It was a bittersweet weekend for the Lobo softball team.
After a devastating losses on Friday afternoon, UNM was able to recover and sweep its first doubleheader of the season - just in time to bid farewell to five Lobo seniors.
UNM nearly shutout the UNLV Rebels on Sunday, but allowed two runs in the seventh inning of the first game for a 6-2, 3-0 win at Lobo Field.
Friday was a different story, as the San Diego State Aztecs came from behind to trounce the Lobos 7-4, 10-3.
Against the Aztecs on Friday, UNM built an early 4-1 lead in the first game, and sophomore starter Iraina Ogas went on to retire 11 batters in a row between the third and seventh innings. But in the top of the seventh disaster struck and Ogas allowed a hit that resulted in three scores. Senior Amy Dumas came in for relief, but gave up two unearned runs.
SDSU won game two with 10 runs off 12 hits, including five runs in the fourth inning.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"It's not that we didn't want it and its not that we didn't try," senior catcher Kim Korsak said. "It was just lots of focus and shutting the door when we were ahead."
But Korsak said her season at Lobo Field ultimately ended just as she hoped it would. In her last at bat in front of the home crowd, Korsak sent a bomb to center field for a single, which scored fellow senior Jen Sena.
"I knew I was going to get a hit that last at bat," Korsak said. "I didn't care if it was on the ground rolling, I was going to hit it."
Sabrina Sandberg, also a senior, got the scoring started for UNM with a triple to right center field that sent junior Cassie Chavez home in the second. One inning later, the Lobo offense exploded for four runs as sophomores Jamar Bynum and Stephanie Kennedy, junior Ashley Shartzer and Sena crossed home plate to give UNM an early 5-0 lead.
Neither Ogas, nor Dumas dwelled on the loss from the night before, and each limited the Rebels at bat. Dumas allowed no runs and five hits in the second game.
With one out in the seventh inning, Dumas caught a sharp fly ball and got it to first for the double play before the UNLV runner was able to get back to base.
Dumas, who is a league leader in pitching and holds a majority of UNM records, said she tries not to show emotion, but when she strikes out a batter swinging, its most gratifying.
"It feels so good," she said. "It puts a grin on your face even if it doesn't show physically, it's there emotionally."
The Lobos will wrap up Mountain West Conference action on the road, traveling to Brigham Young, Utah and Colorado State before the conference championships in mid-May in Fort Collins, Colo.
