Lobos Begin Road Trip at San Diego State
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos begin a six-game road stand with a three-game series against San Diego State starting on Friday. UNM enters the series 16-13-1, 2-1 in the Mountain West following a series win over San José State to start the conference schedule, while SDSU is 17-10, 2-1 in the Mountain West after opening conference at Utah State.
SCHEDULE
Friday @ 7 p.m. MT
Saturday @ 5 p.m. MT
Sunday @ 1 p.m. MT
All games will be on the Mountain West Network with live stats available.
TRENDING UP
The Lobos are 8-3 in the month of March, 8-2 in the last 10 games, which included a six-game winning streak. UNM has had a streak of five games or more only one other time in the last 10 years and eight times in the last 20 years (2022, 10 games; 2013, six games; 2012, nine games; 2012, five games; 2008, nine games; 2006, 13 games; 2005, five games).
UNM is outscoring opponents 55-44 in March, hitting .301 with a .465 slugging percentage and .385 on-base percentage behind 86 hits, 22 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 37 walks. The Lobos are outscoring their opponents in the second (8-4), fourth (5-2), sixth (8-2) and seventh (8-6) and have scored first in six games (5-1 in those games). The Lobos have also outhit their opponent in nine games and is 8-1 in those games. UNM is 5-0 when leading after four innings, 6-0 when leading after five innings and 7-0 when leading after six innings in March.
In the circle, UNM has a 3.15 ERA with 58 strikeouts to 31 walks. In addition, the Lobos have also recorded three shutouts and thrown five complete games in March. UNM has held four opponents to one run or fewer.
At the Purple Classic, UNM went 4-0, outscoring opponents 23-5. The pitching staff finished with a 0.54 ERA with 21 strikeouts to eight walks, allowing five runs (two earned) in 26.0 innings. UNM shut out two opponents and recorded its fourth run-rule of the season.
In addition, entering the second week of conference play, the Lobo pitching staff has 178 strikeouts to 94 walks, with the 178 strikeouts already surpassing the season total from last season.
PUT THE PRESSURE ON
The Lobos have scored in the first inning in 11 games and scored in the second inning in nine games while not allowing a run in the first two innings in the first eight games and in 17 games overall.
UNM is outscoring opponents 25-6 in the second inning and 42-26 through the first two innings.
In addition, the Lobos are outscoring opponents 30-19 in the fifth and 17-7 in the sixth inning. On the season, UNM is outscoring opponents 143-118 (+25).
UNM is 6-1 when leading after the first, 10-1 after the second, 11-1 after the third, 12-2 when leading after the fourth, 11-2 after the fifth and 12-2 leading after the sixth.
UNM is 8-3 when scoring in the first inning and 11-3-1 when scoring first.
ARCH AT THE TOP
In her senior season, Ashley Archuleta is leading the Lobos in five categories.
The New Mexico native leads in batting average (.383), slugging percentage (.593), on-base percentage (.474), doubles (eight) and total bases (48) and is tied for the team lead with nine multiple-hit games (seven games with two, one with three and one with four).
In the last game against San José State, Archuleta went a season-best 4-4 with two doubles, tying her career highs in hits and doubles. In the series with the Spartans, Archuleta hit .600 with six hits that included three doubles, and had a .900 slugging percentage and .545 on-base percentage.
Archuleta is hitting .471 in the month of March with a team-high 16 hits, that includes five doubles.
Additionally, Archuleta has hit in the leadoff spot in 18 games, including the last five and nine of the last 10 games. UNM is 13-5 when Archuleta is in the leadoff spot.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
DeNae Vasquez-Dickson and McKenna Guest have dispelled the notion of the sophomore slump.
Vasquez-Dickson leads the team with eight sac bunts and 26 runs scored, is second in total bases (47) and walks (13) and tied for second in hits (31) and doubles (seven). The outfielder is also third in on-base percentage (.448) and RBI (18). She’s had five multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI games as well as had a nine-game hitting streak and a 17-game streak of reaching base this season, career bests in both categories.
Through the first 30 games, she’s already surpassed her number of walks from last season (13 from seven) and has improved her batting average (by .111), slugging percentage (by .180) and on-base percentage (by .163) and has scored 26 runs, seven more than she did all of last season. She has matched her RBI (18) and total bases (47) total and is one hit away from matching her total from last season. She has also surpassed her double total (seven) and hit three triples, the first of her career.
In the circle, Guest has a 2.27 ERA with 88 strikeouts to 33 walks, and has finished with five or more strikeouts in 10 games, including eight of the last 11. She’s has six appearances not allowing a run in 80.1 innings and 19 appearances with 13 starts. Guest went 14.2 innings to start the season before allowing a run.
She currently leads the Lobos in ERA, innings pitched, starts and strikeouts with 29 more strikeouts than the next Lobo pitcher (Natalie Fritz).
Guest has already surpassed her win total from a season ago (11 compared to 10 last season) and is two strikeouts shy of matching her season total from 2024 with 88 to date.
Nationally, Guest is 14th in the NCAA in shutouts, 12th in wins, 27th in strikeouts, 40th in pitching appearances and 54th in innings pitched. She is 67th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.7).
FRESHMEN IN NAME ONLY
From the season opener onward, the freshmen class have stepped in to the lineup and contributed.
Of UNM’s 133 RBI on the season, 72 (54.1%) have come from freshmen and of the 213 hits, 98 (46.0%) have been by freshmen.
Freshmen constitute the top two RBI, top three home runs, two of the top three in batting averages and slugging percentages on the team.
