MOBILE, Ala.— The Lobos dropped both Friday games, narrowly falling to No. 12/17 Mississippi State 1-0 and falling to Samford 8-2.
Seven different Lobos recorded a hit between the two games with Georgia Heathcock and Mya Pacheco responsible for driving in the runs. In the circle, Caitlin Benningfield went 4.1 innings against MSU in the start and McKenna Guest went 5.0 innings against Samford, both taking the loss.
GAME 1:
UNM went toe-to-toe with the No. 12 team in the country, holding the Bulldogs who entered averaging over seven runs a game to one run, and a team that averaged over eight hits a game below their average with six.
Benningfield struck out three Bulldogs with Arianna Capek striking out one in relief, and had one runner reach on a free pass with a walk.
As the designated visitors, the Lobos put a runner on in the top of the first on an infield single by Allie Williams, extending her hitting streak to 10 games and her on-base streak to 11, but the Lobos were unable to move her. In the bottom half, the Bulldogs had their first three batters reach with a fielder’s choice and the out being made at home for the first out. Benningfield retired the next two on strikeouts, one swinging and one looking, on 2-2 counts to get the Lobos out of the inning.
Mississippi State again had runners in scoring position in the second with a single to left and a double to center, but a Benningfield strikeout, fielder’s choice with Benningfield getting the out at home and a groundout to Estrella Rowe at third kept Mississippi State off the board.
UNM had its first runner reach scoring position in the third following one-out singles by DeNae Vasquez-Dickson and Briana Williams with both runners left on base. The Bulldogs broke the tie in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff double and two-out double to the gap in left center that scored a run.
The Lobos put the tying run in scoring position in the fourth after Gabrielle Briones singled to third, extending her hitting streak to five and on-base streak to 14, and took second on a wild pitch, however, two strikeouts ended the inning.
UNM had another chance to tie the game in the sixth with Jessica DeLeon reaching on a throwing error and Miracle McKenzie following that up with a single up the middle. A fielder’s choice resulted in the second out being made at third and a foul out to shortstop leaving two on base. The Lobos left a total of six runners on base, three of which were in scoring position.
GAME 2:
The Lobos were the designated home team against Samford with the Bulldogs scoring two runs in the first on a two-run home run to take an early lead. UNM put runners on in the home half with DeLeon drawing a two-out walk and McKenzie reaching on a hit-by-pitch. However, a strikeout ended the chance to cut into the deficit.
Samford added to its lead in the second with two runs, taking advantage of a leadoff walk and a two-out fielding error that extended the inning and plated a run. A double added the second run, with both runs unearned.
Once again, the Lobos had runners reach scoring position with Pacheco leading off the bottom of the second on a double to the gap in left center with Hayden Luderer moving her over to third on her at-bat. Vasquez-Dickson walked to put runners on the corners with two outs, but a fielder’s choice ended the inning with two more left on.
The Lobos got on the board in the third with A. Williams drawing a leadoff walk and taking second on a wild pitch. DeLeon made it consecutive walks with the Lobos loading the bases on a fielder’s choice and throwing error with one out. Pacheco drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly to center that allowed A. Williams to tag and runners on first and second advancing a base. A strikeout ended the opportunity to plate any more runs with the Lobos trailing 4-1.
Bulldog home runs in the fourth and fifth extended the deficit to 6-1 with Samford adding two final runs in the top of the seventh.
Down to their final out, the Lobos added a final run after Briana Williams reached on a hit-by-pitch, Grace Rana walked following a full count and both advanced a base on a wild pitch. Heathcock drove the 2-2 pitch down the left field line to score B. Williams before the final out was recorded on the next at-bat.
The Lobos have two games on the schedule Saturday, starting with another game against Mississippi State and a game against host South Alabama, which will be streamed on ESPN+.