Having been on the road to kick off their season, the University of New Mexico softball team stands at 7-3 after playing their first tournament at home in the Lobo Classic after the Candera Classic and the Cardinal Classic.
The Lobos started the tournament with a game against the University of Texas at El Paso on Thursday, Feb. 24, which they won 5-4 after a close seventh inning.
Standout players thus far include center fielder and former Olympian Andrea Howard, new pitcher Amber Linton, returning pitcher Emma Guindon and freshman infielder Emma Bramson.
The pitching team continues to improve from last season. Guindon has had a stellar season so far with a .57 ERA across 24.2 innings with 25 strikeouts and pitched an almost perfect game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Linton is off to a great start as a Lobo with a 1.98 ERA across 28.1 innings and has thrown 34 strikeouts.
Both the Candera Classic in Tucson, Arizona, played from Feb. 11-13, and the Cardinal Classic in Beaumont, Texas, played from Feb. 18-20, showcased the Lobos’ stellar offense with the Lobos’ run-ruling the Ohio Bobcats 9-1 in one game. In a bombastic fourth inning, the Lobos stole three bases, took advantage of three errors from the Bobcats and had six hits that included a three-run home run from Howard.
Being able to run-rule another team means being ahead of your opponent by at least eight runs after five complete innings, according to the NCAA. Howard said it’s a great way to pull the team together.
“I mean it boosts our confidence incredibly. I think we're a great team so being able to run-rule other teams is definitely what we're supposed to be doing,” Howard said. “I'm very proud of our team for that, and I just hope that we can keep building on that and learn from every game.”
The Lobos’ Feb. 19 game against the Lamar Cardinals was the third-longest game in program history. After a long and bitter battle, the Lobos persevered and finally beat the Cardinals after 12 long innings with a final score of 6-4.
Head coach Paula Congleton said the team’s resiliency, as well as a good amount of team chemistry and positive energy, allowed everyone to step in and fulfill their roles in order to pull out the win against the Cardinals.
Another feather in the cap of the Lobos was receiving not one but two Player of the Week awards from the Mountain West Conference for their performances in the Cardinal Classic. Howard was awarded Player of the Week for her notable stats, including having a .471 batting average, eight RBIs and hitting two home runs. Bramson was awarded Freshman of the Week for having a .353 batting average and a .368 on-base percentage and for batting in four runs.
The only losses for the Lobos came from ranked opponents the University of Alabama and the University of Arizona in the Candera Classic and Big East Conference competitor Creighton University in the Cardinal Classic.
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When asked about her pivotal at-bats in the past few games, Bramson said one of the biggest factors was knowing that she had the full support of her coaches and team.
“Especially in those key at-bats and those key hits, I was really just focusing on staying calm, trusting my swing, trusting myself and really just doing it for the team,” Bramson said.
Going into the Lobo Classic, several players and Congleton explained that while they were incredibly excited to finally be playing at home, the main focus for the team going into this weekend was going to be honing in on their own gameplay.
“I always refer to it as a pack and the wolf. And we're on the hunt. We're here to make those teams uncomfortable. And the more uncomfortable we make our opponents, the easier the kill and the win is for us,” Congleton said.
Shelby Kleinhans is the multimedia editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @BirdsNotReal99
