Open Announce

Lobos Fall in Extras to SJSU Sunday

SAN JOSE, Calif.— For the second time in the three-game series, extra innings were needed to decide the winner of Sunday’s softball game against San José State, however, this time it was the Spartans who emerged with the one-run victory after a hard-fought 11 innings.

Unlike the previous two games, the Lobos scored in the first inning. Peyton Robinson led off with a walk and moved to third on Ashley Archuleta’s single. A Spartan error on Emma Bramson’s at-bat led to Robinson scoring before the inning came to a close.

The Lobos held the Spartans scoreless for four innings before SJSU tied the game with two singles, a fielder’s choice that advanced the runner to third and another fielder’s choice that scored the runner to tie the game. A strikeout ended the inning with two left on base.

San José State took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, but the Lobos responded to score two runs on three hits in the top of the seventh to retake the lead. With two outs in the seventh, Robinson singled to shortstop and Archuleta doubled to right center to score Robinson to tie the game. Andrea Howard followed that up with a triple down the right-field line, her third triple of the season, to give UNM the 3-2 lead.

However, SJSU tied the score in the bottom of the inning on a two-out rally of its own, with a walk and double down to left field that scored the runner.

The Spartans had bases loaded in the eighth, but a grounder to Archuleta at second left them stranded to extend the game. Each team got baserunners on in the ninth and 10th, but couldn’t push across the go-ahead run.

After the Lobos were retired in the top of the 11th, SJSU hit consecutive singles that reached the outfield to put runners on the corners. After Amber Linton entered to replace reliever Emma Guindon, a fielder’s choice in which Archuleta charged the grounder and threw home was deemed too late for the game-ending run.

Archuleta led the Lobos at the plate with three hits on four at-bats and had one RBI. Howard went 2-for-5 with one RBI and Bramson tallied the other RBI. Robinson also drew two walks, the only two walks for UNM in the game.

Linton threw 7.2 innings, striking out four while walking one and Guindon threw 2.2 innings with three strikeouts and a walk.

The Lobos now stand at 19-9 (1-2 MW) and travel to Las Cruces for a game against New Mexico State on Tuesday before hosting Utah State in their conference home opener March 25-27.