ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Following a Mountain West season to remember for the New Mexico softball program, the Lobos head to Reno, Nevada for the 2026 Credit Union 1 MW Softball Championship, set to start Wednesday against Fresno State at 4 p.m. MT/ 3 p.m. PT.
The winner of the game goes on to play No. 1-seed Grand Canyon on Thursday.
The Lobos enter as the No.-4 seed with the Bulldogs the No.-5 seed, after UNM finished 13-12 in conference play. Of note, it marks the most conference wins since the Lobos won 13 games in 2015 and ties the second-most MW wins by a Lobo team with the record 14 wins done in UNM’s first season in the MW in 2000. In addition, the Lobos finished the regular season 26-25, the first time with a winning record since 2015.
While it does mark UNM’s first appearance in the Mountain West Championship since 2006, the conference discontinued the softball conference tournament following the 2006 season. Only in 2023 did the conference resume the tournament, with this season the first time in those four years that UNM has qualified.
UNM has been the four-seed in the tournament two other times (2002 and 2001) with UNM defeating Colorado State 2-0 in 2001 and BYU 4-1 in 2002 in the 4/5 matchup. The only other time the Lobos have been a higher seed in the tournament was in 2000, when the Lobos were a two-seed.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
The Lobos swept Utah State to close the Mountain West schedule, clinching the No. 4 seed at the 2026 Credit Union 1 MW Softball Championship. The sweep marked the second sweep of Utah State in the last three years.
UNM outscored USU 26-10 in the three-game series, hitting .413 with a .675 slugging percentage and .505 on-base percentage. The Lobos drew 14 walks with Miracle McKenzie leading with five walks and an .818 on-base percentage. Jessica DeLeon and DeNae Vasquez-Dickson tied with six hits with Vasquez-Dickson hitting a team-high two home runs and DeLeon a team-high two doubles.
UNM never trailed against the Aggies, scoring in the first innings of all three games. The Lobos scored four runs in the first inning of game one, five runs in the first inning of game two and two runs in the first inning of game three.
The Lobos run-ruled Utah State 11-3 in game two, their first run-rule win over the Aggies since 2015 and the third all-time.
In the circle, Arianna Capek made two appearances, allowing only one hit and striking out five in 3.1 scoreless innings. Capek earned the save in game two.
McKenna picked up a win, throwing 8.2 innings, while Caitlin Benningfield went 2-0 with a save in game three, throwing 7.0 innings and striking out eight.
As a pitching staff, the trio struck out 17 to eight walks.
HOME RUN POWER
Heading into the conference tournament, the Lobos have 50 home runs, the most since 2012 when UNM hit 95. The 50 home runs are the second most in a single season in program history.
The Lobos have the fifth-most home runs in the Mountain West and the 84th most in the NCAA.
Eleven different players have hit a home run, eight with multiple home runs. Miracle McKenzie leads with 16 with Allie Williams second at nine. Gabrielle Briones, Estrella Rowe, Williams, Caitlin Benningfield, Melanie Macias and Jasmyn Lloyd all hit their first collegiate home runs this season.
The Lobos are 13-0 when they hit two or more home runs and have hit three home runs in eight games.
UNM has hit a home run in 29 games overall. The Lobos hit a home run in six consecutive games between March 22 and April 3 and have hit a home run in the last three games and four of the last five.
The Lobos hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning of game three against Fresno State with McKenzie hitting a two-run home run and Macias hitting a home run, the second of the game for the freshman.
UNM also hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning of game one against Utah State with Williams hitting a two-run home run and Jessica DeLeon hitting a home run.
HOLD THE LEAD
UNM is 10-3 when leading after the first inning, 14-5 when leading after two, 21-4 when holding a lead after the third inning, 21-3 when leading after the fourth inning, 17-3 when leading after the fifth inning and 15-0 when leading after six.
In addition, the Lobos are 20-9 when scoring first and 4-0 in extra innings.
The Lobos are outscoring their opponents 261-238, including 43-40 in the first inning, 46-26 in the second inning, 35-24 in the third inning, 27-19 in the seventh inning and 17-4 in extra innings.
UNM's highest run production is in the fourth inning at 51 runs.
BIG INNINGS
UNM has scored four or more runs in an inning in 18 games and 23 times this season.
The Lobos scored a season-best nine runs in the fourth inning against South Alabama after scoring seven runs in the second inning. UNM scored seven runs behind two home runs in the second inning, all with two outs, ultimately scoring seven runs on six hits and sent 10 batters to the plate. The Lobos exceeded the second-inning production with nine runs on seven hits in the fourth inning. Of the nine runs in the inning, seven were scored with two outs with four of the seven hits coming with two outs.
New Mexico matched that with nine runs in the second inning of game three against Fresno State, scoring nine runs on seven hits and sent 12 to the plate in the inning. Of the seven hits, three went for extra bases (two doubles, one home run) and five came with two outs.
In game one against Utah State, the Lobos scored four runs in both the first and second innings, and scored five runs in the first inning of game two, scoring five runs on four hits. In the first inning of game one, the Lobos scored four runs on one hit and four-straight walks, all coming with two outs. In the second inning, the Lobos added four runs on five hits, including back-to-back home runs.
TWO OUTS, SO WHAT?
Of UNM’s 261 runs, 99 (37.9%) have come with two outs, including 18 games with multiple runs scored with two outs.
All eight of UNM's runs scored in game two at San José State were scored with two outs.
28 of Miracle McKenzie’s 49 RBI (57.1%) on the season have come with two outs, as have 16 of Jessica DeLeon’s 25 (64%).
Of note, DeLeon drove in the game-winning run against UTEP on Feb. 27 with two outs.
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.
Against South Alabama, UNM was 10-16 with two outs and 14 of the 16 runs were scored with two outs.
In the series at Boise State, 12 of the 21 runs came with two outs.
McKenzie is 20-45 (.444) with two outs with DeLeon 20-55 (.364) and Gabrielle Briones 17-45 (.378).
WALK IT OUT
The Lobos have 150 walks this season with 12 games with five or more walks, including a season-high eight walks in game one against Utah State, as well as seven walks against Tarleton State and game one at Nevada, and six walks in five games.
Of the 150 walks, 68 (45.3%) came on full counts, 43 (28.7%) on 3-1 counts and 39 (26%) on four pitches.
In game one against Utah State, the Lobos drew eight walks, four of which came in the first inning on consecutive at-bats.