Open Announce

Lobos Close Tournament Schedule at Longhorn Invitational

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico softball team is headed to Austin, Texas for UNM’s final tournament of the season.

Starting Friday at 10 a.m. MT against Texas Southern, the Lobos will play five games in three days against Texas Southern, Liberty and No. 3/2 Texas.

All games will be shown on the Longhorn Network, with the games on Saturday tape-delayed.

UNM GAME NOTES | TEXAS GAME NOTES | LIBERTY GAME NOTES
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM (FRI. vs. TSU) | LIVE STREAM (SAT. vs. TSU/ TAPE-DELAYED) | LIVE STREAM (SAT. vs. LIBERTY/ TAPE-DELAYED) | LIVE STREAM (SUN. vs. TEXAS) | AUDIO VS. TEXAS | LIVE STREAM (SUN. vs. LIBERTY)

WEEK 4 RECAP
The Lobos hosted Northern Colorado, La Salle and South Dakota in the Lobo Classic, going 2-0 against La Salle and South Dakota and 0-2 against Northern Colorado.
UNM was led at the plate by Cameryn O’Grady, who tallied 10 hits, 10 runs batted in, 17 total bases, four doubles and a grand slam (the first of her career). She hit .556 with a slugging percentage of .944 and an on-base percentage of .609.
Andrea Howard hit two home runs with six runs batted in, while Briana Martinez also tallied six runs batted in on seven hits, four of which were doubles.  
Gavyn Shafer caught fire at the plate over the six games, hitting .421 (second-best on the team), with eight hits (second-most on team), two of which were doubles, and four runs batted in. She posted a slugging percentage of .526 and an on-base percentage of .476. Shafer was 8-for-12 in advancing runners and 2-for-2 with a runner on third and less than two outs.
Skylar Jenkins had a season-best three hits, including one double, and four runs batted in against La Salle on Feb. 29 while serving as the desginated player. She was 4-for-6 in advancing runners and had four runs batted in with two outs. 
In the circle, Kiana Spencer went 3-0, starting two games and appearing in four. The senior pitched a team-high 17.1 innings and struck out five batters while allowing 11 runs (seven earned) on 20 hits. Bailey Klitzke started three games and struck out a team-high eight hitters.
O’Grady was 7-for-8 with runners on base, 2-for-3 with bases loaded, 2-for-2 with a runner on third and less than two outs and 10-for-11 in advancing runners. 

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK 5
UNM closes out its tournament schedule at the Longhorn Invitational against Texas Southern, Liberty and No. 3/2 Texas. 

Briana Martinez enters the weekend with a 20-game streak of safely reaching base. Cameryn O’Grady has reached base safely in the last nine games, and Gavyn Shafer enters the weekend on a six-game hitting streak. Lauren Wilmert and Taylor Jones have each reached base safely in the last four games.  

PATIENCE AT THE PLATE
UNM earned its way on base via a walk in 91 of the 498 at-bats to date. In 92 at-bats, the Lobos had full counts and of those, 48 resulted in walks. In addition to the 48 full count walks, 16 walks were of the four-pitch variety and 27 were five-pitch walks.
UNM had a season-high 12 walks against La Salle, with two each from Cameryn O’Grady, Briana Martinez and Taryn Young. 

Against WSU in the first game, the Lobos had eight full counts with six of those resulting in walks.

UNM is third in the country in walks, trailing just Arizona State (93) and Southern Miss. (94).

Martinez leads the Lobos in walks with 18. In the Feb. 15 game against Northern Colorado, the freshman drew a walk following a 10-pitch at-bat after falling behind 0-2 (KKBBFFFFBB). In the third inning against Northern Colorado on Feb. 15, Martinez hit a home run following a 3-2 count.

In the game against Cal, Andrea Howard walked on a 12-pitch at-bat after falling behind 0-2 (KFFBFBFFBFFB) in the sixth inning. In the fifth inning, Taryn Young hit a home run on a full count after fouling off two pitches.
O’Grady is second in walks with 14 with Bailey Klitzke, Howard and Young tied for third with nine.

