Lobos Fall to UNLV in Game One
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Facing the UNLV Rebels on a windy Friday evening, the Lobo softball team fell 11-1 in five innings.
After the Rebels took an early 1-0 lead in the first with the aid of a hit-by-pitch, wild pitch, sacrifice bunt and hit up the middle, the Lobos quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Ashley Archuleta led off with a double to left field that the wind picked up and sent it over the head of the Rebel outfielder, and a wild pitch on Andrea Howard’s at-bat where the ball sailed over the catcher’s head moved her to third. Howard hit a fly ball to left for the sacrifice fly to tie the game.
However, the game got away from the Lobos in the second inning, with a leadoff triple for UNLV that was benefitted from the wind, taking the fly ball and slicing it away from Taryn Young in right before falling in fair territory. A single up the middle the next at-bat broke the tie, and the Rebels went on to add a total of five runs on six hits in the inning for the 6-1 lead.
UNLV added two more runs in the third before the Lobos had their best chance to answer in the bottom of the third. Peyton Robinson led off with a single to center field that fell into shallow center and Howard followed with a bloop single to left center that landed out of the reach of the shortstop and into the shallow part of the outfield. Leslie Romero loaded the bases with one out on a single to the shortstop, but an infield popup and liner back to the pitcher ended the inning and the opportunity.
The Rebels reached run-rule territory in the fifth with three runs on five hits for the final runs of the game.
UNM used three pitchers in the series opener, with Emma Guindon getting the start and going 1.2 innings. McKenna Kostyszyn threw 1.1 innings with a strikeout on her first batter to get out of the bases-loaded situation in the second inning, and Ashlyn Roberts threw the remaining 2.0 innings, also striking out one.
As a team, the Lobos had five hits, with Robinson going 2-for-2 and Archuleta, Howard and Romero each recording one. Each team only allowed one walk, with Reyan Tuck reaching on UNM’s lone walk.
The Lobos return to the field on Saturday at 3 p.m.