The softball team has a serious chip on its shoulder heading into MWC action.
The Lobos were picked to finish fourth out of five teams in the preseason poll, but sophomore second baseman Chelsea Anaya said the team thrives on a come-from-behind, never-say-die mentality.
“We’ve been the underdogs all year,” she said. “No one has taken us seriously and a lot of teams have overlooked us. We’re ready to surprise some people and show the Mountain West Conference what we’ve got.”
UNM opens its conference schedule against league-leading San Diego State in a three-game series this weekend at Lobo Field. The first game in that series is tonight at 6 p.m.
Last year, the Aztecs swept the Lobos by scores of 8-0, 6-3 and 2-1.
UNM is a completely different team than last season. At 24-13 on the year, the Lobos have been in and out of the top-25 polls this year — the only ranked Mountain West school.
“Going into conference, we have to leave behind all of our wins and losses,” junior pitcher Kaela DeBroeck said. “We start over at 0-0. It’s a brand new season for us. We just have to go out there and prove ourselves all over again.”
With wins over top-25 teams Oregon and Texas A&M this season, and having gone toe-to-toe with national powerhouses such as Texas Tech, University of Arizona and University of Texas, UNM challenged itself with its nonconference scheduling.
Head coach Erika Beach said the fierce competition her team has faced this year was all in preparation for conference.
“Right now is do-or-die time for us,” she said. “We know that we’re going to have to go out and compete each and every game if we want to win conference. There are no easy games. Every game is going to be a fight.”
This weekend’s three-game series against SDSU will showcase the Lobos’ hard-hitting offense against the Aztecs’ hard-throwing pitching.
UNM leads the country in home runs per game. The Lobos have slammed 66 dingers this year, led by junior shortstop Stefanie Carramusa’s 16, senior catcher Jessica Garcia’s 15 and senior right fielder Shenise Cox’s 12.
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The Lobo offense also tops the conference in nearly every offensive statistical category, including hits, runs, RBIs and batting average.
UNM’s bats will need to stay red-hot against the arms of the Aztecs’ Rebecca Arbino and Bailey Micetich, who boast MW-leading 2.2 and 2.21 earned-run averages, respectively.
“We’ll need to put together a complete game,” Anaya said. “We’ll need our pitching, our offense, our defense — everything — to come together if we want to come away with three wins.”
A Mountain West title — and an automatic postseason bid to the NCAA tournament — hangs in the balance.
“I’m confident of the work we’ve done so far this season,” Beach said. “I think our strength of schedule and our wins will help us secure an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. But I’d much rather just win conference and keep the guessing work out of it.”
Softball vs San Diego State
April 20, 6P.M.
Lobo Field