O’GRADY NAMED MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK 
Senior shortstop Cameryn O’Grady was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Tuesday. The California native is the first Lobo to win a conference weekly honor since Tess McPherson won MW Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 14, 2017 and the first to win MW Player of the Week since Chelsea Johnson was selected on April 19, 2016. The selection comes after O’Grady hit .556 at the Lobo Classic and led the Lobos with 10 hits, 17 total bases, 10 RBI, as well as with a .944 slugging percentage and a .609 on-base percentage. She also drew three walks, hit four doubles, a home run and her first career sacrifice fly on the weekend.

Hitting in the leadoff spot for all six games, O’Grady recorded multiple hits in four of the six games played, including going 3-for-4 in the opening game against La Salle on Feb. 28, recording three runs batted in. She went 2-for-2 at the plate in the second game against La Salle with a grand slam in the third inning on a 3-2 pitch to give UNM an 8-1 lead as well as reached base with two walks. It was the first grand slam of the senior’s career, and her second home run of the season.

Her four doubles gives her a season total of 13. A native of Orange, Calif., O’Grady currently leads the NCAA in doubles and leads the conference in doubles per game with 0.65. O’Grady also leads the Mountain West in on-base percentage with .554.
In addition, her 13 doubles passes her season total in 2018 of 12, nearly matches her season total from 2019 of 16 and she is just eight doubles away from tying the single season record for doubles in program history. In her career, O’Grady has 41 doubles, which is tied for fifth in UNM history and is eight shy of setting the program career record.

GOING THE DISTANCE X5
While the Lobos have more depth at the pitcher position than in recent years, the Lobos utilized just two in their two wins on Saturday, Feb. 8.Freshman right-hander Brianna Sanchez pitched a complete 7.0 innings in her first collegiate start against (RV) Stanford, allowing just four hits and striking out one, while throwing 47 strikes on 86 total pitches for the shutout. The freshman found herself in trouble just once with a bases-loaded situation in the second, but for the most of the morning, the Lobo pitcher kept the Cardinal off of the base paths, retiring the order in the third and fourth. The four hits were scattered through four innings and each time the defense kept the runners stranded, with the Cardinal leaving a total of five runners on base in the game. In the next game against host GCU, senior left-hander Kiana Spencer finished with a final stat line of 7.0 innings of work, six hits, four runs (all earned), two strikeouts, four walks and 55 strikes on 93 pitches thrown. It was the 12th complete game for Spencer as a Lobo.

In the Susan Craig Classic, Spencer pitched two more complete games, with both resulting in run-rule wins for the Lobos. On Friday night against Northern Colorado, 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. In Saturday’s game against UCSB, Spencer posted 5.0 innings of work, allowing just one run on five hits, while striking out two batters and walking three. Of the 76 pitches thrown, 44 went for strikes.

Over the weekend, Bailey Klitzke pitched her first complete game of the season against Northern Colorado, allowing nine hits, six runs (two earned), while walking two and striking out six. It was the third complete game that Klitzke has pitched at UNM, facing a career-high 34 batters. 

DOUBLE UP
UNM has recorded 11 double plays this season, already surpassing the total number the Lobos had in 2019 (six) and nearly matching the number in 2018 (13). The Lobos had three in the first game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic against UC Riverside in the second, third and fifth innings with Rachael Hathoot accounting for two of them at third. Hathoot has recorded four double plays, Cameryn O’Grady has been involved in four double plays and Gavyn Shafer has been a part of four double plays. Brianna Sanchez and Lauren Wilmert have been involved with two double plays and Sydney Broderick, Leslie Romero, Andrea Howard and Taylor Jones have each been involved in one double play. UNM recorded three double plays at the Lobo Classic, two of which came in games against La Salle. 

FRESHMEN STEP UP IN THE FIRST MONTH OF PLAY
UNM had three freshmen start all five games at the GCU Kickoff Tournament on opening weekend in Briana Martinez, Rachael Hathoot and Gavyn Shafer, with four making an appearance overall, and were put in key roles in which they delivered. To date, Hathoot and Martinez have started all 20 games while Shafer has started 19. 

