March 12, 2013

New Mexico Lobos Softball - @ Oregon & Oregon State, March 13 & 14

Wed., March 13: Lobos at No. 9/10 Oregon (21-4), 3 p.m. MT (DH) - Live Stats, Live Streaming
Thurs., March 14: Lobos at No. 23/RV Oregon State (20-4), 1 p.m. MT (DH) - GameTracker (1st game), GameTracker (2nd game)
GoLobos.com:Box scores, season stats and recaps

Week 6 - @ No. 10/9 Oregon & No. 23/RV Oregon State

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Lobo softball squad continues on its longest road stretch of the season with four midweek games in the form of two doubleheaders at No. 10/9 Oregon and No. 23/RV Oregon State on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

New Mexico carries a 13-14 record heading into the week and is coming off a 2-2 weekend at the Husky Classic hosted by No. 19/16 Washington.

The Lobos look to rebound after dropping games to UW, 12-0, and to Yale, 6-5.

LOBO SOFTBALL NOTES

The Last Meeting New Mexico 10 Oregon State 6 February 23, 2012 Palm Springs, Calif. Lobos Rally in the Seventh Inning for 10-6 Win Over Oregon State New Mexico claimed its second win of the day, using two seventh-inning home runs to top Oregon State, 10-6, Thursday night. New Mexico Defeats No. 16 Texas A&M, 15-3, in Six Innings Recap | Box Score

Scouting the Opponents

-No. 10/9 Oregon is 21-4 entering the midweek doubleheader with the Lobos. Wednesday's games will be the home openers for the Ducks. Oregon is coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Bayer CropScience Classic in Fresno, Calif., with wins over San Diego State and St. Mary's and a loss to Iowa State. Prior to the loss to the Cyclones, the Ducks had won 13-consecutive games. Their other three losses were against No. 14 Florida and No. 2 Oklahoma during opening weekend, and against No. 20 Hawaii on Feb. 16.

Janie Takeda leads the team and is one of three players (who are consistently in the lineup) who bat .435 or better. Takeda hits at a .494 clip and is second on the team in RBIs with 20. Jamie Rae Sullivan leads the team in home runs as she's hit seven. She also leads the Ducks in RBIs with 26.

The Oregon pitching staff boasts a 1.50 ERA and holds opponents to a .186 batting average. Jessica Moore has the most innings logged with 70.1. She has an 11-3 record and a 1.39 ERA. She's allowed 58 hits and 14 earned runs while walking 17 and striking out 67. Cheridan Hawkins and Karissa Hovinga are the other two hurlers for the Ducks. Hawkins also has a 1.39 ERA and a 7-1 record. In 17 appearances she's struck out 82 batters. Hovinga has a 3-0 mark and a 1.89 ERA.

-No. 23/RV Oregon State has a 20-4 mark and its doubleheader with the Lobos is its home opener. The Beavers are coming off a 3-0 weekend at the Bayer CropScience Classic in Fresno, Calif., as they picked up wins over St. Mary's, Iowa State and San Diego State. OSU is on a six-game winning streak and has won 18 of its last 19 contests.

As a squad, Oregon State bats .333 with Natalie Hampton leading the charge with a .467 clip and a slugging percentage of .947. Hampton has 10 home runs and leads the team with 34 RBIs. Eight of the nine players in Oregon State's lineup bat above .300.

Marina Demore has made the most appearances of all the Beavers' pitchers with 18. She's logged 88 innings, has a 14-2 record and a 1.99 ERA. The senior has given up 70 hits, 25 earned runs while walking 21 and striking out 56. Tina Andreana has tossed 39 1/3 innings allowing 27 hits, 18 earned runs while walking 29 and striking out 41.

Last time the Lobos and Ducks met- The last time UNM and Oregon played was Feb. 10, 2012, opening day of last season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Lobos stunned the preseason No. 11/16 Ducks with a last-inning rally to come from behind and take the game, 6-7. The Lobos were able to hold off any Oregon runs in the final two innings of the season opener, and instead tacked on seven of their own -- three runs in the sixth and four in the seventh. New Mexico took advantage of three errors, two walks and two wild pitches to score four runs in the final frame of that contest.

Last time the Lobos and the Beavers met- New Mexico and Oregon State last met on Feb. 23, 2012 at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. The Lobos used two seventh-inning home runs by seniors Shenise Cox and Jessica Garcia to score four runs, and top Oregon State, 10-6. The win lifted UNM to 11-1.

Husky Classic Recap - Just like at the San Diego Classic I the first weekend in March, the Lobos opened the Husky Classic (March 8-10) with two wins, only to drop their other contests of the tourney. UNM topped Bradley, 7-1, and blanked Seattle, 2-0, before losing to No. 19/16 Washington, 12-0 (5 inn.), and giving up game on a walk-off homer to Yale, 6-5.

Senior Sheryl Guillermo led the Lobos on offense against the Bradley Braves as she went 2-for-2 and scored one run. Junior Chelsea Anaya and freshman Naomi Tellez both went 1-for-4 and drove in two runs apiece. Tellez's two RBIs came in the bottom of the first inning when she homered to right field. Kaela DeBroeck threw all seven innings, and in 30 batters faced, the senior allowed six hits and one earned run while walking two and striking out five.

Freshman Lauren Soles got the start and the win against Seattle, throwing five innings and allowing just one hit while striking out a career-high nine batters. Her previous career high was seven batters in seven innings in the Lobos' 3-1 win over Bradley at home on Feb. 16. Soles had a no-hitter going through four innings. The Redhawks' Jenny Hurst hit a single in the top of the fifth to thwart a no-no for the Lobos' lefty. Sophomore Carrie Sheehan came in to throw the final two frames and picks up her first save of the season (third of her career).