Allie Williams currently leads the team with 36 hits, while Jessica DeLeon is tied with Miracle McKenzie in RBI (21). Williams is second (.375) and DeLeon third (.364) in batting average, with DeLeon leading in walks (15) and second in slugging percentage (.571) and on-base percentage (.457). Dawson is tied for the team lead in home runs with DeLeon (three) with McKenzie third (two).
Further, McKenzie leads with eight multiple-RBI games (seven with two and one with three), including in five of the last six games. Williams has nine multiple-hit games (tied for the team lead) and DeLeon has seven multiple-hit games.
In the month of March, McKenzie has a team-best 14 RBI and six walks and is tied with DeLeon with the second-most hits on the team at 13. DeLeon leads with a .700 slugging percentage and .514 on-base percentage.
Williams is 70th in the NCAA in hits (tied for fourth among freshmen) with Natalie Fritz 93rd in strikeouts (11th by a freshman) and 87th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.3).
In the circle, Fritz has thrown 56.1 innings in 17 appearances and nine starts, with two complete games and two saves and has the second-most strikeouts among the pitching staff with 59. Fritz is third in the MW in strikeouts, second in strikeouts looking (28).
Fritz had 11 strikeouts in the Feb. 22 win against Texas Southern, the most for a Lobo in a game since 2023, as well as the most by a freshman since 2019 and tied for the second most by a Lobo freshman pitcher since 2013 when Lauren Soles struck out 14. Between the third out of the first inning and the third inning, the freshman struck out five consecutive hitters and six of the seven Tigers faced with Sydney Carithers making a diving catch to get the foul out, accounting for nine straight Tigers retired before a single to start the fourth inning.
In six of Fritz’s appearances, she has held opponents scoreless and in three appearances allowed only one hit. She has finished with five or more strikeouts in four games.
Freshman Caprice Barela threw 4.1 scoreless innings of relief at NMSU, striking out three to one walk while not allowing a hit. Barela retired the side in order in the third, the fourth and the fifth, ultimately retiring the first 12 batters she faced before allowing a two-out walk in the bottom of the sixth.
Williams has started all 30 games with DeLeon playing in all 30 with 28 starts, McKenzie has started in 27 and playing in 28 and Dawson appearing in 24 with four starts.
WALK IT OUT
The Lobos rank 51st in the NCAA and third in the Mountain West in walks with 98 walks, with 13 different players recording a walk and 12 with multiple walks.
UNM has four players with 10 or more walks, led by 15 from Jessica DeLeon, DeNae Vasquez-Dickson t 13 and Ashley Archuleta and Allie Williams at 12 each.
Of the 98 walks, 26 have been on 3-0 counts, 35 on 3-1 counts and 37 have come on full counts.
UNM has started the game with a walk in seven games with Archuleta leading off with a walk in five games (three times on four pitches and two times at 3-2) and Vasquez-Dickson twice, once on four pitches and once with a full count.
The Lobos have drawn five or more walks in six games with a season-high seven in the Feb. 23 game against Texas Southern.
TWO OUTS, SO WHAT
Of UNM’s 143 runs, 66 (46.2%) have come with two outs in the inning.
At the Purple Classic, the Lobos scored 13 runs with two outs, five in the first game against Saint Joseph’s, one against San Diego and seven in the second game against Saint Joseph’s. The four runs in the third inning against SJU were with two outs as was the run in the sixth. In the second game against the Hawks, two runs in the first, two runs in the second and the three runs in the fifth inning that ended the game all came with two outs.
At the Tarleton Invitational, the Lobos scored seven runs with two outs in the 13-run fifth inning against Texas Southern on Feb. 23, scored five runs with two outs in the first game against Texas Southern and five runs with two outs in the second game against UND.
In the first game against St. Thomas, six of UNM’s eight runs scored came with two outs with three in the second, one in the fourth and two in the sixth.
Five of UNM’s eight runs in the season opener came with two outs, with four of UNM’s runs in the first game against Houston coming with two outs. UNM scored three runs in the second game at Houston with two outs, two in the second game at HCU and one in the first game at HCU and one in the seventh inning in the second game at Texas State.
Hayden Luderer’s double in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game against San José State that scored two runs and put UNM up 5-3 happened with two outs.
Ella Dawson leads the team with 11, two-out RBI with DeLeon and McKenzie tied for second with 10.
Freshmen have contributed to 41 of the team’s 60 two-out RBI (68.3%).
Of UNM’s 213 hits, 64 have come with two outs (30.0%), with Williams 14-32 (43.8%) with two outs and McKenzie 11-24 (45.8%).
ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE
The Aztecs opened Mountain West play with a 2-1 series win at Utah State and are 3-2 in their last five games, 4-6 in their last 10.
SDSU has played six ranked teams this season, picking up wins against No. 14/12 Alabama and No. 16/16 Missouri and losing to No. 2/3 Oklahoma, No. 19/19 Oregon, No. 12/10 Arizona and No. 6/6 UCLA.
Cali Decker leads the team with 37 hits, which includes a team-high 11 doubles and four home runs, driving in a team-best 22 RBI. Decker is hitting .446 with a .723 slugging percentage and .520 on-base percentage.
As a team, the Aztecs are prone to steal bases, going 49-58 to date with Bella Espinoza 13-17 in attempts and Jazmin Williams 7-8.
In the circle, San Diego State has utilized five pitchers, led by Cece Cellura, who has thrown 57.1 innings with 16 appearances and eight starts. Ava Schaffel holds a 0.82 ERA in 25.2 innings pitched with one shutout and Grace Uribe has thrown 51.1 innings. The staff carries a 3.45 ERA with 110 runs allowed (90 earned), 198 hits allowed and opponents hitting .269.