Lobos Return to Texas for UNT Invite

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos return to the road, and to The Lone Star State, for five games at the UNT Invite starting on Friday morning. New Mexico will face three teams in Stephen F. Austin (twice), North Texas (twice) and Minnesota (once) throughout three days.

SCHEDULE:
Friday @ 10:30 a.m. vs. Stephen F. Austin
Friday @ 3:30 p.m. vs. North Texas
Saturday @ 8 a.m. vs Stephen F. Austin
Saturday @ 3:30 p.m. vs. North Texas
Sunday @ 8 a.m. vs. Minnesota

None of the games of the UNT Invite will be broadcast, but live stats will be available for all games.

While the Lobos have historically played all three teams, it’s been 21 years (Minnesota), 19 years (North Texas) and seven years (Stephen F. Austin).

STEAL YOUR BASE
Keyannah Chavez’s three stolen bases against Tennessee State were the most for a Lobo in a single game since 2017, when D’Andra DeFlora had three against Santa Clara on 3/11/17.

UNM’s six stolen bases in the season opener were the most in a game since 2018, when UNM had six against Howard on 3/10/18. In addition to Chavez’s three, Ashley Archuleta had two stolen bases and Katherine Brunner had one stolen base.

The Lobos then stole seven bases against Marist on Feb. 16, the most in a single game for UNM since 2010.

• Emma Bramson and Elizabeth Baylor each stole two, with Sydney Carithers, DeNae Vasquez-Dickson and Archuleta each stealing one.

UNM is 24-25 on the season in stolen bases with nine different players recording at least one. UNM successfully stole on its first 24 attempts, with the lone caught stealing in the Feb. 18 game against Marist.

• Archuleta leads UNM going 6-6 with Bramson 4-4, Carithers 3-3, Baylor, Rachael Hathoot and Vasquez-Dickson 2-2 and Gabrielle Briones and Brunner 1-1. Chavez is 3-4 on the season.

UNM is currently tied for seventh in the NCAA in stolen bases and 33rd in stolen bases per game (2.0). Archuleta is 24th in the NCAA in stolen bases.

KEY CONTRIBUTOR
Keyannah Chavez had a sensational second week of the season, leading the Lobos with nine hits, two doubles, two triples, 15 total bases, and had a .833 slugging percentage and a .550 on-base percentage. Chavez closed the ACU Tournament going a combined 4-4 on Sunday with a double, a triple, a walk and one RBI, finishing with a 1.750 slugging percentage. Her 3-3 performance against Marist was her second three-hit outing of the season and her team-high fifth multi-hit game of the season.

Chavez enters the weekend on a five-game hitting streak.

The sophomore leads the team in batting average (.469), slugging percentage (.656), on-base percentage (.514), hits (15), triples (two) and total bases (21) and is tied for the team high in runs scored (seven) and doubles (two). She is also 6-11 (.545) with runners on, 11-15 (.733) in successfully advancing runners and 3-6 with runners in scoring position.

Chavez is 33rd in the NCAA in hits, sixth in triples and 21st in toughest to strike out at 32.0. Among the MW, Chavez is fifth in batting average and hits, ninth in on-base percentage, 10th in slugging percentage, tied for first in triples and tied for sixth in total bases.

GUEST APPEARANCE
Freshman McKenna Guest has been a steady force in the circle for the Lobos, appearing in a team-high nine games, starting a team-high six games and throwing three complete games.

The RHP has thrown a team-high 34.2 innings, 15.0 more innings than the next Lobo pitcher, and carries a team-best 4.85 ERA with a team-best 31 strikeouts, accounting for 54.4% of UNM’s total strikeouts. Guest has also been the pitcher on record in two of UNM’s wins and earned her first save in the win against Marist.

Guest struck out a season-high nine at UTEP and followed that up two days later with seven strikeouts in the first game against Marist. She is averaging 6.26 strikeouts per game.

In her first collegiate appearance, Guest entered in the fourth inning with bases loaded and struck out the first two batters she faced. She then limited the Tigers to one hit in both the sixth and seventh innings to keep the Lobos within reach, recording a strikeout in each inning. Guest finished with 4.0 innings pitched, no runs or walk allowed with four hits and four strikeouts.

The Pattonville, Texas native followed the first weekend up with a complete game in the first game at UTEP on Wednesday and of her nine strikeouts against the Miners, it included striking out the side in the sixth. Guest retired the side in order in both the fifth and sixth.

Nationally, Guest has thrown the sixth-most innings pitched in the NCAA, the second-most by a freshman pitcher.

KEEP THEM GUESSING
In 12 games, the Lobos have used 11 different variations of the batting order.

• Three different players have hit in the leadoff spot, five in the second spot, two in the third spot, five in the cleanup spot, six in the five spot, four in the six spot, three in the seventh spot, five in the eighth spot and four in the ninth spot.
• Rachael Hathoot has led off in 10 games with Chloe Yeatts hitting third in eight games and Elizabeth Baylor seventh in nine games for the most frequency in the lineup.
• The Lobos have also used four different players at the DP spot, led by six games for Emma Bramson.

