Lobos Host Rams Starting Friday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos remain at home for the second straight weekend, set to host Colorado State in a three-game series starting Friday.
SCHEDULE
Friday @ 5 p.m.
Saturday @ 2 p.m.
Sunday @ 12 p.m.
Bark in The Park is all weekend with promotional pink bandanas for dogs in attendance while supplies last. There will also be a Block Party Sunday with food trucks, inflatables and free admission for kids 12 and under.
PUT THE PRESSURE ON
The Lobos have scored in the first inning in 14 games and scored in the second inning in 12 games while not allowing a run in the first two innings in 20 games overall.
UNM is outscoring opponents 29-15 in the second inning and 50-37 through the first two innings.
In addition, the Lobos are outscoring opponents 37-29 in the fifth and 17-8 in the sixth inning. On the season, UNM is outscoring opponents 168-154 (+14).
UNM is 7-2 when leading after the first, 12-2 after the second, 13-1 after the third, 14-2 when leading after the fourth, 13-2 after the fifth and 14-2 leading after the sixth.
UNM is 9-5 when scoring in the first inning and 13-6-1 when scoring first.
TRENDING UP
The Lobos rank among the top teams in the Mountain West and NCAA in several categories.
UNM ranks 20th in the NCAA in sac bunts (32), 41st in team strikeouts per seven innings (6.2), 42nd in HBP (30), 45th in shutouts (seven), 61st in doubles (55), 76th in fielding percentage (.968), 80th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.8), 89th in ERA (3.54) and 93rd in walks (122).
Among the MW, UNM leads in batters struck out looking (pitching, 79) and shutouts, is second in strikeouts (pitching, 217) and fewest hit batters (17), is fifth in fielding percentage (.968) and fourth in ERA (3.54), opposing batting average (.264) and fewest hits allowed (260).
McKenna Guest leads the conference in strikeouts looking, tied for the most shutouts, wins (13), while second in starts (18) and strikeouts (112). Guest is also fifth in ERA (2.66) and fourth in opposing batting average (.239). DeNae Vasquez-Dickson leads the MW in sac bunts (12) and Ashley Archuleta is tied for third in doubles (11), tied for sixth in triples (three), fifth in batting average (.406) and sixth in on-base percentage (.504). Allie Williams is tied for sixth in hits (46) and Jessica DeLeon is 14th in on-base percentage (.455) and in batting average (.382) and 13th in slugging percentage (.594).
In MW games, Archuleta leads the conference in batting average (.548), on-base percentage (.615) and in doubles (six), is tied for second in hits (17) and eighth in slugging percentage (.742), and DeLeon is tied for first in sac flies (two), ninth in batting average (.424), tied for 13th in hits (14) and tied for third in doubles (four). Hayden Luderer is tied for second in stolen bases (three) and DeNae Vasquez-Dickson leads in sac bunts (five). Guest is second in strikeouts (28) and tied for fourth in wins (three) and Natalie Fritz is eighth in ERA (2.74) and ninth in strikeouts (15).
As a team, in MW games, UNM has the fewest strikeouts (hitting, 27), is tied for first in sac flies (six), second in doubles (20), tied for third in sac bunts (nine), fourth in batting average (.304) and fifth in on-base percentage (.380). The pitchers are third in strikeouts (47) and fourth in fewest hits allowed (87).
ARCH AT THE TOP
In her senior season, Ashley Archuleta is leading the Lobos in seven categories.
The New Mexico native leads in batting average (.406), slugging percentage (.594), on-base percentage (.504), doubles (11), runs scored (30) and total bases (63) and with 14 multiple-hit games (12 games with two, one with three and one with four).
Archuleta has reached base in the last 10 games with a hit in the last five games.
Her batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and doubles are the best in her four-year career.
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 hit .447 in the month of March with a team-high 21 hits, that includes six doubles. She had a .617 slugging percentage and .481 on-base percentage, jumping from a .319 batting average, .532 slugging percentage and .467 on-base percentage and 15 hits in February.
Additionally, Archuleta has hit in the leadoff spot in 26 games, including the last 13 and 17 of the last 18 games.
WALK IT OUT
The Lobos rank fourth in the Mountain West in walks with 122 walks, with 14 different players recording a walk and 12 with multiple walks.
UNM has six players with 10 or more walks, led by 17 from Jessica DeLeon, 16 for DeNae Vasquez-Dickson and Ashley Archuleta, Allie Williams, Miracle McKenzie and Sydney Carithers at 13.
Of the 122 walks, 32 have been on 3-0 counts, 44 on 3-1 counts and 46 have come on full counts.
UNM has started the game with a walk in eight games with Archuleta leading off with a walk in six games (four 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 seven games with a season-high seven in the Feb. 23 game against Texas Southern.
TWO OUTS, SO WHAT
Of UNM’s 168 runs, 77 (45.8%) have come with two outs in the inning.
