“Define the moment, or the moment will define you” is something Danielle Castro’s father always tells her.
Castro chose to define it Saturday afternoon. The junior first baseman hit a two-out, two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that gave the UNM softball a rare 3-2 over BYU at Lobo Field. UNM hadn’t beat BYU at home since 2003.
“A win is awesome against BYU, knowing that it’s our last game against them,” Castro said. “And we were on TV and hadn’t beaten BYU in a really long time — it’s just the most amazing feeling ever.”
Down 2-1 in the seventh, Kerry Hodgins hit an infield single. BYU sent in sophomore Hannah Howell, and she recorded a strikeout before being replaced by Paige Affleck.
Castro knocked Affleck’s second pitch out of the ballpark.
“My favorite pitch is usually a little high and a little in, so that’s exactly what she threw me,” Castro said. “And honestly, when it came in, it looked like a beach ball, and I just drilled it.”
Lobo head coach Erica Beach said she wasn’t surprised Castro came through in the clutch.
“I was confident, and she’s in the four spot for a reason,” she said. “She’s our clean-up hitter because she is one of the best hitters on our team.”
UNM starting pitcher Kaela DeBroeck said she, too, saw the home run coming.
“I’m not going to lie,” she said. “In my head, I definitely called that shot.”
The Cougars, who had won 27 of their last 29 games, including 11 straight, struggled with DeBroeck on the mound. DeBroeck pitched a complete.
For most of the game, it was a pitching duel between DeBroeck and Affleck. Affleck pitched a combined 13 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and recording 11 strikeouts. Coming into Saturday’s game, she was 2-0 against the Lobos this season. On Sunday, the Lobos had eight hits off her, but missed out on opportunities to score runs.
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UNM stranded eight runners on base.
Regardless, Beach said, UNM came through when it mattered.
“I was actually really proud of our offense for putting people on base that much,” she said. “We needed that. We didn’t have that before.”