PATIENCE AT THE PLATE
In the win against Marist on Feb. 18, the Lobos drew nine walks after walking seven times in the previous game against Houston Christian.

• In the bottom of the second, the Lobos batted around to score seven runs with four hits and drew five walks to take the 7-3 lead. Sydney Carithers reached on a walk, and after the lineup turned over, the Red Foxes intentionally walked Rachael Hathoot to load the bases and both Ashley Archuleta and Chloe Yeatts followed up with walks to tie the game at three.
• The Lobos later had a a two-out rally in the fourth that started with a walk by Emma Bramson. Keyannah Chavez brought her around on a hit to left center, with the Lobo centerfielder taking third on a wild pitch on the next at-bat. Baylor walked and Grace Rana was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and DeNae Vasquez-Dickson extended the lead with a hit back up the middle to score two runs. The Lobos scored three runs on two hits in the inning, with all three runs coming from runners who reached on free bases.

The Lobos have drawn 31 walks, with Ashley Archuleta leading with eight, Katherine Brunner at four and Emma Bramson, Chloe Yeatts and Sydney Carithers walking three times each.

• Archuleta leads the MW in walks.

BY THE NUMBERS
UNM was 14-6 when scoring in the first inning and 13-5 when scoring first last season. The Lobos were 11-3 when leading after one, 13-1 when leading after two and 12-1 when leading after three. As the game went on, the Lobos were 13-3 when leading after the fourth inning, 11-2 when leading after five and 12-0 when leading after the sixth inning. UNM was 19-4 when outhitting its opponent last season and had 22 games with double-digit hits and were 16-6 when reaching double figures.

The Lobos have twice reached double figures in hits this season: UNM’s win against Tennessee State where the Lobos finished with 12 hits, and 15 hits in the win against Marist on Feb. 16. UNM is also 3-0 this season when scoring at least six runs. If the Lobos can score in the first inning and hold a lead after the first inning, the Lobos are 2-1 when scoring in the first inning and 2-0 when leading after the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
Stephen F. Austin enters the UNT Invite 2-8 on the season following a midweek split against Sam Houston State.

Kelby Robbins leads the team with a .368 batting average, while Ellie Vance and Madison Nguyen lead with eight hits. Lexi Benson has driven in a team-high five runs and has walked a team-high seven times.

In the circle, SFA has used five pitchers, led by five appearances from Alexis Tedford, who has thrown three complete games and made four starts. Aydenne Brown has also started four games, with Brooke Gainous starting in two, appearing in four and throwing one complete game. Telford has thrown a team-high 28.2 innings, 10 innings more than the next pitcher on the staff, and has struck out 22 compared to eight walks.

On the bases, SFA is 6-10 in stolen bases, with Vance 2-3 and Kaylee Paul 2-2. Opponents are 13-18 in stolen bases.

ABOUT NORTH TEXAS
The Mean Green are 3-5 entering the weekend, 1-3 at home and have lost their last two following losses to Missouri (11-2 in five and 10-0) and a spli with South Dakota State (won 9-4 and lost 7-2) last weekend at home.

UNT is led at the plate by Rylee Nicholson, who is hitting .333 with a .600 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. She is one of seven players with a home run, one of seven players with a double and one of four players with both a double and a home run. Nicholson also leads with six stolen bases, going 6-6 while as a team, UNT is 10-11. Kat Ibarra leads with 10 total bases and six hits, which also includes a home run and double, while Tatum Sparks leads with five RBI.

North Texas has used four pitchers this season, led by McKenzie Wagoner with five appearances, however, Sklyar Savage leads with 18.1 innings in four appearances and three starts. Mackenzie Childers has also made three starts, with all three pitching a complete game. Childers has the most strikeouts on the staff with 17, however, Wagoner has the best strikeout-to-walk numbers on the staff with 13 strikeouts to three walks.

They were picked to finish third in the American preseason coaches’ poll with 66 points and one first-place vote. UNT returns eight position players who started and three pitchers.

ABOUT MINNESOTA
Minnesota is 4-3 on the season with wins over San Diego State (5-3), UC Santa Barbara (8-5 and 4-3) and Georgia Tech (12-11).

The Golden Gophers are led by Jess Oakland, who has a team-high 11 hits, which includes a team-high two home runs, as well as leading in batting average (.440), total bases (18), RBI (nine), slugging percentage (.720) and on-base percentage (.500). Breezy Burnett has accounted for half of Minnesota’s six stolen bases, with four players stealing at least one base.

Minnesota has had five pitchers appear in a game this season, led by six appearances by Sydney Schwartz. Bri Enter has made four starts with one complete game to lead the pitching staff and has thrown a team-high 21.0 innings with 13 strikeouts to three walks. Enter is 2-0 on the season, while Schwartz is 2-2 with one save.