Jessica DeLeon leads the team with 14, two-out RBI with Ella Dawson and Allie Williams tied for second with 11, and Miracle McKenzie fourth with 10.
Freshmen have contributed to 48 of the team’s 71 two-out RBI (67.6%).
Of UNM’s 277 hits, 82 have come with two outs (29.6%), with Williams 17-48 (35.4%) with two outs, DeLeon 15-34 (44.1%) and McKenzie 11-27 (40.7%).
FRESHMEN IN NAME ONLY
From the season opener onward, the freshmen class have stepped in to the lineup and contributed.
Of UNM’s 158 RBI on the season, 89 (56.3%) have come from freshmen and of the 277 hits, 125 (45.1%) have been by freshmen.
Freshmen constitute the top two RBI, top three home runs, two of the top three in batting averages and hits, and three of the top five in slugging percentages, on-base percentages and hits on the team.
Allie Williams currently leads the team with 46 hits, while Jessica DeLeon leads in RBI (30) with Miracle McKenzie second (25). DeLeon is second (.382) and Williams third (.365) in batting average, with DeLeon leading in walks (17), second in slugging percentage (.559), on-base percentage (.455) and total bases (57). Ella Dawson is tied for the team lead in home runs with DeLeon and McKenzie (three).
Further, McKenzie leads with nine multiple-RBI games (eight with two and one with three). Williams has 11 multiple-hit games (second on the team) and DeLeon has 10 multiple-hit games (the third most) and six multiple-RBI games (second on the team).
In the circle, Fritz has thrown 75.0 innings in 22 appearances and 11 starts, with three complete games and three saves and has the second-most strikeouts among the pitching staff with 71. Fritz is sixth in the MW in strikeouts and second behind McKenna Guest in strikeouts looking (31). In eight 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 five games.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
DeNae Vasquez-Dickson and McKenna Guest have dispelled the notion of the sophomore slump.
Vasquez-Dickson leads the team with 12 sac bunts, second with 28 runs scored and tied for third in RBI (19). She is also tied for second in walks (16) and fourth in hits (36). She’s had seven multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI games, more multiple-hit games than as a freshman, as well as had a nine-game hitting streak and a 17-game streak of reaching base this season, career bests in both categories.
She is also sixth in the NCAA in sac bunts per game (0.32) and leads the MW in sac bunts.
Through 38 games, she’s already surpassed her number of walks from last season (16 from seven) and has improved her batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage and has scored 28 runs, nine more than she did all of last season. She has increased her RBI, total bases total and hit total from last season. She has also surpassed her double total and hit three triples, the first of her career.
In the circle, Guest has a 2.66 ERA with 112 strikeouts to 42 walks, and has finished with five or more strikeouts in 11 games after having five all of last season. She’s has seven appearances not allowing a run in 108.0 innings and 26 appearances with 18 starts. Guest went 14.2 innings to start the season before allowing a run.
Guest threw two shutouts in her first two starts this season and combined with Natalie Fritz for another shutout. She added her third shutout against Alabama State on March 2 with nine strikeouts to one walk and two hits allowed and threw her fourth in the last game at UCSD with four strikeouts to zero walks and four hits.
She currently leads the Lobos in ERA, innings pitched, starts and strikeouts with 41 more strikeouts than the next Lobo pitcher (Fritz).
Guest has already surpassed her win total from a season ago (13 compared to 10 last season) and her strikeouts from 2024 with 112 to date (had 90 in 40 appearances last season).
Additionally, from stats dating back to 2006, Guest currently holds the lowest single-season ERA with a minimum 100 innings pitched at 2.66 and the lowest single-season opponent batting average (.239). She also has the most single-season strikeouts per seven innings (7.26) in program history.
Nationally, Guest is 12th in the NCAA in shutouts, 36th in wins, 32nd in strikeouts, 75th in innings pitched and 75th in strikeouts per seven innings.
ABOUT CSU
The Rams enter the series 14-23 on the season, 4-9 in conference and 2-8 in road games. CSU is led by Brooke Bohlender’s .364 batting average and 40 hits, with seven going for doubles and three for triples. Kyra Smith and Autumn Rutherford lead with 20 RBI apiece with Jailey Wilson leading with 22 walks.
CSU is averaging 6.9 hits per game and 4.3 runs per game, hitting .279 as a team with a .418 slugging percentage and .372 on-base percentage. On the base paths, CSU is 21-25 in stolen bases with opponents 31-40.
In the circle, CSU has used five pitchers to date, led by 117.1 innings from Reagan Wick behind 18 starts, 21 appearances and 14 complete games. Wick has struck out 84 to 38 walks and holds a 4.36 ERA. In conference games, Wick leads the MW with 40 strikeouts, eight looking, as well as 51.1 innings pitched.
As a staff, CSU carries a 6.67 ERA with opponents hitting .338 and have struck out 137 to 133 walks.