The University of New Mexico softball team suffered a string of tough losses after Utah State University swept the Lobos in a three-game series from Friday, March 25 to Sunday, March 27 at the Lobo Softball Field in Albuquerque. While the Lobos still have a solid record of 20-12 overall, they have had a rough start to their conference season and are sitting at 1-5 after playing San José State and Utah State.
The Lobos almost out-hit Utah State in Friday's game 7-8 and managed to out-hit them 11-7 during Saturday’s game, but Sunday’s game was another story. The Aggies out-hit the Lobos 12-6 and run-ruled the Lobos in the sixth inning. Offensively, Andrea Howard and Ashley Archuleta stood out from the pack in the series.
Coming off a tough 4-5 loss Friday night against Utah State, the Lobos couldn’t seem to shake off their nerves by the time Saturday’s game started. Right off the bat, the Aggies bunted the first pitch Emma Guindon threw and advanced to second base due to a Lobos throwing error. The Aggies managed to get the runner to home, but Guindon stopped them from scoring more than one run.
The Lobos answered back with a successful bunt of their own, thanks to Peyton Robinson, and Taryn Young’s infield single allowed Robinson to cross home plate and tie the game 1-1.
The second inning saw the Lobos show off their athleticism in an incredible double play. First baseman Reyan Tuck picked the ball, threw it to Ashley Archuleta on second to get the lead runner out and Archuleta threw it back to Tuck in time to get the out at first. Unfortunately for the Lobos, the Aggies also turned a double play in the bottom of the second, although a far less impressive one. Neither team scored for the inning.
The 1-1 tie lasted until the fifth inning when the Lobos started to gain some momentum with hits from Archuleta, Howard and Young, with Archuleta scoring the elusive second run, making the score 2-1. The audience came alive and even started stomping on the bleachers to send some of their energy to the team, but the Lobos couldn’t add another run in the inning.
Amber Linton stepped onto the mound for the Lobos in the sixth inning and only allowed one hit. But the Aggies rallied in the top of the seventh inning, putting three runs on the board off three hits, taking the lead and making it a 4-2 ballgame. The Lobos tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh, but after Diamond Sandoval’s line-drive hit on Aggie pitcher Jessica Stewart, the Aggies dugout became loud and aggressive, cheering their teammates on to help bring a swift end to the inning and the game.
Ironically, the game was a special “Bark in the Park” event where fans were encouraged to bring their dogs to watch the game. Instead, they ended up watching the Lobos get put in the doghouse.
Sunday’s game started off more promising for the Lobos. In the first inning, Linton recovered from a passed ball that let the Aggies score by throwing a strikeout to end the inning. The Lobos answered back with a double from Robinson and a single from Archuleta that evened the score to 1-1.
But what started out as a back-and-forth competition slowly became a game dominated by the Aggies, who pulled ahead quickly, leaving the Lobos in the dust for the rest of the game. The Aggies added two runs to their score in the top of the third and one run in the top of the fourth while the Lobos were unable to answer back, making the score 4-2.
The Aggies extended their lead in the top of the fifth with four additional runs, thanks in part to two Lobos fielding errors and a passed ball. The Lobos got a bit of energy back when Robinson bunted right in front of home plate and a throwing error by the Aggies catcher put her on third. The Lobos added on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth after an Archuleta single led Robinson to score and a program record 40th home run by Howard, bringing the score to 8-4.
The Aggies quickly put the Lobos to bed shortly after this with an additional five runs in the top of the sixth, resulting in a run-rule win for the Aggies of 13-4 after the Lobos failed to put any runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning.
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Despite the weight of the loss, UNM head coach Paula Congleton expressed how proud she was of Howard’s home run achievement and that she was happy such a “phenomenal human being” could celebrate that at a home game. Regarding her team’s performance, she said she was a bit surprised at the outcome but took it all in stride.
”All good teams go through some valleys to reach the peak. And so we really feel like (Sunday’s game) was very uncharacteristic of what our team usually does,” Congleton said.
The Lobos will try to bounce back against Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah for a three-game series March 31-April 1. Conference play will resume April 8-10 with a series against Colorado State University, and the Lobos will play at home again for a series against Fresno State April 14-16.
Shelby Kleinhans is the multimedia editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @BirdsNotReal99
