ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos begin their week on the road in El Paso, Texas against UTEP on Tuesday at 3 p.m. MT. Tuesday’s game is the makeup game from Feb. 18 that was rescheduled due to high winds in the area.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats also available.
UNM enters the game 9-9 on the season and UTEP 8-9 on the season.
Both teams met this past weekend at the UNM Invitational with the game going to extra innings and UNM walking it off 8-7 in the eighth inning.
Tied at three heading into the seventh inning, UTEP scored four runs in the top half of the inning with the Lobos mounting a rally to tie the game. Allie Williams led off with a double to right with Miracle McKenzie hitting her fourth home run of the season to make it a two-run game. With two outs and Gabrielle Briones on first, Estrella Rowe doubled to left center to bring her around and Hayden Luderer tripled to right field to tie the game.
The Lobos won it in the eighth after Jessica DeLeon hit a two-out single to center field on the 1-2 pitch.
UNM went 4-1 at the UNM Invitational, led by Briones batting .615 and Williams leading with nine hits, eight RBI and an .889 slugging percentage. As a team, the Lobos outscored their opponents 30-17 and hit .341 with 44 hits, 11 doubles, two triples and four home runs. On the weekend, the Lobos scored four or more runs in an inning three times, scoring the four in the seventh inning against UTEP and five runs in both the first and fourth inning of the first game against Houston Christian.
On the season, the Lobos are hitting .277 with five players with 15 or more hits. Briana Williams leads the team with 19 hits with Briones and A. Williams at 18 hits and Jessica DeLeon and Miracle McKenzie at 16 and 15 hits, respectively.
In the circle, McKenna Guest and Caitlin Benningfield share the team lead with 42.2 innings pitched. Benningfield leads the pitching staff with 41 strikeouts to 10 walks, while Guest leads the team with 10 appearances and seven starts with three complete games and has 23 strikeouts on the season.
On the base paths, the Lobos are 11-12 in stolen bases with B. Williams 7-7 after stealing four bases this past weekend.
The Lobos have shown patience at the plate of late, drawing a season-high seven walks in the first game against Tarleton State and six in the first game against Houston Christian. UNM has drawn five or more walks in six games this season, led by eight from DeLeon and seven from DeNae Vasquez-Dickson. Of the 53 walks on the year, 22 have come on full counts, 14 on 3-1 counts and 17 in four pitches.
Following Tuesday’s game at UTEP, the Lobos close out their tournament schedule at the Jaguar Classic, hosted by South Alabama, Friday through Sunday.