Lobos Head to Oklahoma for Games at No. 8/9 Oklahoma State and Tulsa
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The University of New Mexico softball team continues its non-conference schedule with five games over three days in Oklahoma, with doubleheaders scheduled at Tulsa on Friday, Oklahoma State on Saturday and one final game against Nebraska-Omaha on Sunday.
Oklahoma State will be the fourth ranked team that UNM has faced through the first three weeks of the season, already having faced then-No. 2 Oklahoma, then-No. 4 Arizona and then No. 11/13 Arizona State.
Friday’s games against Tulsa (12 p.m. MT and 2 p.m. MT) will be streamed on Hurricane Vision and the Saturday games at Oklahoma State (12 p.m. MT and 2:30 p.m. MT) will be at ESPN+.
UNM opened the season at the Hillenbrand Invitational, going 1-5 in games against No. 4 Arizona, Southern Utah and Seattle. The Lobos then played ranked teams Oklahoma and Arizona State, as well as GCU in five games, dropping all five.
Two seniors have led the way for the Lobos so far, with Cameryn O’Grady and outfielder Andrea Howard each having standout weekends. O’Grady led the Lobos the past weekend with five hits, a .385 batting average, and a 1.077 slugging percentage, accounting for one double, one triple and two home runs for 14 total bases and five RBI. 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 at the Hillenbrand Invitational. 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 all five pitchers last weekend, with Emma Guindon leading with three starts and three complete games, pitching 17.2 innings. Freshman Ashlyn Roberts made two appearances, with 2.2 innings pitched and Talia Hannappel made her first career start against Oklahoma and pitched 2.0 innings.
SCOUTING TULSA
Tulsa enters the two games on Friday 0-3 overall with losses to Texas A&M by scores of 9-5, 9-6 and 3-0. The Golden Hurricane are led at the plate by Imani Edwards, who is batting .625 with five hits and has a double, a triple and a team-high eight total bases. Alexis Perry has the only home run on the season for Tulsa and is one of three players to have two walks on the season, tying for the team high. Kylie Norwood has hit a team-high two doubles on four hits. When it comes to the pitching staff, Tulsa has used four pitchers with Sara Llamas-Howell, Chenise Delce and Samantha Pochop each getting a start and Kylee Nash making two appearances. Llamas-Howell leads with 9.0 innings pitched, and has allowed eight hits, four runs and four walks while striking out six. Delce has pitched 5.0 innings and carries a 12.60 ERA with nine runs (seven earned) allowed on six hits and has walked three while striking out five. As a staff, Tulsa has a combined 9.50 ERA and has struck out 15 while walking nine. Tulsa is ranked eighth in the NCAA in double plays per game (0.67), 37th in triples per game (0.33) and 40th in stolen bases per game (1.67).
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State is currently 13-1 on the season with wins over No. 18/21 Arkansas (12-11), a win against No. 9/9 Louisiana (5-3) and two against No. 11/13 LSU (1-0 and 3-1) of note. The lone loss was to No. 9/9 Louisiana (7-1). Alysen Febrey leads the team at the plate with a batting average of .489, 22 hits, including a team-high four home runs, 38 total bases and team-high 18 RBI. Sydney Pennington leads in walks (10) and Kiley Naomi leads in stolen bases at a perfect 8-for-8 on the season. The Cowgirls have used seven pitchers this season with Carrie Eberle making six starts and leading with a 5-0 record. Eberle has just a 0.94 ERA, allowing 17 hits but only seven runs (five earned) in 37.1 innings. Kelly Maxwell has pitched 20.0 innings and has yet to allow a run, striking out 30 and only walking six hitters. Maxwell has not allowed a double, triple or home run in five appearances and three starts. As a staff, OSU has a 1.62 ERA with seven complete games and seven shutouts, and leads the NCAA in shutouts. OSU ranks ninth in the NCAA in doubles (25), 21st in batting average (.330), 23rd in double plays per game (0.5), 23rd in scoring (6.86), 24th in stolen bases per game (2.07), 28th in walks (41), 31st in doubles per game (1.79), 41st in slugging percentage (.508) and 43rd in on-base percentage (.398). OSU was picked to finish third in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma and Texas, two teams that are on the Lobo schedule.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA-OMAHA
The Mavericks are 3-6 on the season with losses to Iowa State (4-2), Butler (2-1), Drake (3-0), UNI (8-2), Central Arkansas (9-1, 6 innings) and Missouri State (3-1) and wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8-0, 5 innings and 13-0, 5 innings) and Missouri State (10-1, 6 innings). Three Maverick players have nine hits to lead the team in Lexi Burkhardt, Lynsey Tucker and Allison Helton, who all also have two doubles for team highs. Burkhardt leads with five RBI and is one of three players that have a home run (Diana Murtha and Izzy Eltze are the other two).
UNO has used three pitchers to date with Kamryn Meyer leads with 26.2 innings in four starts and seven appearances with two complete games. Meyer has allowed 30 hits with 14 runs (13 earned), 41 strikeouts and 20 walks and has a 3.41 ERA. Sydney Hampton has started five games and pitched in seven games with one complete game. Hampton holds a 4.20 ERA in 21.2 innings with 22 hits, 16 runs (13 allowed) and has struck out 22 while walking 10. As a staff, they have a 3.41 ERA. UNO ranks 37th in the NCAA in triples per game (0.33), 15th in hit batters (2) and 48th in shutouts (2). Lexi Burkhardt is ranked among the toughest to strike out. Omaha was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League this year.