The University of New Mexico softball team went 2-3 at the Hawaii Invitational last week, with an additional loss to Hawaii prior to the start of the tournament.
In a matchup with the Rainbow Wahine on Wednesday with Kianna Spencer in the circle, the Lobos lost a close matchup 2-1. Spencer threw six innings, giving up five hits, two runs (one earned), four strikeouts and no walks.
It's the fourth time this season the Lobos have been held to one run or fewer. UNM only recorded three hits and left five runners on base.
The Lobos got their only run in the sixth on a Monica Salas ground out that scored D'Andra DeFlora.
On Thursday, the Lobos suffered a 9-5 defeat to DePaul. UNM was up 5-1 on the Blue Demons before they scored eight unanswered.
The Lobos recorded five hits, three of which came on home runs. Daryn Haslam hit the first homer of her career and led the Lobos offensively, going 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Salas got the Lobos started offensively with a solo shot in the bottom of the second to put UNM up 1-0. In the bottom half of the fourth, after DePaul tied up the game, the Lobos offense came alive for four more runs.
The rally started with a Lauren Wilmert solo home run to put the Lobos back up 2-1. Back-to-back walks issued to Maggie Buckholz and Sydney Broderick put runners on first and second and set up Haslam’s home run to stretch the lead to 5-1.
DePaul answered right back with a two run home run and chased Lobo started Kennedy Ferguson in the fifth. The Blue Demons would take the lead 6-5 in the top of the sixth with Bailey Klitzke in the circle and chase her from the game as well. Spencer would come in in relief, but wouldn’t fair much better. DePaul built its lead to 9-5 thanks to a pair of unearned runs off of Ferguson by the end of the game.
On Friday the Lobos played a double header, splitting two games, winning their first of the day over Canisius with a 10-0 run rule victory, before losing again to Hawaii, this time 3-2.
In the first game, Spencer got the start and threw her second shutout of the game, once again striking out four and only allowing four hits. UNM recorded 11 hits and added five walks, getting out to a 3-0 lead before an out had been recorded. Cameryn O’Grady and DeFlora walked before Wilmert hit her second home run of the Invitational. Klitzke added the Lobos fourth run of the inning thanks to a steal of home.
The Lobos doubled their lead with four more runs in the third to go up 8-0, before adding their final two in the fourth to reach the 10-run mark.
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Against Hawaii, the Lobos outhit the Rainbow Wahine but committed a costly three errors that proved to be the difference in the game. Freshmen provided the scoring for UNM, with Buckholz and Haslam being responsible for the runs.
Hawaii took their 3-2 lead after an errant pickoff move allowed a runner on first to advance to second, before the run scored two batters later on a single. The Lobos had a seventh inning rally, but the game came to an end when Taylor Jones was thrown out at home.
On Saturday, the Lobos finally got the best of Hawaii by a 3-2 score to set up a matchup with DePaul in the championship game.
All three of the Lobos runs came in the second inning on a three-run home run from Buckholz.
In the championship game, scoring got started early, with DePaul taking a 3-1 lead after the first inning. That would be a deficit that was ultimately too much for the Lobos to overcome, as they fell 4-2 to the Blue Demons.
Next up, the Lobos will travel to Fullerton, CA for the Judi Garman Classic, which will begin on Thursday with a game against Florida.
Cameron Goeldner is a senior reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, women’s basketball, softball and the Albuquerque Isotopes, but also contributes content for all other sports. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
