Lobos Set to Open Season at Hillenbrand Invitational in Tucson

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The wait is over and after 346 days, it is time to play softball.

For the second consecutive year, The University of New Mexico softball team will open its season in Arizona, and for the second time in three years, will be making an appearance at the Hillenbrand Invitational.

The Lobos will play a total of six game with two games each day, opening their season on Friday against Seattle at noon MT followed by a matchup with No. 4 Arizona at 6 p.m. MT. On Saturday, the Lobos have an early morning game against Southern Utah at 9 a.m. and a final game against Arizona at 3 p.m. On the final day of the invitational, the Lobos will play back-to-back games with Seattle at 9 a.m. and Southern Utah at noon.

UNM’s games against Arizona will be streamed for free on the Pac-12 Network while the other four games will be on FloSoftball, which requires a subscription. All six games will have live stats available.

The Lobos enter the 2021 season with seven returning starters in Rachael Hathoot, Cameryn O’Grady, Reyan Tuck, Lauren Wilmert in the infield, and the entire outfield with Andrea Howard, Briana Martinez and Taryn Young. When it comes to the pitching staff, the Lobos return pitchers Brianna Sanchez and Kiana Spencer, but have a new pitching coach in Brandon Maurer.

New Mexico added 10 newcomers in the offseason with three transfers in infielders Izzy Owen, Alexis Vigil and pitcher Emma Guindon, and six freshmen in infielder Savannah Braun, catcher Savana Martinez, pitchers Talia Hannappel and Ashlyn Roberts, and outfielders Diamond Sandoval, Samantha Simons, and Peyton Robinson.

This weekend will be the first of five weeks in which the Lobos will play at least one ranked team or a team that is receiving votes.

Like UNM, Arizona opens its season at the Hillenbrand Invitational, while Southern Utah is 1-5 and Seattle is 0-5.

The Thunderbirds are 1-5 on the season after winning their last game against Dixie State (12-6) and opening at the UNLV Rebel Kickoff last weekend. Southern Utah played then-No. 2 Washington, losing both games 8-0 (5 innings) and 19-13, MW school UNLV (losing 10-2, 5 innings and 13-5 (5 innings)) and Dixie State (losing 5-4).

Josey White leads the team in batting average (.438) and slugging percentage (1.143), along with total bases (24), home runs (five) and RBI (12). Makall Whetten has a team-high three doubles and a batting average of .444 to lead SUU with nine RBI and is tied with White for the team high in hits (eight).

In the circle, RHP Grace Owen leads the team with six appearances and a 5.25 ERA. The sophomore has pitched 9.1 innings and allowed nine hits, 11 runs (seven earned) with 10 walks and nine strikeouts. RHP Tyler Denhart has made three starts and five appearances, pitching 14.1 innings with 26 hits and 23 runs (20 earned), and has an ERA of 9.77 and a 1-1 record. Payton Goodrich has started the other three games and pitched in four games, throwing 8.2 innings with 19 hits and 19 runs allowed.

Arizona had its opening weekend at the Texas Classic canceled due to weather in Austin, and like the Lobos have seven starters returning, including its top three pitchers, and 12 letterwinners.

Among the returning starters are Jessie Harper, who led Arizona in batting average (.395), home runs (10), RBI (29), total bases (63) and slugging percentage (.829) last season. Reyna Carranco led in hits (31) with Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza leading the team in doubles (seven), walks (20) and on-base percentage (.490).

From the pitching staff, RHP Mariah Lopez is the top returner with a 1.38 ERA in 2020 and an 11-2 record in 71.0 innings pitched. Lopez threw seven complete games and had 93 strikeouts compared to just 22 walks. Alyssa Denham posted a 1.92 ERA in 2020 with a 9-1 record and six complete games after 80.1 innings in the circle. Similar to Lopez, the RHP struck out 76 while walking just 25. Hanah Bowen made an appearance in four games last season to compile a 2-0 record and pitched 11.2 innings.

Seattle is 0-5 entering the weekend after opening its season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe. The Redhawks lost to Utah (2-1), Arizona State (9-1, 5 innings), BYU (4-3), Utah (10-1, 5 innings) and again to Utah (10-4).

Ally Choate led the team with five hits and two walks, with Brooke Milder leading the team with two doubles. Madison Cathcart is responsible for the only home run on the team and has a team-high seven total bases.

On the pitching side, Shi Smith has started three games and has a team-best 4.10 ERA with 13.2 innings. The senior has allowed 19 hits, 11 runs (eight earned) with 14 strikeouts and four walks. Stefanie Madrigal has started one game but made four appearances and pitched 11.2 innings. In the circle, Madrigal has allowed 16 hits, 13 runs (11 earned) with 10 strikeouts and three walks. Carley Nance has the other start on the season, throwing just 2.0 innings and allowing six hits and six runs.

Overall, UNM is 25-2 against Southern Utah, 8-4 against Seattle and 4-40 against Arizona all-time.