RENO, Nev. – A season to remember came to a close on Friday night in game seven of the Mountain West Championship, with UNM advancing past UNLV 5-0 in an elimination game earlier on Friday before falling to Grand Canyon 11-7, a game short of making the championship game.
It marked the best finish in the Mountain West Championship for a UNM team since 2001 and the 28 wins on the season the most wins by a Lobo team since 2015.
Caitlin Benningfield delivered a complete-game shutout against the Rebels, the first shutout of the 2026 MW Championship and the first Lobo shutout in the MW Championship since 2004, when UNM defeated BYU 1-0 in 10 innings. It was UNM’s fifth shutout all-time in the MW Championship and the second against UNLV with the other occurring in 2000.
Melanie Macias led the Lobos with four RBI on the day, one of three Lobos to hit a home run, and led with three hits. As a team, the Lobos outhit GCU 10-8 and UNLV 6-3.
GAME 1:
A Gabrielle Briones home run on the second at-bat of the game set the tone for the Lobos with Macias doubling the lead on the second at-bat of the second inning, the fourth home run of the season for Macias and the sixth for Briones.
On the other side, UNLV had one runner reach in the first two innings, coming on the first at-bat on a fielding error. Benningfield controlled the circle with three strikeouts in the first two innings, including two in the second, to keep the Rebels off of the board.
Benningfield ultimately retired 11 consecutive batters between the first and fourth innings before allowing a walk, but a grounder back to the circle in the bottom of the fourth left a runner on.
The Lobos added a run in the fifth after Macias reached on a fielding error by the third baseman to start the inning, Hayden Luderer reached on a walk following a nine pitch at-bat and Estrella Rowe sacrificed both over on a bunt. Briana Williams hit the 0-2 pitch to first with the Rebel unsuccessfully trying to get Macias at home for the 3-0 Lobo lead.
UNLV had its first hit of the game to start the bottom of the fifth on a double to right center, with the first out coming on a grounder to Briones at shortstop. A grounder to Benningfield in the circle allowed the runner to move to third, but a grounder to Rowe at third provided the final out with the runner left in scoring position.
The Lobos capitalized on two fielding errors to begin the sixth inning, scoring two final runs with two outs on a triple down the right field line by Luderer, bringing around Allie Williams and pinch runner Grace Rana.
UNLV again had a runner reach scoring position in the bottom of the sixth on a single up the middle, stolen base and grounder to second that moved the runner to third, but a ground ball back to the circle resulted in the final out of the inning with two left on.
The Rebels had their leadoff batter reach in the bottom of the seventh on a double to right center, but a grounder to Briones at short with Miracle McKenzie then throwing to Rowe at third to get the runner trying to advance resulted in a double play. A ground ball to Macias at second provided the final out and preserved the shutout.
Luderer led with two RBI in the game while Briones led with two hits.
In the circle, Benningfield threw her ninth complete game of the season for her second shutout, striking out three and allowing three hits.
GAME 2:
Staying on the field to face the Lopes for a spot in the championship game, the Lobos put two runs on the board in their first at-bats.
DeNae Vasquez-Dickson led off the game with a walk following a full count, with the Lobo outfielder taking second on a wild pitch. A. Williams drew a one-out walk, also on a full count, with Jessica DeLeon walking on four pitches to load the bases. With two outs, Macias hit a double to right field with A. Williams and Vasquez-Dickson scoring before Macias was thrown out at third trying to stretch it out to a triple and before DeLeon could cross the plate for the third run.
GCU answered with seven runs in the bottom of the first on two, three-run home runs and an RBI single to right before the Lobos got out of the inning.
The Lobos chipped away at the deficit, scoring a run in the top of the third behind a DeLeon home run to center for her seventh home run of the season and third of the tournament and three in the fifth that made it a one-run game.
Briones reached on a fielding error in the top of the fifth with A. Williams hitting a double off of the right field wall to put two Lobos in scoring position with one out. A passed ball allowed Briones to score with Williams taking third and on the same at-bat, Williams came in to score on a wild pitch. DeLeon ended up walking in the at-bat with McKenzie coming inches from tying the game after hitting a single off the very top of the right field wall to put runners on the corners.
Macias made it a one-run game on a single up the middle with the tying run advancing to second, but two strikeouts ended the inning.
GCU scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run home run and a fielder’s choice with runners on the corners and the out being made at second base for the second out as the runner from third scored.
The Lobos had a chance to again cut into the deficit in the sixth after Vasquez-Dickson reached on an infield single to third, Briones was hit by a pitch and A. Williams walked to load the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly by DeLeon allowed Vasquez-Dickson to tag from third for a run, and McKenzie reloaded the bases after reaching on a fielding error, but a groundout to third left them loaded.
Grand Canyon matched the Lobo run with a sacrifice fly of its own in the bottom of the sixth with the Lobos having two runners reach in the top of the seventh on a Rowe single up the middle and a Benningfield single to left field after fouling off five consecutive pitches in an 11-pitch at-bat. A foul out to third and strikeout ended the game.
Rowe and Macias led the Lobos with two hits each with Macias finishing the game with a team-high three RBI.