ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Following a sweep of Utah State in the final week of the regular season, the Lobos earned a final Mountain West weekly conference honor as Arianna Capek was selected Mountain West Freshman of the Week on Monday.
Capek is the fourth Lobo to earn a weekly honor this year, the third pitcher, and joins fellow freshman pitcher Caitlin Benningfield in picking up the freshman accolade.
The Texas native appeared in two games against Utah State, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit with five strikeouts. In game two, Capek entered in the fourth inning with one out and a runner on second and struck out two Aggies, both swinging to get the Lobos out of the inning, and retired the side in order, including a final strikeout to end the top of the fifth. UNM went on to win the game via run-rule in the bottom of the fifth with Capek earning her second save of the season.
In game three, the freshman right-hander entered in relief in the top of the sixth with a runner on first and no outs with UNM leading 2-1 and retired all three batters she faced on two flyouts and a strikeout. In the top of the seventh, Capek retired the first two batters she faced, to bring the total of consecutive batters retired to five, before allowing a hit.
As noted, UNM finished with four player of the week awards in 2026 and brings the total number of awards to 16 in Head Coach Nicole Orgeron’s four seasons at UNM. At least two freshmen have won MW Freshman of the Week in each of the last four seasons with three earning the award in 2024, and of those freshmen, two have gone on to win pitcher of the week or player of the week later in their careers.