It’s the same recycled storyline, devoid of plot and tension.
The downtrodden UNM softball team, 10-26 overall and 0-6 in the Mountain West Conference, was train-tracked 9-1 by Utah in a shortened, five-inning affair on Saturday at the UNM Softball Complex. Saturday’s game was preceded by Friday’s eventual 10-2 pasting, together bringing the Lobos’ number of run-ruled games to 12.
With two runners on base on Saturday, infielder Shaunte Duarte took a seat after a called strike three, an apropos ending embodying how the Lobos’ season has gone.
“We get runners on base,” Duarte said. “We get a little excited, hope for good things, and then just get shut down.”
So much for Lobo pitcher Samantha Gatson’s guarantee earlier in the season that the Lobos would win the MWC regular-season title.
Nothing has gone in UNM’s favor. Duarte’s last at-bat was representative of the season’s enduring theme.
In the bottom of the fifth, Duarte pulled the ball down the third-base line into foul territory. One pitch later, Duarte lifted a fastball toward the left-field line for a would-be three-run home run, only to see it sail wide off the foul pole. She struck out looking on the next pitch.
“Unfortunately that’s the way it goes,” Duarte said. “I thought it was fair but it kind of sliced at the end over the pole. If we get that fair, that definitely pumps up the team. We got three more runs on the board, and we’re no longer in a do-or-die situation for the last inning.”
What’s more, the Lobos couldn’t cuff Utah’s hitters, allowing the Utes a multi-run inning. In this case, they did most of their damage in the third inning. Whitney Holm’s three-run moon shot extended the Utes’ lead. Then, with the bases juiced, Utah’s Kara Foster got plunked by a Kari Gutierrez offering, forcing in a run. In all, Utah scored six runs in the third, bringing the score to 7-0.
And there’d be no patented, cinematic, game-on-the-line comeback.
The only thing remotely in doubt was whether Utah would hold the Lobos scoreless. That, though, was quickly answered.
In the bottom half of the inning, Lobo second baseman Cristin Anderson walked, before advancing to third on a single by Erin Brandow.
Cassandra Kalapsa, who went 1-for-3 from the dish, knocked a RBI-single, plating Anderson. But that signaled the end of the Lobos’ scoring, until Duarte stepped to the plate with runners in scoring position during the bottom of the fifth.
As maddening as the season has been, Kalapsa said the Lobos have amnesia when it comes to past struggles.
“We just try to keep our heads up and play in the moment — playing in the now,” she said. “Focusing on the past isn’t going to help us win.”
But by not focusing on the past, the Lobos have been doomed to repeat it, much to the chagrin of Lobo head coach Ty Singleton.
Even so, Kalapsa said Singleton has been patient with the team, choosing to foster positive dialogue rather than verbally showing up players. Still, after Saturday’s loss, the team ran laps around the field, before departing for the locker room. Singleton, who had to catch a flight, immediately left the field at game’s end.
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With 12 games left in the season, UNM still has an opportunity to surpass its win total from last season (13). By no means, however, do the players consider that a progressive step.
Other than self-dignity, Duarte said there’s not much to play for.
“We’re not playing for a Mountain West championship anymore,” she said. “We’re not playing for postseason. But we’re playing for ourselves and for our teammates.”
In other words, the Lobos aren’t living a movie.
