ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The Lobo softball team heads to the West Coast for week four of the season, with five games scheduled among three days at the South Coast Invitational against UC Santa Barbara, Wagner and Santa Clara.
Coming off of a 4-0 weekend at the Lobo Classic, the Lobos are off to their best start since 2012, when UNM started 9-0 and was 12-1 through its first 13 games. UNM has also won its last five games, with the last time the Lobos have had a winning streak that long back in 2013 (six games that spanned Feb. 16 to Feb. 23).
The Lobos have had consistent success at the plate and in the circle through the 13 games this season, with the Lobos putting runs on the board early and often and a pitching staff producing lockdown results behind two aces. To date, the Lobos have had two pitchers throw double-digit strikeouts three times and twice thrown a near no-hitter.
Emma Guindon has a 5-1 record with 0.80 ERA on five starts and eight appearances, throwing two complete games and two one-hitters. Amber Linton carries a 1.94 ERA 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. Linton and Guindon have thrown the most innings on the team with 36.0 and 35.0, respectively, with Guindon striking out 34 and Linton 43. Guindon has walked just six batters while Linton has walked 13. Guindon ranks 31st in the NCAA in ERA with her 0.80, and is the second-best ERA in the conference.
As a result of her performance at the Lobo Classic, Linton became the first Lobo to win MW Pitcher of the Week since Tess McPherson won back on Feb. 14, 2017 on Tuesday. Linton earned the award 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.
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. As a unit, the Lobo pitchers have struck out 82 while walking 24.
At the plate, New Mexico has scored 12 runs in the first inning, outscoring opponents 12-4, and 14 runs in the second inning, outscoring opponents 14-3 in the frame. UNM is 6-0 when scoring in the first inning and 8-1 when scoring first in a game. The Lobos are also 6-0 when scoring 6-9 runs in a game, scoring nine runs against Ohio and eight runs twice (against Southern Utah and Tarleton).
In the game against North Dakota State, the Lobos scored five runs in the first inning, and against Tarleton, the Lobos plated five runs on five hits in the second inning to break open the game after scoring two runs in the first.
Leading the way at the plate is Andrea Howard, who leads the Lobos in batting average (.425), slugging percentage (.850), on-base percentage (.468), RBI (16), hits (17), runs scored (11) and total bases (34). She is also tied for the team high in doubles with two. Her five home runs rank 31st in the NCAA and she also ranks 32nd in RBI per game with 1.23, ranking second in the MW in both categories. The Lobo outfielder also leads the team with five multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI games, with two games of three hits and three games of three RBI. She also has a three-game hitting streak and five game streak of reaching base. Also of note, Howard now has 34 home runs in her career, placing her fourth all-time in home runs, two away from third and six away from breaking the program record set by Stefanie Carramusa (2010-12).
Speaking of streaks, four different Lobos enter the weekend with on-base streaks greater than a game, led by 12 games by Reyan Tuck. Emma Bramson has a six-game on-base streak, Howard has a five-game streak and Sydney Broderick has a two-game streak. Howard has a three-game hitting streak, with Broderick and Tuck on a two-game streak.