The Lobo softball team cleaned house this weekend and improved to 23-14 with a sweep of intrastate rival New Mexico State 2-0, 4-1 Saturday at Lobo Field.
Senior outfielder Sabrina Sandberg led UNM at the plate in game one, going 2-3 and sending a home run sailing over the centerfield wall in the fourth inning for the Lobos' second score.
UNM first got on the board when sophomore Jamar Bynum led off the game with a single and scored off another single from freshman right fielder Robyn Hutson.
Senior Amy Dumas pitched the first game for the Lobos and gave up only eight hits - three of which were off the bat of NMSU's Lindsay Hainzinger.
Dumas shut out the Aggies in six innings, posting seven strikeouts. Relief pitcher sophomore Iraina Ogas closed out and was on the mound for all of game two.
UNM head coach Kim Newbern said she was not exactly pleased with UNM's hitting performance against the Aggies. But she added when the Lobos are not having a particularly strong offensive game, they make up for it with their defense.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"Really, it was defense and pitching that helped us," Newbern said. "Our team does a good job of stepping up our defense when we're not hitting well."
The defense continued its sharp play in the second game, as the Aggies got only three batters up to the plate in the first inning.
But UNM wouldn't do much better in the first, as the Aggie fielders made quick work of UNM's outfielder Ryanne Hodgins, third baseman Stephanie Kennedy, Ogas and right fielder Hutson.
Jennifer Bride pitched for NMSU in the first game, and Lindsay Ashley pitched in the second. Ashley was relieved by Stephanie Carrasco in the fourth inning.
"Their pitchers did a good job keeping us off balance," Newburn said. "They work their change in very nicely, and we have to adjust to that."
The Aggies scored off a UNM pitcher for the first time this season when Hainzinger singled to send in Veronica Owens in the top of the third.
The Lobos would get all of their runs in the fourth inning off power-hitting Ogas. Ogas had only one hit in the second game, but it was a grandslam that shot over the centerfield fence, which put the Lobos up 4-1. She brought home Hodgins, Kennedy and pinch-runner Jen Sena.
The Aggies managed seven hits with no errors against Ogas, and the Lobos had six hits with only one error.
Newbern noted Ogas' endurace as Saturday was her third day in a row on the mound. Ogas also threw against Texas Tech and UTEP.
"She obviously had some stellar hitting for us today," Newbern said. "But she was a little tired and not as sharp as she usually is."
The Lobos will enjoy a week of rest before heading to Denton, Texas for the Wells Fargo Classic, where they will face Harvard, Northern Colorado and North Texas this weekend.
The Lobos will return to Lobo Field on April 3, when they host Colorado State.
