Lobos Return to Road to Face Rams
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos close the week on the road with a two-game series at Colorado State starting on Saturday.
SCHEDULE
Saturday @ 11 a.m.
Sunday @ 12 p.m.
Both games will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats available.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM enters the series 62-70 all-time against the Rams and is 2-3 in the last five games and 3-7 in the last 10 games. The Lobos’ last series win against the Rams came in 2017 and the last road win was on April 9, 2022 (4-2). UNM split the series with CSU last season with CSU winning the first game 10-1 in five innings and UNM winning the second game 12-4 in six innings.
FRESHMEN IMPACT
Nine freshmen have earned a spot in the starting lineup this season and six freshmen (DeNae Vasquez-Dickson, Katherine Brunner, McKenna Guest, Hayden Luderer, Karly Smith and Macie Andrews) have played in at least half of the games.
Of the freshmen, Brunner has played in 40 games with 35 starts- 16 as the designated player, 12 games at third and seven at second. Vasquez-Dickson has started in 34 games with 12 in left, 17 in center and five in right and played in 41 games, and Luderer with 15 starts and playing in 26 games with eight starts in center, six in right and one in left. Smith has played in 22 games with nine starts, seven as the designated player and two in right. Gabrielle Briones has started in five games, two at third, two at second and one as the designated player, and Macie Andrews has started 11 games, nine in left and two in right, and played in 22 games.
McKenna Guest leads the Lobos’ pitching staff with 21 starts and 32 appearances and a team-high 126.1 innings, Brooke Umali has made two starts and 13 appearances, throwing 22.0 innings and Kenzie Jones has appeared in eight games with one start and 9.0 innings.
Vasquez-Dickson has played in 97.6% of the games, 90.8% of the innings and started in 81.0% of the games. Brunner has played in 95.2% of the games, starting in 83.3%, and playing in 84.3% of the innings.
In the circle, Guest has started 50.0% of the games and made an appearance in 76.2% of the games and pitched in 48.5% of the innings. The RHP has accounted for 59.2% of UNM’s strikeouts this season with 77 of UNM’s 130.
UNM started five freshmen against UConn, in the March 19 game against UTEP and the first game at Nevada, 11 games with four freshmen starting and 19 games with three freshmen starting.
Brunner is tied for fourth on the team in RBI (12) and fifth in home runs (one), while Vasquez-Dickson leads in sac bunts (10), is third in RBI (13), is tied for third in stolen bases (four) and home runs (one), is fourth in slugging percentage (.316) and fifth in total bases (31), and Smith is tied for fourth in walks (eight).
KEY CONTRIBUTOR
Keyannah Chavez leads in slugging percentage (.620), on-base percentage (.448), triples (four) and walks (12), and is tied for the team high in total bases (62). Chavez is second in batting average (.380), home runs (four), runs scored (21), hits (38), RBI (17) and third in sac bunts (five).
The sophomore is 15-32 (.469) as the leadoff in an inning, 31-54 (.574) in successfully advancing runners, 4-6 (.667) with runners on third and less than two outs, and of her 17 RBI, nine are with two outs.
She’s had 12 multiple-hit games (nine games with two hits and three games with three), tying her total from her freshman season, and four multiple RBI games (three games with two RBI and a game with four), with the four the most RBI in a game by a Lobo this season.
Chavez has already surpassed her season total from her freshman season in total bases with 62 and has increased her batting average (.315 to .380), on-base percentage (.410 to .448) and slugging percentage (.364 to .620) from her freshman season to this season.
GUEST APPEARANCE
Freshman McKenna Guest has been a frequent presence in the circle for the Lobos, appearing in a team-high 32 games, starting a team-high 21 games and throwing nine complete games.
The RHP has thrown a team-high 126.1 innings, 59.0 more innings than the next Lobo pitcher, and has a team-best 77 strikeouts, accounting for 59.2% of UNM’s total strikeouts and 59 more than the next Lobo pitcher. Guest has also been the pitcher on record in eight of UNM’s wins and earned her first save in the win against Marist.
Guest struck out a season-high nine at UTEP and followed that up two days later with seven strikeouts in the first game against Marist.
She is averaging 4.3 strikeouts per game, 4.0 innings per appearance and a 1.4 k/bb rate behind 24 games with at least one strikeout and 20 games with multiple strikeouts, including five games with five or more.
Nationally, Guest has thrown the sixth-most innings in the NCAA and the most by a freshman pitcher. Her 21 starts are tied for the most by a pitcher and is the most by a freshman pitcher and her 32 appearances are the most by any pitcher in the NCAA.
YEATTS GOES YARD
Chloe Yeatts hit home runs in consecutive games for the second time this season with a solo home run against UTEP and followed that with a two-run home run in the seventh inning against UNLV.
