Home Runs and Solid Pitching Lead Lobos to Two Wins
PHOENIX, Ariz.— Six home runs. The University of New Mexico softball team hit six solo home runs between its two Saturday games at the GCU Kickoff Tournament on the bats of four different Lobos en route to a 2-0 win over (RV) Stanford and a 9-4 win over host Grand Canyon.
Junior centerfielder Andrea Howard accounted for half of the home runs, including a career-high two in the second game of the day against GCU, while Rachael Hathoot, Bailey Klitzke and Sydney Broderick each hit one.
The Lobos hit four home runs alone against Grand Canyon, the most in a single game for UNM since the Lobos hit four at Utah State on April, 22, 2017. Howard is the first Lobo to hit two home runs in a game since D’Andra DeFlora hit two against the Aggies in that same game.
Combined with solid pitching that resulted in two complete games from Brianna Sanchez and Kiana Spencer, the Lobos never trailed in either game and moved to 2-2 on the season.
GAME ONE: Stanford
Sanchez was not going to be beat twice by Stanford. After losing a lead late to the Cardinal on Friday afternoon on a walk-off single, the freshman right-hander responded with a strong statement to hand (RV) Stanford it first loss of the season and to give UNM (1-2) its first win of the season.
In her first collegiate start, the California native threw a complete-game shutout, limiting Stanford (3-1) to four hits while throwing 47 strikes on 86 total pitches to 26 batters faced.
Her lone strikeout of the contest came in the top of the seventh, and as it turns out Sanchez was responsible for all three outs in the final inning as she caught a line drive and threw to first for the double play to record the final two outs. It was the second double play of the game for UNM, with the Lobos getting out of the fifth on a liner to Gavyn Shafer at second, who threw to first.
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.
With the defense holding steady behind Sanchez, the Lobo bats did the rest. Hits were hard to come by with Stanford holding a slight 4-3 edge in the category, but the Lobos needed just two swings to get the necessary runs for the victory.
For the third straight game, and the second straight time in the first inning, the Lobos got on the board first. Freshman Hathoot led off with a home run to left center on a 2-2 pitch, the first of her collegiate career, and Howard doubled the Lobo lead with a solo shot over the right field wall with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning for the 11th home run of her career and first of the season.
The Lobos had an opportunity to add to the lead in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases on three walks, but couldn’t push a run across. However, two runs were all that Sanchez needed as she headed back to the circle for the top of the seventh and closed the game.
GAME TWO: Grand Canyon
Continuing the trend of the previous three games, the Lobos got out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first.
While the Lopes answered to tie the game with a run in the second and two in the third, the Lobos used the long ball to re-take the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third. For good measure, UNM added a solo home run in the fifth and one in the sixth to make it 9-3, scoring six unanswered runs in the next three innings.
GCU (0-4) strung together another run in the top of the seventh on consecutive fielder’s choices, but Spencer finished the game with a strikeout to pick up her first complete game and win of the season.
In the bottom of the first, O’Grady hit a one-out double to right center, and it didn’t take long after that for the Lobos to open the scoring. Of note, not only was it the third double of the season for O’Grady, but it marked the 100th hit of the senior’s career.
Briana Martinez reached base with a walk and Klitzke hit a ball down the right-field line for a double that scored O’Grady and moved Martinez to third. Howard followed that with a fly ball to center that was deep enough to allow Martinez to tag from third for the 2-0 lead.
The Lopes got one run back in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly, but UNM answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning, after taking advantage of an error by the GCU third baseman.
Following a leadoff single up the middle for Reyan Tuck, Broderick hit a ball towards the third base line that was snagged by the GCU infielder. She threw to second to try to get the lead runner, but the ball sailed past the second baseman and traveled all the way to the right field warning track to score Tuck from first. Broderick ended up on third, but was left stranded there.
After GCU tied the game at three on a walk, a double and a triple, the Lobos needed just one pitch to re-claim the lead. Leading off the bottom of the fourth, Klitzke swung on the first pitch of the at-bat and hit it over the center field wall. Following suit, on the first pitch of the next at-bat, Howard hit a home run to left center, quickly giving the Lobos back their two-run margin at 5-3.
Shafer reached on a hit-by-pitch on the next at-bat and would move to second on a walk by Taryn Young. With two outs in the inning, the Lobos again were the recipient of a GCU error that resulted in runs. With Hathoot up to bat, the freshman hit a fly ball to right field, but the GCU outfielder was unable to find the ball and it hit off her glove, allowing both Shafer and Young to come around to score to make it 7-3.
The Lobos recorded four runs on two hits in the inning, both of them coming on home runs to start the inning, as the Lobos sent 10 batters to the plate, starting and ending with Klitzke.
Spencer maintained the game through the fourth, fifth and sixth, giving up just one hit through the three frames, as the Lobos added an insurance run in the fifth on a leadoff home run from Broderick, her second of the weekend, and the second home run of the game for Howard in the sixth.
GCU plated a run in the top of the seventh, with the first two hitters reaching base on a walk and a single, followed by two fielder’s choices that moved the runner on second to third and then home, but a strikeout by Spencer provided the final out.
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 is the 12th complete game for Spencer as a Lobo.
Of note, the Lobos outhit the Lopes 8-6 and held a 6-4 advantage in walks. Additionally, Howard finished with three RBI in the game and Klitzke had two.
Up next: The Lobos conclude the GCU Kickoff Tournament on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. MT with a final game against Grand Canyon. The game will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network.