Martinez has hit in the third spot in the lineup all 20 games, while Hathoot led off in 14 games and in the second spot in six games. Martinez is second in several categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, hits, doubles, and leads the team in walks and stolen bases. The New Mexico native is a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. She is third in slugging percentage, total bases and runs batted in. Martinez has also reached base in all 20 games this season, the only Lobo to do so.

Hathoot is second in runs scored, fourth in hits, total bases and runs batted in, but leads the Lobos in hit-by-pitches. She is the only Lobo to have recorded a triple to date this season, which she has done twice.  Hathoot started off the season hitting in the leadoff spot in 14 games and recently moved to the second spot in the lineup in the last six games. She is 2-for-3 when batting with a runner on third and less than two outs, 16-for-30 in advancing runners and has four RBI with two outs.

Shafer has spent time at both first and second, mostly at second, in her 19 starts and produced her first double play against Stanford in the 2-0 win. The infielder has 30 assists on the season, the third-most on the team in the category, has 49 putouts (third on the team) and has been involved in four double plays. Her first RBI came on a sacrifice fly in the season opener against Weber State. Shafer is 3-for-4 on the season with a runner on third and less than two outs, 17-for-30 in advancing runners and has two runs batted in with two outs. The infielder currently has a six-game hitting streak going into the Longhorn Invitational. 

Sanchez has made a team-high 12 appearances in the circle but also has a team-low ERA of 4.30 with 29.1 innings of work. The right-hander has also accounted for a double play to close out the 2-0 win against Stanford in which she caught a line drive and threw it to first for the final out. Against Northern Colorado, Sanchez also started a double play, fielding the ground ball back to the pitcher, throwing to Cameryn O’Grady at second who threw it to Reyan Tuck at first. In the win against UC Riverside, Sanchez threw a scoreless 2.2 innings in relief, allowing just two hits while walking two and striking out one to earn the save. Of the 39 pitches she threw, 25 went for strikes. She has also pitched a scoreless game against California, going 1.1 innings and 1.0 inning against La Salle.

THANK YOU, T.Y.
Junior outfielder Taryn Young had an impressive Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, recording five of her 11 hits this season in California. Of the five hits, three of them went for home runs, giving the Lobo five runs batted in for the tournament. Against San Diego, the California native reached base twice via walks. In the final game of the Mary Nutter against Cal, Young accounted for both Lobo hits and all three Lobo runs, hitting a solo home run in the fifth to tie the game and a two-run home run in the seventh with two outs. 
Young is second on the team in home runs, fifth in hits, batting average, runs batted in and total bases, fourth in slugging percentage and on-base percentage, and third in runs scored. The junior has six runs batted in with two outs, is 6-for-13 as the leadoff hitter in an inning and 9-for-22 in advancing runners. 

NATIONALLY RANKED
Through the first 20 games of the season, UNM is ranked among the top 30 in a trio of categories.The Lobos rank third in the NCAA in walks with 91, 15th in double plays per game at 0.55 and 30th in the country in doubles with 32, and lead the Mountain West in double plays per game, home runs per game (1.05) and walks. Individually, Cameryn O’Grady leads the NCAA in doubles (13) and is sixth in doubles per game (0.65). Andrea Howard is 19th in home runs (seven), 49th in home runs per game (0.35), and sixth in sacrifice flies (three). Briana Martinez is 19th in walks per game (0.90) Kiana Spencer is 29th in victories with seven.The Lobos lead the Mountain West in home runs with 21, fielding double plays (11) and walks, is tied for second in doubles (32), tied for third in runs scored (115), third in runs batted in (105) and on-base percentage (.391), and fourth in slugging percentage (.472). 

ONE FINAL GO AROUND FOR O’GRADY 
Cameryn O’Grady enters her final season in the Cherry and Silver with several milestones achieved. The shortstop currently has a streak of 117 games in the starting lineup dating back to Feb. 18, 2018, all at shortstop. In the last three years, the California native has started all but one game.

This season, the senior shortstop leads the team in batting average (.429), hits (24), doubles (13), runs scored (20), slugging percentage (.768), on-base percentage (.554) and total bases (43) and second in RBI (20) and walks (14).
In addition, O’Grady currently sits at 121 career hits, recording her 100th hit against Grand Canyon on Feb. 8.

