The UNM softball team opened its season with a tough three-game series against the Syracuse Orange and finished the weekend 1-2.
The Lobos won Friday's game 5-4 but dropped Saturday's 12-6 and Sunday's 9-8.
"This was a good weekend for us, but when we make our own mistakes, a good team is going to capitalize on them like Syracuse did," head coach Ty Singleton said.
It was a weekend of comebacks for the Orange: The Lobos jumped out to early leads in every game but could only manage to hold on for the win in extra innings in Game One.
In that game, senior Analise Rubalcava earned her first collegiate win. On Saturday, the Lobos took an early lead that held up until the third inning. The Orange tied the score and contained the Lobos, winning 12-6.
Sunday's game saw more of the same, as Syracuse faced freshman pitcher Danielle Castro. After a Shenise Cox double that emptied the bases and gave the Lobos an 8-4 lead, Syracuse once again finished strong and came out with 9-8 win. In just her second start as a freshman, Castro is gaining valuable experience.
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"This is huge for her," Singleton said. "If we can build on what she did today, we are going to be in a good place heading into the rest of the season."
In the top of the sixth of Sunday's game, Syracuse was able to knock in two runs, cutting the lead to 8-6, and then hold the Lobos scoreless in the bottom half of the inning. In the seventh, the Orange managed to get two runners on, which forced Castro to hand the pitching duties over to Rubalcava.
With Rubalcava in the game, Syracuse had more success, first loading the bases after Syracuse's Kelling was hit by a pitch. A passed ball gave them the opportunity to score and then to tie the game.
Cox said that the team needed to do a better job of holding onto the lead.
"When we are ahead we need to stay ahead, but we still played really hard and never gave up," she said.
With a young team that has only two seniors and 10 underclassmen and junior-college transfers, Singleton said getting the nerves out now is going to be a key to the rest of the season.
"There are those extra nerves going late in the ball game," Singleton said. "We just have to find a way to see that as an opportunity and not something we should be nervous about."
Softball at Texas-San Antonio
Friday
Waco, Texas
11 a.m.
