Lobos Lose Leads Late in Losses to Aztecs
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The Lobos held leads in both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader against San Diego State, but timely hits by the Aztecs in the sixth inning of both led to 4-2 and 12-8 losses.
Rachael Hathoot led with four hits on the day, resulting in two runs scored and one RBI, while Elizabeth Baylor led with a combined three RBI on two hits that included a triple in game two. Ashley Archuleta and Keyannah Chavez each contributed one RBI.
Of note, Hathoot went 3-5 in game two and 1-3 in game one to extend her on-base streak to a career-best 21 games and has had a hit in 20 of the last 21 games.
In the circle, the Lobos went with a pair of freshmen for the starts, with McKenna Guest in game one going 6.0 innings and Brooke Umali getting the start in game two and going 5.0 innings and allowing one earned run on three hits and striking out two.
GAME 1: SDSU 4, UNM 2
The Aztecs got on the board in their first at-bats behind a walk following a full count, a stolen base and a single to the outfield before Guest recorded the third out on a strikeout.
UNM’s defense held SDSU off the board in the second through fifth innings, which included leaving the bases loaded in the second on a second Guest strikeout and retiring the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings to keep the game at 1-0.
The Lobos pieced together three hits in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two runs to take the 2-1 lead while also benefiting from an Aztec error on the go-ahead run.
Katherine Brunner hit a one-out single to right field and Sydney Carithers added a single to left field to bring up Hathoot and the top of the Lobo lineup. Hathoot delivered on a single through the right side that brought around pinch runner Hayden Luderer from second and moved Carithers to third. DeNae Vasquez-Dickson put the 0-2 pitch in play, with the ball going back to the pitcher, but the Aztec took her eyes off the ball resulting in it hitting off her glove, allowing Carithers to score. UNM had two runners reach scoring position on a grounder by Chavez, but a grounder to the pitcher left them on base.
The Aztecs answered with two runs on two hits in the top of the sixth to re-take the lead and added a run in the top of the seventh for the final score.
Guest went 6.0 innings in the effort, allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and four walks before Taylor Snow entered to pitch the final 1.0 inning and allowed just one hit on five batters faced.
UNM finished with seven hits in the game, led by Carithers’ 2-3 outing.
GAME 2: SDSU 12, UNM 8
The Lobos were the team to take the lead in the first in game two, generated by a Hathoot leadoff single through the left side and a sacrifice bunt by Vasquez-Dickson that put Hathoot in scoring position. With two outs, Archuleta drove the 2-2 pitch to center field to bring in Hathoot for the 1-0 Lobo lead.
UNM’s defense kept it 1-0 in the second with Chloe Yeatts throwing out an Aztec trying to steal third, and in the third with an Umali strikeout leaving two on.
New Mexico added to its lead in the third, again starting with a Hathoot single through the left side, this time coming after Hathoot fouled off four consecutive pitches, followed by a double to left field by Vasquez-Dickson to put two runners in scoring position and forcing an Aztec pitching change.
Chavez worked a full count before hitting a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Hathoot to tag up and double the lead.
Umali retired the side in order in the fourth and the Lobo bats picked right back up in putting runners on as Gabrielle Briones led off with a pinch hit double that fell just within the right field line. Emma Bramson sacrificed her over to third, Macie Andrews reached on a bunt in which the pitcher fielded it and didn’t throw to first, and with two outs, Carithers hit it to the first baseman with the Aztec unable to cleanly field it, allowing the Lobo to reach safely and Briones to score to make it 3-0.
The Lobos again retired the Aztecs in order in the fifth to make eight consecutive Aztecs retired, and added two runs in the home half to extend their lead.
Bramson started the two-out rally with a single to right field to move Yeatts to second. Andrews kept the inning going with a single up the middle to load the bases and Baylor brought in the first run on a single that the shortstop kept in the infield but was unable to make a play at any base. A wild pitch brought in Bramson for the second run before the inning came to an end.
SDSU scored eight runs on six hits in the sixth inning to take the lead with the Lobos using three pitchers in the inning. Entering the inning, Umali had allowed just two hits and gave up her only run on a leadoff home run before Snow entered in relief.
Snow faced three batters before Guest entered in the circle with the Lobos holding a 5-3 lead. A sacrifice bunt recorded the first out and a grounder to Hathoot at short provided the second out, but two walks loaded the bases. The Aztecs pulled within one on an infield single in which the runner beat out the throw to first by Guest and a home run gave the visitors the lead before a fly ball to Chavez in left ended the inning.
SDSU added four runs in the seventh on two, two-run home runs, with the Lobos scoring three runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh to close the scoring.
Yeatts hit a one-out double to left with Bramson reaching on an infield single to put runners on the corners. Baylor cleared the bases on a triple to the gap in left center and a fielding error by the second baseman provided the final run for the 12-8 score.
UNM registered 13 hits in the game with Hathoot accounting for three, Baylor, Andrews and Bramson with two apiece and four players with a hit. Baylor was responsible for three of UNM’s five RBI in the game.
Up next: the Lobos return to the road for two games at Colorado State with the series starting on Saturday.