ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos open their home schedule with the UNM Invitational, set to begin on Friday, hosting UTEP, Tarleton State and Houston Christian.
UNM will play in five games between Friday and Sunday with a total of 10 games in the tournament. Admission for all games are free.
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY: vs. UTEP @ 3 p.m. | LIVE STATS
FRIDAY: vs. Tarleton State @ 5:30 p.m. | LIVE STATS
SATURDAY: vs. Houston Christian @ 3 p.m. | LIVE STATS
SATURDAY: vs. Tarleton State @ 5:30 p.m. | LIVE STATS
SUNDAY: vs. Houston Christian @ 11:30 a.m. | LIVE STATS
Friday and Sunday games will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats available for all games.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM is 19-17 all-time against UTEP, 2-1 against Houston Christian and 1-1 against Tarleton State with the Lobos playing all three teams last year.
BIG INNINGS
UNM has scored four runs in an inning six times this season, four of which came in the Abilene Christian series.
The Lobos scored four runs in the fourth inning of game one, four runs in the second and fourth inning of game two and four runs in the sixth inning of game three. In the second inning of game two, the Lobos hit three consecutive doubles to score three runs with all four runs in the inning coming with two outs.
UNM also scored four runs in the seventh inning of the season opener against Baylor and four runs in the third inning against Northwestern State.
For comparison, New Mexico scored four or more runs in an inning in six games last season, including 13 runs in the fifth inning against Texas Southern on Feb. 23.
TWO OUTS, SO WHAT?
Of UNM’s 44 RBI, half have come with two outs in the inning, and of the 85 hits, 33 have come with two outs, accounting for 38.8% of the hits.
Of UNM’s 54 runs, 24 (44.4%) have come with two outs.
Eight of Miracle McKenzie’s 10 RBI on the season have come with two outs, as have four of Jessica DeLeon’s six and three of Gabrielle Briones’ six.
UNM was 14-21 in game two at Abilene Christian with two outs with 10 of the 13 runs coming with two outs in the inning.
McKenzie is 7-13 (.538) with two outs with Melanie Macias 2-2 and Gabrielle Briones 5-10.
KEEP THE STREAK ALIVE
Eleven players enter the UNM Invitational on on-base streaks with six players currently holding a hitting streak.
Gabrielle Briones has reached base in a team-best seven consecutive games, tying Briana Williams for the longest streak this season. Miracle McKenzie has reached in the last six games, Hayden Luderer in the last five, Allie Williams in the last four and Jessica DeLeon and B. Williams in the last three. Freshmen MiaLani Ocampo and Melanie Macias have reached in the last two and three players (Caitlin Benningfield, Ella Dawson and Marina Tinari) entering the weekend reaching in their last game.
McKenzie (six games), DeLeon (three), A. Williams (three), Luderer (two) enter the weekend on multiple-game hitting streaks.
For McKenzie, her career best in hitting and reach base streak is eight games.
HOLD THE LEAD
UNM is 4-1 when holding a lead after the third inning, 5-2 when holding a lead after the fourth and fifth and 4-0 when leading after six.
The Lobos are outscoring their opponents 9-8 in the second inning, 9-6 in the fourth inning, 12-7 in the sixth inning and 6-5 in the seventh inning.
UNM was good when holding a lead last season: 9-5 when leading after the first, 13-6 after the second, 15-3 after the third, 16-4 when leading after the fourth, 15-2 after the fifth and 17-3 leading after the sixth.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
UTEP
UTEP enters the tournament 6-6, but this will be its first road games. The Miners last played Feb. 15 and went 3-3 last weekend.
The Miners are hitting .330 behind Marissa Burchard, who is hitting .474 with 18 hits, seven doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI. Burchard has an .816 slugging percentage and .545 on-base percentage.
As a team, UTEP is 12-16 in stolen bases, led by Burchard at 8-9.
UTEP has used seven pitchers this season with Tatyana Vega throwing a team-high 45.1 innings in 11 games and five starts. Vega has thrown three complete games and struck out 24 while also walking 24. The staff has a 9.13 ERA with 45 strikeouts to 76 walks with opponents hitting .346.
HOUSTON CHRISTIAN
HCU is 2-12 on the season and is hitting .224, led by Jocelyn Briseno at .333. Chloe Foster leads the Huskies with 10 hits, 12 total bases and seven RBI, while Madison Dominguez leads the team with seven walks and a .457 on-base percentage.
The Huskies are 11-13 in stolen bases led by five from Dominguez in six attempts.
In the circle, Cara Pitman leads with 29.2 innings pitched on seven appearances and six starts with two complete games. Addy Prasifka leads the pitching staff with 15 strikeouts in 21.0 innings, with the staff striking out 43 to 42 walks. The staff carries a 6.97 ERA with opponents hitting .332.
TARLETON STATE
TSU is 11-5 on the season, hitting .363 and led by Hayden Fox who is hitting .512. Fox has 21 hits, one of three players with 20-plus hits. Mikayla Wilson leads the Texans with 28 hits with Macie Vickers entering the weekend with 22 hits. Vickers leads the team with nine doubles and 27 RBI and a .667 slugging percentage. Fox leads with 13 walks with the team drawing 72 walks.
The Texans are 5-7 in stolen bases, led by three from Wilson.
Sadie Beck has thrown a team-high 23.0 innings in 11 games with five starts, striking out 17 to 19 walks. Seven different pitchers have made an appearance this season with Shelby Schultz and Taylor McKean making three starts each and Schultz striking out a team-high 18. As a staff, the Texans have struck out 76 to 60 walks and carries a 5.00 ERA.