Entering her fourth season, O’Grady has started 144 games, played in 152. She had her best season as a Lobo in 2019 with a hitting percentage of .348 with 49 hits, 16 doubles, six home runs, 85 total bases, and tied her season-best total of 26 RBI. 

In 2019, O’Grady had 11 multiple hit games, seven multiple RBI games and had a streak of nine games with a hit and 15 games reaching base safely. Last season, O’Grady recorded a hit in 35 games (66%). O’Grady hit in the three spot in 31 games, in the cleanup spot 16 games and led off for the Lobos six games last season. 

As the leadoff hitter, O’Grady was 18-for-33 (.545). With a runner on third and less than two outs, O’Grady was 4-for-9 (.444), was 13-for-38 (.342) with runners in scoring position and was .500 (45-for-90) in successfully advancing runners. 

O’Grady has already made the UNM record book in career walks with 66, which ranks ninth all-time. If she were to replicate her 2019 total of 31 walks, she would move up to third with 97. To date, she has 14 walks this season, giving her 80 in her career, which places her one walk out of a tie for fourth.  

The shortstop has cracked the top 10 in career doubles, which she currently has 41, putting her tied for fifth. To date, O’Grady has 13 on the season and is eight away from setting the career record and nine from setting the single season record. 

Speaking of the record book, in 2019, O’Grady posted 16 doubles to rank tied for the fourth-most in a single season, her 31 walks tied for seventh in a single season and she had an on-base percentage of .474 to rank tied for the eighth-highest percentage in a single season in program history. 

THE OPPONENTS
TEXAS SOUTHERN
The Lobos have never played Texas Southern previously. Outside of the Longhorn Invitational opponents, the Lobos and Lady Tigers have no common opponents. 

The Lady Tigers enter the tournament 7-10 but having won their last four games, defeating Houston-Victoria 3-1 and 9-2 and Lamar 6-1 and 5-3. 

To date, Texas Southern is hitting .248 with 41 runs, 101 hits, nine doubles, one triple and three home runs. The Lady Tigers are 19-for-20 in stolen bases and have an on-base percentage of .319. Zariah Robins leads the team in batting average (.344), Tevanae Tate leads with 13 hits and former Lobo player Daryn Haslam leads with two home runs, 19 total bases, and in slugging percentage (.500), on-base percentage (.438) and 13 RBI. Crimson Davis leads in steals and steal attempts at 7-8, with Robins is 4-4 and Ashling Shahan, Terren Vinson and Tate is 2-2. 

In the circle, the Lady Tigers have started four pitchers and thrown a total of seven pitchers. Naomi Reyes has made seven starts and pitched 38.0 innings with two complete games and two shutouts. She has given up 31 hits, 15 runs (12 earned) and walked 14 while striking out 40 and carries an ERA of 2.84 and a 2-4 record. Chelsea Baxter has started four games with six appearances and is 2-2 on the season. In 22.2 innings pitched, Baxter has allowed 26 hits, 13 runs (seven earned), six walks and six strikeouts. Jazmine Gendorf has pitched in five games with four starts with two complete games and one save. In 26.1 innings in the circle, Gendorf has given up 24 hits, 10 runs (nine earned), and eight walks and struck out nine. 

Texas Southern was picked to win the SWAC West.

LIBERTY
The Lobos are 2-0 overall against Liberty, with the two meetings coming on March 18, 2005 (4-2) and March 20, 2005 (10-2).Liberty enters the tournament 7-11 after having won its last six games, but is 3-11 on neutral fields. Of note, the Flames defeated No. 6 Michigan 6-5 to start the win streak. UNM and Liberty have just one common opponent this season in Missouri, with the Flames losing 5-4 to the Tigers. Liberty also played Team USA in an exhibition, in which the Flames lost 18-0 in five innings. 

To date, the Flames are batting .258 with 119 hits and 69 runs on 22 doubles, one triple and 14 home runs. They have reached base on 37 walks and have struck out 81 times. LU is 14-16 on stolen base attempts and have an on-base percentage of .327. Amber Bishop leads the Flames with a .400 batting average, 22 hits, 18 RBI, eight home runs, 47 total bases, .468 on-base percentage and .855 slugging percentage. Savannah Channell has a team-high six walks and Kara Canetto has a team-high five doubles. Madison Via is 5-7 in stolen base attempts with Channell and Blake Gibson 2-2. 

