ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— For the second-straight week, a Lobo has been selected by the Mountain West for a weekly conference award.
Sophomore right-hander Amber Linton was recognized as the MW Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday, following a dominating outing at the Lobo Classic in which the Lobo finished with a 0.98 ERA while making three appearances, two starts, throwing one complete game and earned a win and a save.
Linton threw a team-high 14.1 innings and struck out 20, walking just four batters, and didn’t allow a single extra-base hit in the 11 hits given up.
Of note, the sophomore is the first pitcher to win pitcher of the week since Tess McPherson won back on Feb. 14, 2017.
UNM went with Linton in the circle against UTEP to start the Lobo Classic, and the Franklin, Ind., native delivered with 6.2 innings in the circle, striking out a career-high 11 Miners. It was the second time this season that Linton recorded double-digit strikeouts. When the Miners did threaten with runners on the corners in the first and second inning and put two runners in scoring position in the fifth, Linton had a bend but not break mentality, getting out of the innings on account of a grounder (first) a lineout (second) or consecutive strikeouts (fifth) to keep the Lobo lead. Of her 121 pitches, 80 were strikes.
Linton returned to the circle in relief on Friday, earning the save against North Dakota State, after entering in the top of the seventh and inheriting runners on second and third with one out in the 6-3 game. Linton retired the next two hitters for the save, throwing seven strikes on 10 pitches.
She got the starting nod for the second time on Saturday against Buffalo, throwing a complete game and had an efficient nine strikeouts to one walk in the Lobo 6-2 win. Against Buffalo, Linton struck out four of the first five hitters and retired the side in order in the 3rd and 4th innings, keeping the Bulls off the board in the first four innings and allowing just one hit through the first four frames. Of the 86 pitches she threw against Buffalo, 56 went for strikes.
The Lobos are off to their best start since 2012, when UNM started 9-0 and was 12-1 through its first 13 games, and a large part of that success is due to the outstanding pitching group and the addition of Linton.
On the season, Linton carries a 1.94 ERA with 43 strikeouts to 13 walks and has pitched a team-high 36.0 innings with six starts, nine appearances, three complete games, two saves. Linton also has a 5-1 record, and hasn’t allowed an extra-base hit in her last seven appearances.
As a pitching unit, the Lobos have combined for a 1.83 ERA, which ranks as the best in the MW and 30th in the NCAA. The Lobos also lead in opposing batting average with a .204, have allowed the fewest hits allowed in the MW at 67, the fewest home runs allowed at one and the fewest earned runs allowed with 23.
Linton joins Andrea Howard (player of the week) and Emma Bramson (freshman of the week) as conference award winners this season.
The Lobos travel to Santa Barbara, Calif., and the South Coast Invitational (hosted by UC Santa Barbara) for five games against UCSB, Wagner and Santa Clara starting on Thursday, March 3.