Home Runs Power Lobos Past Aggies
LOGAN, Utah— The University of New Mexico Lobos hit six home runs between the Friday doubleheader against Utah State, including three from senior outfielder Andrea Howard, as the Lobos rolled to 9-4 and 9-3 victories.
With the two wins, the Lobos extended their winning streak to four games and have won their second-straight series. It is also the first time that UNM has won a series against USU since 2016.
Howard was joined in the home run club by Cameryn O’Grady, Rachael Hathoot and Taryn Young, who each hit one on the day and all finished with three RBI. Howard hit .714 with five hits, four of which went for extra bases, and led with five RBI, a 2.143 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage.
Playing in her final collegiate series, O’Grady added two doubles to her career record.
In the circle, the Lobos had superb pitching from Emma Guindon and Ashlyn Roberts, both pitchers going the distance for complete games.
GAME 1:
The Lobos opened the scoring in the first inning of game one with Howard starting the day with a double to right center. Hathoot followed with a single to the shortstop, beating out the throw to first, and in the process, Howard headed for home, sliding in safely for the first run.
Utah State took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second on a Lobo throwing error, but the Lobos answered in their next at-bats with four runs on five hits, with the first three hitters reaching base to put the pressure on starting Aggie pitcher Kapri Toone.
Peyton Robinson led off the inning with a bunt, with O’Grady and Howard singling to the outfield to load the bases. Hathoot delivered the tying run with another single to the outfield and Izabella Owen followed suit with the fourth consecutive single to left field to give UNM back the lead at 3-2.
After an Aggie pitching change, Reyan Tuck hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Howard to easily tag and Young matched her with a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Hathoot to tag.
With Guindon holding the Aggies in check, the Lobos added to their lead with two, two-run home runs in the fourth on an O’Grady double down the left-field line and a Howard home run to left field and the fifth, with Tuck taking a pitch off the knee to reach base followed by a shot to center field by Young.
Utah State added a final run in the seventh before Guindon closed the door with a final strikeout, her fourth of the game, for the opening win.
Howard went 3-for-4 in the game with Hathoot and O’Grady 2-for-4, as seven different Lobos recorded at least one hit. Young led with three runs-batted-in, one of five UNM players to finish with at least one.
GAME 2:
After Utah State pulled within one run in the bottom of the sixth, the Lobos responded in the top of the seventh for five runs on five hits to secure the win and the series.
The bats stayed hot for the Lobos in game two as O’Grady and Howard hit back-to-back home runs to open the scoring in the first.
With Roberts keeping the Aggies off the board for the first three innings, the top of the Lobo lineup continued to produce, needing just five pitches to score two more runs in the fourth.
Howard reached on a four-pitch walk to start the inning and on the first pitch of her at-bat, Hathoot cleared the bases with a homer to left center.
USU got a run back with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning and scored two more in the sixth to bring the score within one at 4-3. With the tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first with no outs, Roberts retired the next three hitters on a fly ball to Young in right, a strikeout on a 3-2 count and a fly ball to Robinson in left.
The Lobos regained control in the top of the seventh, starting with Savannah Braun hitting a one-out single to center field for her first collegiate hit, and Diamond Sandoval reaching on an error by the shortstop to turn the lineup over.
Robinson laid down a bunt, resulting in a throwing error by the Aggie pitcher and allowing another run to score, Sandoval to take third and Robinson to take second. O’Grady brought them in on a double to the gap in left center and Howard hit her second home run of the game to produce the final runs of the game at 9-3.
It is the second time in three games that Howard has hit two home runs in a game, the fourth-straight game that Howard has hit a home run, with six home runs in the last four games.
The top four hitters in the Lobo lineup- Robinson, O’Grady, Howard and Hathoot- all finished with two hits, with O’Grady and Howard recording three RBI.
Roberts threw her first complete game as a Lobo, throwing an efficient 82 strikes on 115 pitches and recording two strikeouts.
The Lobos close out not only their series with Utah State, but the season, on Sunday at 12 p.m. MT on the Mountain West Network.