In the circle, the Flames have used four pitchers with Karlie Keeney making a team-high 14 appearances and eight starts, and throwing six complete games. Keeney has thrown 65.0 innings with 65 hits, 31 runs (27 earned), 17 walks and 42 strikeouts and carries a 2.91 ERA and 4-4 record. Megan Johnson is 3-3 on the season with six starts and has a 4.67 ERA. Johnson has thrown two complete games with 30.0 innings, 33 hits, 24 runs (20 earned), seven walks and 15 strikeouts. Kastin Belogorska is 0-2 with four appearances and two starts, throwing just 4.2 innings with five hits, three runs (all earned) and three walks. Emily Kirby has also made two starts and is 0-2, but has appeared in six games. Throwing 15.2 innings, Kirby has given up 31 hits, 26 runs (20 earned) and seven walks.

Liberty was picked as the preseason favorite in the ASUN preseason poll with Amber Bishop, Autumn Bishop and Madison Via selected to the ASUN preseason all-conference team.

TEXAS
The Lobos are 0-4 against the Longhorns, with the last time the two teams met being April 1, 2012, a 5-0 win for No. 6 Texas.  UNM and Texas have six common opponents outside of the Longhorn Invitational in Weber State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Texas Tech and BYU. The Longhorns beat Colorado State (12-3, 5 innings), Weber State (9-4) and Boise State (6-2), but lost to Fresno State (4-3). The Longhorns enter the tournament having won their last two games, and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. Of note, Texas defeated then-No. 2 Washington 8-6 and No. 1 UCLA 6-4 (8). Texas is 12-2 in home games.  They are coming off of a weekend in which they defeated four top-15 teams.

To date, UT is hitting .372 with 174 runs scored on 218 hits on 52 doubles, seven triples and 20 home runs. The Longhorns have an on-base percentage of .449 and are 24-29 in stolen base attempts. Janae Jefferson leads the Longhorns in hits at 32 and in batting average with .516, as well as in stolen bases, going 7-7. Lauren Burke leads with 12 doubles and a slugging percentage of .849, while Kaitlyn Washington leads with two triples and Courtney Day leads with five home runs. Colleen Sullivan has a team-high 13 walks.

In the circle, the Longhorns have used five pitchers, two of which have an ERA under 2.0 and three under 2.5. Courtney Day has made nine appearances and two starts, carrying a 1.18 ERA in 23.2 innings for a 4-0 record. The RHP has pitched one complete game and allowed 14 hits, six runs (four earned),  and has 18 strikeouts and zero walks. Miranda Elish carries a 1.50 ERA with 14 appearances and 10 starts, pitching 70.0 innings and nine complete games. The RHP is 9-3 with 43 hits allowed, 17 runs (15 earned), 16 walks and 82 strikeouts. Shealyn O’Leary is 5-0 following nine starts and three complete games. The RHP has a 2.30 ERA on 42.2 innings pitched, with 38 hits, 17 runs (14 earned), nine walks and 29 strikeouts. Ariana Adams is 2-0 on the season with five appearances and two starts, pitching 9.2 innings with six hits, six runs (five earned), seven walks and six strikeouts. As a staff, the pitchers have an ERA of 1.97 with 13 complete games and seven shutouts, allowing 101 hits, 49 runs (41 earned) and 37 walks while striking out 135. They have given up just 11 doubles, a triple and seven home runs this season with opponents hitting .185 off of them. Lauren Burke was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week and Shea O’Leary was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week.

Texas leads the NCAA in doubles, is second in batting average and doubles per game, third in on-base percentage, eighth in slugging percentage (.587), 10th in scoring and shutouts, 16th in walks and 18th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.65). Individually, Burke is second in doubles, behind UNM’s Cameryn O’Grady, and Janae Jefferson is fourth in hits and 13th in on-base percentage (.587). 

The Longhorns were picked to finish second in the Big 12 preseason poll with 29 points, finishing behind Oklahoma.