Yeatts started off her sophomore season with a two-run home run in the season opener against Tennessee State and again with another two-run home run against McNeese, with both in the first inning.
The Oklahoma native leads the team in home runs with five and in RBI (23), and is third in slugging percentage (.415), total bases (49) and hits (28), fourth in batting average (.237) and fifth in on-base percentage (.287).
Yeatts has matched her home run total from her freshman season.
SHAKING UP THE LINEUP
In the 42 games this season, the Lobos have used 39 different lineup combinations. UNM has used the same batting order in the McNeese and Chattanooga games the first weekend, the same lineup in the Montana and Toledo games and the same lineup in both SDSU games.
The Lobos have used three different players in the leadoff spot, five in the second spot, four in the third spot, six in the cleanup, 10 in the fifth spot, nine in the sixth spot, 10 in the seventh spot, 10 in the eighth spot and five in the ninth spot in the lineup.
Rachael Hathoot has led off in 31 games, Sydney Carithers has hit ninth in 26 games, Elizabeth Baylor batting seventh in 18 games, Chloe Yeatts cleanup in 16 games and DeNae Vasquez-Dickson second in 21 games for the most frequency in the lineup. Carithers has batted eighth in 11 games, Ashley Archuleta third in 15 games, Emma Bramson fifth in 14 games, and Katherine Brunner sixth in 14 games for the most appearances in each spot of the order.
Keyannah Chavez has made the most movement in the batting order, appearing in seven different spots, the most often third (12 games), followed by leadoff and second (eight games), as well as three games in the cleanup spot, two times in each the sixth and eighth spot and hit fifth in one game.
In the field, UNM has used five different players in left, six in right field, four at third, three behind the plate, three in center, three at second base and two at first base. UNM has also had 10 different players as the designated player.
Only Hathoot has started every game at shortstop, while Bramson has started every game, but has played 27 games at first, four at third, eight as the designated player and three games in right field.
MIDDLE (WO)MEN
The Lobos are anchored in the middle infield with the stability and experience of Ashley Archuleta (second) and Rachael Hathoot (shortstop).
This season, Hathoot leads the Lobos in hits (52), runs scored (27) and in batting average (.388), is second in sac bunts (six), on-base percentage (.425) and slugging percentage (.463) and is tied for the team lead in total bases (62). She is 24-55 (.436) as the leadoff hitter in an inning.
The Lobo is fourth in the MW in hits, fifth in batting average and leads in assists (97). Nationally, Hathoot is 13th in the NCAA in hits.
Hathoot enters the week on a career-best 21-game streak of reaching base, has recorded a hit in 20 of the last 21 games and has a team-high 16 multiple-hit games (14 with two hits, two games with three).
Archuleta leads the Lobos in stolen bases (seven), is second in doubles (five), third in on-base percentage (.319) and batting average (.243), fourth in total bases (33), fifth in slugging percentage (.308), and tied for fourth in RBI (12). She went a career-best 4-4 in the March 22 game against UNLV.
To date, Archuleta has started in 134 games with 129 starts at second, while Hathoot has started all 42 games this season and all 50 games last season at shortstop, and has started all 164 games during her UNM career.
ABOUT THE RAMS
Colorado State enters the series 18-15 on the season, 1-7 in conference and 10-3 at home. To date, the Rams split the series with UNLV, and was swept by Nevada and San Diego State.
The Rams share two common non-conference opponents with the Lobos in Pacific with CSU winning 8-0 in five innings in the season opener as well as Louisiana with CSU losing 4-2.
When it comes to offensive stats, the Rams are led by Maya Matsubara, who is hitting .404 through 33 games and is tied for the team high with 40 hits, which she shares with Ashley York. Matsubara also holds the team lead in triples (five), total bases (66), slugging percentage (.667), walks (22) and on-base percentage (.405). York leads the team with six stolen bases, going 6-6 on the season, while Matsubara is 5-5.
As a team, CSU is 25-28 in stolen base attempts with eight different players with at least one, six with multiple stolen bases and five players perfect in their attempts. Opponents are 42-47 in stolen bases.
From a pitching perspective, CSU has used five pitchers, led by Sydney Hornbuckle and Danielle Serna. Hornbuckle enters the series with a team-best 3.08 ERA and has appeared in a team-high 15 appearances with 14 starts and seven complete games, and has thrown a team-high 84.0 innings. Serna has started 14 games with two complete games and has a 3.20 ERA, and leads the staff with 43 strikeouts in 54.2 innings in the circle. Reagan Wick has appeared in 14 games with three starts and two complete games and also has earned two saves through 38.1 innings of work.