ABILENE, Texas— The Lobo bats came alive in game two of Friday’s doubleheader at Abilene Christian to give UNM the split, winning game two 13-7 after dropping the first game 7-6.
UNM tallied a season-high 20 hits in the second game behind eight extra-base hits in six doubles and two home runs. The 20 hits were the most in a game since 2018 and tied for the fifth-most hits in a game in program history. The six doubles were the most since 2015 and tied for the second-most in a game since 2015, one off of tying the program record.
Gabrielle Briones led the Lobos with an .833 batting average on the day, going 5-6 with a home run and two RBI, one of three Lobos to finish with five hits between the two games. Allie Williams went 5-8 with a double and a home run, her first as a Lobo, finishing with three RBI, and Jessica DeLeon went 5-9 with two doubles, a home run and a team-high four RBI.
GAME 1:
The Lobos put runners on the base path and a run on the board early as Briana Williams reached on a one-out infield single to second and proceeded to steal second. DeLeon singled to left to put runners on the corners and A. Williams drove in B. Williams on a hit up the middle. A strikeout ended the inning with two left on.
A leadoff home run tied the game in bottom of the first, but the Lobos prevented any further runs after an infield fly ball to Estrella Rowe at third, a strikeout from McKenna Guest and a fielder’s choice to Rowe, with the freshman stepping on third for the out.
Hayden Luderer led off the inning with a four-pitch walk, advancing to second on a passed ball with Rowe laying down a sac bunt to move her over to third. The Lobos regained the lead as Briones drove the 2-1 pitch to centerfield allowing Luderer to tag from third.
The Lobos faced the minimum in the bottom of the second after DeLeon eliminated a leadoff walk with the Wildcat caught stealing at second, a flyout to Caitlin Benningfield in center and a popup to Rowe at third.
Two more runners reached in the third with A. Williams reaching on a two-out infield single to third and McKenzie drawing a four-pitch walk. However, a foul out to first left two more on.
After ACU took a 3-2 lead in the third, the Lobos responded to score four runs on three hits in their next at-bats, the third time scoring four runs in an inning this season.
Luderer led off with a walk following a full count, Rowe reached on an error and Briones moved them both over on a sac bunt to third. A passed ball allowed Luderer to score to tie the game with Rowe taking third and B. Williams singled to second to bring in Rowe for the lead. DeLeon extended the lead with her first home run of the season, going off the scoreboard in left to put UNM up 6-3 with the Lobos continuing to reach base on a full-count walk for A. Williams and a double down the right-field line by McKenzie. Ella Dawson walked to load the bases, but the bases were left loaded on a strikeout.
The Wildcats cut the lead to 6-5, scoring two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth with the Lobos going to the bullpen twice as Marina Tinari started the inning and Benningfield moved from centerfield to the circle to get the three outs on two strikeouts and a groundout to Rowe at third to leave the tying run on second.
UNM was unable to capitalize on two runners reaching in the fifth with the Lobo defense getting out of the inning with two Wildcats left in scoring position in the home half to maintain the one-run lead. However, ACU led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple and tied the game on an infield single, with the Wildcats later taking the lead in the inning on a single up the middle.
The Lobos had the tying run reach scoring position after Rowe was hit by a pitch and Briones reached on an infield single, but a strikeout and a groundout to second ended the game.
Benningfield took the loss, throwing 3.0 innings with six strikeouts, the third time this season the freshman has struck out six. Guest got the start and went 3.0 innings.
UNM had its chances, leaving 11 runners on base, six of which were left in scoring position. Three Lobos (B. Williams, DeLeon and A. Williams) led the Lobos with two hits, accounting for a combined six of UNM’s nine hits in the game, with DeLeon leading with two RBI.
GAME 2:
The Lobos scored in all but one inning of game two, including two innings of four runs, recording 20 hits and scoring 13 runs.
Following two doubles in the first from DeLeon and McKenzie that scored a run in the first, the Lobos scored four runs in the second inning using three consecutive doubles by DeLeon, A. Williams and McKenzie for a 5-2 lead.
Rowe started the inning with a one-out walk on a full count with Dawson reaching on a fielder’s choice as the Wildcats got the lead runner. With two outs in the inning, B. Williams hit an infield single with the throw to first getting away allowing Dawson to score from first. DeLeon hit her second double of the game to the gap in right center to score B. Williams and A. Williams followed suit with a double to center to bring in DeLeon. McKenzie also hit her second double in as many innings to score A. Williams before the third out was recorded on a strikeout. All four runs scored were with two outs.
The Wildcats tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the third, and again, the Lobos responded with another four-run inning in the top of the fourth.
Nine Lobos came to the plate in the fourth with A. Williams hitting a home run over the scoreboard in left to start the inning giving the Lobos the lead back. UNM scored four runs for the second inning in the game on four hits, with three runs coming with two outs.
McKenzie reached on a walk with Briones laying down a sac bunt to move her to second, and with two outs, MiaLani Ocampo walked to keep the inning going. Rowe doubled down the left field line to bring around McKenzie and put two in scoring position with Melanie Macias hitting a single past third base to score Ocampo for her first hit and RBI as a Lobo. B. Williams hit an infield single to score Rowe before a foul out to left ended the inning with two left on.
ACU got a run back in the bottom of the inning with the Lobos matching it with a run in the top of the fifth on a two-out Briones home run to left center, her second of the season.
Guest struck out the side in order in the bottom of the fifth with the momentum moving to the sixth inning as UNM added another run. Macias hit an infield single, advancing to second on a groundout to the pitcher for the second out. DeLeon drove her in on a hit off the wall in center. A. Williams singled to the outfield before the inning came to an end.
The Lobo defense kept the Wildcats off the board again in the bottom of the sixth and in the seventh, UNM plated two more runs, needing just three at-bats.
Briones led off the inning with a bunt single and Luderer drove the 0-2 pitch to center for a single, advancing to third and Briones scoring on a fielding error by the centerfielder. Ocampo hit a sac fly to left for the final run and her first RBI.
ACU led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run, but a fielder’s choice following an infield single, a flyout to center and a flyout to right ended the game.
Ten runs came with two outs with 13 of UNM’s hits coming with two outs.
Guest earned the win behind 4.2 innings and five strikeouts with Caprice Barela getting the start and going 2.0 innings with four strikeouts.
UNM concludes the three-game series with the Wildcats Saturday at 11 a.m. MT with the game streamed on WAC International.