Linton and Robinson Earn Mountain West Honors
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— New Mexico junior pitcher Amber Linton has been named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week and New Mexico senior outfielder Peyton Robinson has been named Mountain West Player of the Week following their performances at the Texas Tech Invitational, as announced by the conference on Tuesday.
The selection marks the second weekly conference honor for Linton and the first for Robinson.
Linton was sensational as the pitcher on record for all three of UNM’s wins with two complete games and a 0.41 ERA, pitching 17.0 innings, striking out 20 and allowing one run.
The Indiana native pitched a complete-game shutout in the 6-0 win over Buffalo on Friday, holding the Bulls to three hits while striking out nine, and then entered in the bottom of the seventh in a tied game against Manhattan and pitched 3.0 innings, allowing just one hit and struck out four with no walks or runs allowed in the 7-6 win. In total, she threw 10.0 innings, striking out 13 while walking one and allowing just four hits and no runs between the two games on Friday.
Buffalo didn’t record its first hit until the fourth inning, with Linton already at seven strikeouts by that point. Further, she retired the side in three innings in the game against the Bulls and had at least one strikeout in six of the innings. Against Manhattan, the Lobo struck out two in the seventh and retired the side in the eighth and the ninth with a strikeout in each inning. She pitched her second complete game of the weekend against Buffalo on Saturday, striking out seven in the 4-1 win.
Linton went 3-1 on the week, pitching in four of UNM’s five games and finished with 23 strikeouts in 19.0 innings pitched.
Robinson reached base with a hit in all five games, including three games with multiple hits (one with two and two games with three hits) and led the Lobos with a .588 batting average and on-base percentage and team-high 10 hits, four runs scored and 11 total bases. In addition, she was second on the team in slugging percentage at .647 and was 2-2 with runners in scoring position and 6-7 in successfully advancing runners on the week. On the base paths, she went 4-4 on the week in stolen bases to lead the team, with three of the stolen bases leading to Robinson later coming around to score.
The outfielder played a large role in UNM’s win over Manhattan as her double in the top of the ninth scored the winning run, fouling off six-straight pitches with two outs before putting the ball in play. She also reached on a bunt in the second and stole second, eventually scoring as part of a three-run, five-hit inning that put UNM up 4-3. Later on in the game, Robinson reached on a bunt to put two runners on to start the sixth inning against the Jaspers, with the Lobos following that up with two more singles to bring UNM within one run.
Against Texas Tech, the Saginaw, Texas native went 3-3 at the plate in the first game against the Red Raiders and 2-3 in the second game.
The duo have been among the best in the conference this season with Robinson tied for the conference lead with 32 hits, second in sacrifice bunts with five and is tied for second in stolen bases with 13, going 13-13 to date. For Linton, the junior leads the MW in strikeouts with 98, batters struck out looking at 31, and in wins with eight.