She faced 10 batters and allowed two hits and walked two. Offensively, Mariah Rimmer led the Lobos as the freshman went 3-for-4 and drove in one run. Kaity Ingram, Chelsea Anaya, Sheryl Guillermo and Mia Hignojos had one hit apiece.

Jordan Sjostrand recorded UNM's lone hit against the nationally-ranked Huskies -- a single to left field in the top of the third inning. She was the only Lobo to reach base all night as UW's Kaitlin Inglesby and Bryana Walker nearly pitched a perfect game. Washington pounded out 13 hits and scored at least one run in each inning, starting with three in the first. The Huskies added one in the bottom of the second as Victoria Hayward homered to right field, and then put up five runs on five hits in the third before adding three runs on three hits in the fourth.

DeBroeck got the start and took the loss. She faced 18 batters over 2 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and eight earned runs while walking one and striking out two Freshman Lisa Rodrigues came in for relief efforts and threw 1 2/3 innings. She faced 13 batters, giving up four hits and three earned runs while walking four and striking out one.

A walk-off home run by Yale's Lauren Degadillo gave Yale its second win of the season (2-4 overall) and dropped the University of New Mexico Lobos to 13-14 overall in the final day of the Husky Classic. Yale took a 5-0 lead in the first inning and while New Mexico eventually tied the Bulldogs in the sixth inning, the Lobos never fully recovered and Degadillo's long ball ended the contest, 6-5. New Mexico outhit Yale, 16-10, but was reluctant to bring runs around and left 11 on base.

Anaya led UNM at the plate going 3-for-3. Rimmer also had three hits in five at-bats. She scored and drove in one run. Ingram was 2-for-3 and also scored and drove in one run.

Senior pitcher Kari Gutierrez got the start and allowed four hits and five earned runs in 1/3 of an inning. DeBroeck came in in relief and pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and one earned run while walking two and striking out three. Because DeBroeck gave up the winning run, she takes the loss and her record drops to 2-3.

Soles a standout against Seattle; ranked nationally - Freshman Lauren Soles nearly repeated a no-hit performance in her outing against Seattle on March 8. The lefty threw four complete innings without giving up a hit before the Redhawks' Jenny Hurst smacked a single in the top of the fifth to thwart the no-no. It was still an impressive outing for Soles, who fanned a career-best nine batters in just five innings in the circle.
The NCAA rankings for Division I softball came out on March 12 and Lauren Soles is ranked in three categories: hits allowed per seven innings (47th, 4.79), victories (114th, 6), and strikeouts per seven innings (115th, 6.8).

Stacked with ranked opponents- Coach Erica Beach is a firm believer in challenging her Lobos and this season, she is doing just that as New Mexico's 2013 slate is peppered with nationally-ranked opponents UNM faced No. 19/16 Washington on March 9 and plays a doubleheader at No. 10/9 Oregon on March 13, and a doubleheader at No. 23/RV Oregon State on March 14. In their opening weekend, the Lobos faced then-No. 4 Arizona State and then-No. 2 Oklahoma. UNM played No. 10/12 UCLA at the San Diego Classic I on March 3.

Rimmer leading the Lobos; Ranked regionally and nationally- A consistent force for UNM has been Mariah Rimmer. The Lobos' freshman center fielder leads the team, is second in the Mountain West and ranked 21st in the nation for stolen bases with 19. She's recorded a team-high 35 hits and her batting average of .380 is a team best.

A 'Kaity' of all trades- Redshirt senior Kaity Ingram is stepping up as a veteran member of the team and filling in where her team needs her. She's proved to be a real `Kaity' of all trades. Ingram has started all 27 games-- mostly at third base, but also at short stop, in the outfield and as the Lobos' designated player.

Rimmer the base burglar- Freshman Mariah Rimmer is 19-of-22 for stolen bases in UNM's 27 games. She has recorded a stolen base in 16 games and three times has recorded two stolen bases - against Hampton on Feb. 16, against IPFW on Feb. 17 and against Long Beach State on March 2. Her 19 steals is second in the league and 21st in the nation, and surpasses last year's team high of 10 achieved by Jessica Lujan-Dresslar over 52 games. The program record for stolen bases in a single season is 40 set by Jackie Van Hooydonk in 1997. If Rimmer keeps up her pace of stolen bases (.70 game) over the Lobos' 57-game season, she'll come close to breaking the record.

Actually, Rimmer leads a pack of base burglars- Actually, Rimmer is the ring leader of a whole Lobo pack of base burglars. New Mexico is second in the Mountain West conference in stolen bases with 36. Fresno State leads the league with 42. Rimmer has 19 of the Lobos' 36 while senior Kaity Ingram has five, junior Chelsea Anaya has four, Jordan Sjostrand has two and Cassandra Kalapsa, Nykilah Torres, Courtney Geith, Naomi Tellez, Karissa Haleman and Amber Tracy have one apiece.

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA - The Lobos have gone to extra innings four times this season and twice have emerged victorious. On Feb. 16, the Lobos dropped a 7-2 decision to Hampton while the following day, UNM took a 1-0 win over IPFW -- both in eight innings. The Lobos dropped a 6-5 contest at Texas A&M Corpus Christi in eight innings on Feb. 23, and most recently, defeated USD, 2-1, in 11 innings.

Lobos Softball

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