Aggies overwhelm the bases for the win

Like a Halley’s comet sighting, a win for the UNM softball team is a rare occurrence.

But in a game that went the distance — all seven innings — the Lobos turned in a less-than meteoric finish, tailing off like a falling star in the speckled horizon. As a result, UNM fell 12-3 to New Mexico State at the UNM Softball Complex on Tuesday, marking its 13th consecutive loss.

The Lobos are now 10-27 overall, falling for the fourth straight time to the Aggies.

Head coach Ty Singleton said ensuring his team doesn’t quit when it has nothing to play for is his prime focus this late in the year.
“The thing I would say right now is … what’s your integrity?” he said. “Are you going to continue to play the way you said you were going to play? Our guiding principles are a team-first attitude. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to do it with enthusiasm, and we’re going to be determined. I thought they did all those things tonight.”

Through four innings, the score was tied at three apiece. The Lobos even briefly led, knocking in three runs in the bottom of the second inning and held a 3-2 advantage.
But things quickly unraveled.

To start the fifth, the Aggies stocked the bases with runners, as Kandis Jones reached on a blooper. Then, Lobo pitcher Kaela DeBroeck was involved in a back-and-forth duel with NMSU’s Hoku Nohara. But it ended dismally for DeBroeck. With a full count, and after a 10-pitch affair, Nohara rocketed DeBroeck’s offering toward the celestial sky for a three-run home run. It was Nohara’s second home run of the day, and she finished 3-for-3 from the plate with seven RBIs and two walks.

On the next at-bat DeBroeck gave up a solo homer to Ashley Maroda, signaling the end of her night. Kari Gutierrez came in to relieve DeBroeck.
“One miss, and she hits it out,” Singleton deadpanned. “It’s a pretty simple story. I don’t know that we’ve held anybody under eight runs in weeks. It’s really hard to win a ball game when you’re going to win a ball game.”

Actually, the last time the Lobos held an opponent under eight runs was on April 9 — a 7-2 loss to Mountain West Conference foe San Diego State. DeBroeck, meanwhile, went four innings, while facing 23 batters and allowing seven runs on nine hits, none more crippling than the back-to-back home runs off the bats of Nohara and Maroda.

All season long, pitching has been a microcosm of the Lobos’ struggles. They have just three pitchers on staff, one of which is a redshirt freshman, the other a true freshman while Samantha Gatson is a sophomore.

Still, DeBroeck, while pointing out their youth, didn’t excuse how the staff has pitched as a whole.
“I don’t think it’s really a factor. As a whole team, we need to get things done,” DeBroeck said. “We got three pretty unique pitchers. We hit all the different styles. We just need to put them together.”

Avoiding opponents’ big innings has been problematic for UNM, DeBroeck said. If not for a four-run fifth and a five-run seventh, the Lobos have a better shot to win the game.

But that’s the way the ball has rolled, DeBroeck said.
“It’s just been one of those years. You can’t pinpoint things,” she said. “You just have to learn how to throw to different batters.”