by ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— On a windy Friday night at Lobo Softball Field, The University of New Mexico fell to Nevada by the score of 7-1, with the Wolf Pack scoring six unanswered runs in the final three innings to take the opening game of the three-game series.
UNM had just two hits in the game on the bats of Lauren Wilmert and Aleyah Wilbon. The Lobos also had just two walks in the game with D’Andra DeFlora and Cameryn O’Grady earning their way on base through patience at the plate. O’Grady’s four-pitch walk would prove pivotal for the Lobos as O’Grady would score the only run in the game for UNM on a Wilmert hit and RBI.
Kiana Spencer (Navajo) threw 7 innings for her eighth complete game of the season, throwing 113 total pitches with 72 going for strikes, and facing a season-high 36 batters. For the second time this season, the left-hander recorded six strikeouts and walked just two batters, her fewest walks since allowing one against Colorado State in 4.0 innings of work on March 23.
Nevada was the first to score in the top of the third on a leadoff double that scored off of a single to right field, but like most games this season, the fourth inning belonged to UNM.
However, it was a defensive play that sparked the momentum for the Lobos.
Spencer started off the top of the fourth with a strikeout, her fourth of the game, before issuing a walk. The Lobos’ corners of Monica Salas at third and MacKenzie Peterson at first had the defensive play of the game with a lineout to third and a throw to Peterson at first, who went into a full-out stretch to complete the double play, just UNM’s fourth double play of the season.
