with Martinez advancing to third on a passed ball as Klitzke drew the walk, and on the ensuing at-bat, Klitzke proceeded to steal second to put two runners in scoring position.
Howard kept the runners moving on a single up the middle to score both Klitzke and Martinez, advancing to second on the throw in. After Wilmert hit a single through the left side of the infield to move Howard to third and Tuck singled to left to score Howard, Shafer was issued a full-count walk to load the bases. Another walk, this time for Hathoot, brought in the sixth and final run of the inning. UNM brought 12 hitters to the plate in the fourth.
From there, Spencer worked around a two-out double to center, and the Lobos needed just three at-bats to close the game at the plate in the fifth. Martinez started the bottom of the fifth with a single that stayed in the infield and with one out and a 0-1 count, Howard sent a ball to the bleachers in right field to score the final two runs of the game for her team-leading fourth home run of the season.
With Howard’s home run, the Lobos have recorded a home run in the last five games.
Up next: The Susan Craig Classic continues on Saturday with three games, two of which the Lobos will play in. While games begin at 1 p.m. MT, UNM will play the two late games at 3:30 p.m. against the Bears and at 6 p.m. against UCSB.
Fans can purchase Lobo Pride Passes for access to all home games this season for $50 by clicking HERE. Other ways are directly through the Lobo Ticket Office in person or on the phone (925-LOBO). The Lobo Ticket Office is located in Dreamstyle Arena and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Additionally, fans can purchase single-game tickets for all games this season at Lobo Softball Field HERE. One game ticket will give fans access to all games for that day during the Susan Craig Classic.