Lobos Travel to Texas Tech for Tuesday Doubleheader
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos prepare for Mountain West play to begin at the end of the week with a final tune up at Texas Tech on Tuesday, with two games starting at 11 a.m. MT.
UNM is coming off of its latest road trip that included two tournaments in Phoenix and Honolulu, going 3-5 and is 7-19 on the season. This will be the second time the Lobos have faced the Red Raiders this season, with the first meeting in Albuquerque on Feb. 28, a 9-2 win for Texas Tech. Since the last time the Lobos faced the Red Raiders, TTU has gone 6-2 and is coming off of a series win (2-1) over BYU this past weekend. They are 19-5 on the season, 4-1 at home.
SHAKING UP THE LINEUP
In the 26 games this season, the Lobos have used 24 different lineup combinations. UNM has used the same batting order in only the McNeese and Chattanooga games the first weekend and the same lineup in the Montana and Toledo games.
The Lobos have used three different players in the leadoff spot, five in the second spot, four in the third spot, six in the cleanup, seven in the fifth spot, eight in the sixth spot, eight in the seventh spot, eight in the eighth spot and five in the ninth spot in the lineup.
Rachael Hathoot has led off in 15 games and Elizabeth Baylor batting seventh in 14 games for the most frequency in the lineup. Sydney Carithers has batted eighth in 11 games, Ashley Archuleta and Chloe Yeatts third in 11 games and Emma Bramson fifth in 10 games, Keyannah Chavez second in eight games and Katherine Brunner sixth in nine games. Carithers has hit ninth in 10 games.
Chavez has made the most movement in the batting order, appearing in seven different spots, the most often in leadoff and second (eight games), three times in the cleanup spot, two times in each the sixth and eighth spot and hit fifth in one game.
In the field, UNM has used five different players in left, four at third, three behind the plate, five in right field, three in center, two at first base and three at second base. UNM has also had eight as the designated player.
BY THE NUMBERS
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 6-0 this season when scoring at least five runs, 3-2 when outhitting its opponent and 3-2 in one-run games. If the Lobos can score in the first inning and hold a lead after the first inning, the Lobos are 5-2 when scoring in the first inning and 5-1 when leading after the first, second, third and fourth innings, 6-1 when leading after the fifth and 6-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
UNM is 21-39 (.538) with a runner on third and less than two outs, going 5-5 in the first game against Marist, 3-3 in the second game against the Red Foxes and 2-2 in the win against Toledo. UNM also went 3-4 in the win against SFA.
The Lobos have had their leadoff hitter reach 37.6% of the time (65-173), with all seven reaching in the first game against Marist, 4-6 at McNeese and in the second game against Marist, and 5-7 in the game at GCU.
ABOUT TEXAS TECH
Kailey Wyckoff leads with 29 hits, with six doubles, one triple and one home run. TTU has four players with 20-plus hits this season. Riley Love leads with 29 RBI, seven home runs and 54 total bases, as well as with a .794 slugging percentage.
TTU has used six pitchers, led by Maddie Kuehl with 14 appearances and eight starts and has thrown five complete games and earned two saves. Kuehl has also thrown 56.2 innings, the most on the pitching staff, and struck out 50 to 28 walks. Maddy Wright has a team-best 2.03 ERA, throwing 41.1 innings with 11 appearances and seven starts, four complete games.
As a team, TTU is second in the NCAA in doubles (43), 11th in doubles per game (1.95), 12th in double plays per game (0.64), 23rd in scoring (6.55), 29th in slugging percentage (.518), 30th in triples per game (0.32), 36th in home runs per game (1.05) and 58th in total stolen bases (29).
UP NEXT: The Lobos begin MW on Friday at San José State.