UNM Set to Play Two Ranked Teams in Upcoming Tournament
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico softball team heads back to the Grand Canyon State for five games against some top competition, including the No. 2 team in the country, Oklahoma and the No. 11/13 team in Arizona State.
In a split tournament, the Lobos will open against the Sooners on Friday morning (11 a.m. MT) followed by an afternoon game (2 p.m. MT) against host Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz., both teams which enter the weekend undefeated at 7-0 and 6-0, respectively.
On Saturday, UNM will play in Phoenix, Ariz., opening again with the Sooners at 11 a.m. MT and ending the day against Grand Canyon at 1:30 p.m.
UNM will then head back to Tempe to close out the weekend with a final game against Arizona State at 11 a.m. MT on Sunday.
A LOOK BACK BEFORE LOOKING AHEAD
UNM opened the season at the Hillenbrand Invitational, going 1-5 in games against No. 4 Arizona, Southern Utah and Seattle.
Senior outfielder Andrea Howard led the Lobos with six hits including a double and three home runs, accounting for a team-high seven RBI and 16 total bases. The Albuquerque native finished the weekend with a team-high .429 batting average, 1.143 slugging percentage and .526 on-base percentage.
In the circle, the Lobos used three pitchers with newcomer Emma Guindon pitching 15.2 innings through three starts and earning her first win as a Lobo in an 11-3 complete-game win. Freshman Ashlyn Roberts made four appearances, making her first career start in the season opener against Seattle, and struck out seven hitters in the invitational.
THE RETURN OF HOME RUN HOWARD
Senior Andrea Howard hit a home run in three of the six games in the opening weekend, with her first home run coming against No. 4 Arizona in the top of the third to tie the game at one.
Her second home run came in her first at-bat in the next game against Southern Utah, and the third home run was a 2-run home run that tied the game in the bottom of the first against Seattle.
Howard was the only Lobo to hit a home run.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma enters as the No. 2 team in the country, and has scored 10-plus runs in five of its seven games and 20-plus runs in two games at UTEP.
The Sooners are currently first in the nation in home runs per game (4.43), on-base percentage (.576) and slugging percentage (1.042), second in the nation in batting average (.512), and third in scoring with 14.29 runs per game.
Grace Lyons leads the nation in home runs with seven, with Jocelyn Alo third with six and Kinzie Hansen and Tiare Jennings sixth with five each. The Sooners are 1-2 in RBI as Lyons also leads the nation in RBI with 20 with Alo at 18. Jennings is seventh with 15 RBI. Lyons is also fifth in hits with 16.
Oklahoma had three players named to the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List in Giselle “G” Juarez, Jocelyn Alo and Nicole Mendes.
In the circle, the Sooners have used seven pitchers with five of them carrying a 0.0 ERA. LHP Giselle Juarez is 2-0 on the season with 11.0 innings pitched and has struck out 17 hitters while walking one. Three OU pitchers have not allowed a walk, and as a staff the pitchers have walked just eight hitters and struck out 52. The pitching ERA is 1.66 with seven earned runs and allowed just 21 hits.
OU was picked to win the Big 12, the ninth straight year and 12th in the last 13 seasons that OU has been picked first.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
Arizona State is 6-0 following wins over BYU (7-2 and 7-5 (8)), a win over Utah (9-4) and Seattle (9-1) and two wins over Cal State Fullerton (8-0 and 5-2).
Alli Tatnall leads ASU in batting average ( .583) and on-base percentage, but Maddi Hackbarth leads in slugging percentage (1.125), hits (eight) and doubles (four) and is one of five players with two home runs. Denae Chatman has a team-best 10 RBI.
In the circle, the Sun Devils have used three pitchers with RHP Allison Royalty, LHP Lindsay Lopez and RHP Cielo Meza with each pitcher making two starts. Lopez has pitched a team-high 14.1 innings and allowed 18 hits, seven rns (five earned) for an ERA of 2.44. Royalty has the best ERA on the staff with a 0.51 and has thrown two complete games and 13.2 innings with just nine hits and one run allowed while striking out 20. Meza has pitched 12.0 innings with six runs allowed on seven hits, striking out 18 and walking two. As a staff, they have a 2.10 ERA with 34 hits, 14 runs (12 earned), 51 strikeouts and six walks.
ASU is fourth in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.33), 12th in slugging percentage (.667), 20th in scoring (7.5), 23rd in batting average, 25th in on-base percentage (.430) and 29th in doubles (11).
SCOUTING GRAND CANYON
The Lopes are 5-5 on the season following a loss to Utah (6-5), a split with Montana (lost 9-4, won 16-5) and Weber State (won 8-2, lost 6-2), a 5-3 loss to then-No. 10 Oregon, two wins over San Diego (7-2 and 1-0) and a recent split with UC San Diego (lost 6-5, won 6-4).
The Lopes are led at the plate by Gianna Nicoletti, who has 12 hits, a .387 batting average, a .525 on-base percentage and walks (eight) and is one of five players with two doubles. Savannah Tourville and Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage each have seven RBI to tie for the team high with Kristin Fifield leading with 17 total bases on 10 hits.
In the circle, GCU has used five pitchers to date with RHP Ryan Denhart leading with a 2.43 ERA on five appearances, four starts and one complete game. Denhart has allowed 27 hits with 11 runs (eight earned) in 23.0 innings. Denhart has struck out 16 while walking just four. LHP Sydnie Sahhar has started two games and has been credited with two saves, pitching 11.0 innings with 10 hits, five runs (four earned) and carries a 2.55 ERA with six strikeouts and three walks. RHP Jacie Hambrick had made three starts with six appearances with a team-high 28.1 innings pitched. Hambrick has allowed 26 hits with 20 runs (16 earned) and has struck out 19 hitters while walking 17 and has a 3.95 ERA. RHP Lexie Coons has a 5.25 ERA with 6.2 innings pitched, 12 hits, five runs (all earned) and two strikeouts in three appearances.
As a staff, the pitchers have a 3.63 ERA with 80 hits, 45 runs (37 earned) allowed and have struck out 45 while walking 27 hitters.