Howard’s Hits Not Enough as Lobos Fall in Final Games at Hillenbrand
TUCSON, Ariz.— The University of New Mexico dropped its final two games of the Hillenbrand Invitational on Sunday, closing out the weekend with a loss to Seattle followed by Southern Utah.
Senior outfielder Andrea Howard hit her third home run of the season, a two-run home run in the bottom of the first against Seattle to tie the game at two, and later hit a double that scored another run, but ultimately UNM was unable to match the Redhawks’ offensive production in the later innings in the eventual 9-5 loss.
Howard again delivered to score the first run for the Lobos in the second game against Southern Utah, singling to right to score Cameryn O’Grady from second in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lobos were unable to add any more runs in the 4-1 loss.
Between the two games, the Albuquerque native went 3-for-6 with four runs-batted-in, one walk, one double and one home run to lead the Lobos in hits, RBI, walks, home runs and total bases (seven).
O’Grady and Peyton Robinson each finished with two hits on the day with each joining Howard in hitting a double.
GAME ONE: SEATTLE
Both teams plated two runs in the first inning with Seattle taking an initial lead in the top half before UNM tied it on Howard’s home run to center.
SU put its first two hitters on in the second, including having a runner on third, but Emma Guindon and the Lobo defense was able to work out of the jam with a strikeout, a groundout to Guindon and a pop out to O’Grady at shortstop.
The Redhawks again threatened in the third with runners on second and third, but again the Lobos were able to keep Seattle off the board. However in the bottom of the inning, the Lobos broke the tie on a Robinson double to right to lead off the inning, a Rachael Hathoot grounder that moved Robinson to third and a Howard at-bat that resulted in a SU error that allowed Robinson to score.
Seattle responded by scoring the next seven runs in the game to take a 9-3 lead with two runs each in the fourth, fifth and sixth before adding a final run in the seventh.
Robinson again started off as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh and bunted her way on base, moving over to second on a groundout by Hathoot. Howard brought her around with a double on a 3-2 pitch that hit the wall in right center and the Lobos added a second run on a single to right field by Izzy Owen that scored O’Grady, who reached on a single to right. UNM had four hits in the inning, ultimately doubling what it was able to produce in the previous six innings combined.
Howard and Robinson led the Lobos, each going 2-for-3 at the plate with Howard accounting for three runs-batted-in and also reached base on a walk for UNM’s only walk in the game. Owen tallied UNM’s fourth RBI on her only hit of the game.
In the circle, Guindon pitched 4.2 innings while giving up nine hits, eight runs (five earned) and four walks, while striking out two; Ashlyn Roberts threw 0.1 innings with one walk and Kiana Spencer threw 2.0 innings with one hit, one run and two walks.
GAME TWO: SOUTHERN UTAH
The Lobos again fell behind early in their second game of the day, with the Thunderbirds striking first in the top of the first on an Owen fielding error with bases loaded that scored a run. The Lobos were able to limit the deficit with two fly outs to Briana Martinez in left on the next two at-bats to leave three on base.
While SUU managed to put runners on base in the first three innings, including again having bases loaded in the third, the Lobo defense kept the Thunderbirds off the board and the score within reach at one run.
Southern Utah added two more runs in the fifth with a two-out rally that started with a hit-by-pitch and continued with a single and triple that cleared the bases and added a final run in the sixth on a sac fly that made it 4-0.
For UNM, the offense was unable to get going in the game, with the only base runner as a result of an O’Grady hit-by-pitch in the first.
Down to their final three outs and the top of the order due up, the Lobos were able to string together hits in the first three at-bats to finally break through in the scoring.
O’Grady led off with a double to the corner in right field and Howard followed that up with a single to right to bring her around for a run. Martinez singled through the left side of the infield to bring the tying run to the plate with no outs, but SUU made a pitching change to Tyler Denhart, who went on to retire the next three hitters to end any further chance to score.
All three of UNM’s hits came in the seventh inning.
Spencer pitched 4.2 innings and finished with four strikeouts and four walks, while allowing five hits and three runs (two earned). Roberts entered in relief and pitched the final 2.1 innings, striking out four while not allowing a walk and gave up one run on two hits.
Up next for UNM is the ASU/GCU Tournament next Friday, Saturday and Sunday with games against current No. 2/3 Oklahoma, No. 13/15 Arizona State and GCU.