An early lead was not enough for New Mexico in game two against No. 23 Fresno State on Saturday as the Lobos fell to Fresno State 2-1.
Despite being up 2-1 heading into the sixth, UNM was unable to hold the slim lead, dropping the series against the Bulldogs.
“We battled throughout the whole game, but we have to play real clean. We can’t give them too much.” said head coach Erica Beach.
Fresno State’s Paige Gumz hit a stand-up double in the top of the second inning. Then with two outs Morgan Howe brought Gumz home before being tagged out at second base to put the Bulldogs up 1-0.
The Lobos responded in the third D’Andra DeFlora and Shelbie Franc both walked to get things going for New Mexico in the bottom of theinning.. Cheyenne Smith bunted and made it safely to first, loading the bases up for Michala Erickson.
Erickson hit a line drive up the middle for an RBI single, bringing home DeFlorafor New Mexico’s first run and tying the game up at 1 apiece.
Then Mariah Rimmer grounded out into a fielder’s choice but was still able to bring in Franc for the go ahead run giving the Lobos the early 2-1 lead.
With two outs in the top half of the sixth inning, Fresno State’s Lindsey Willmon doubled and scored off a Morgan Howe RBI single.
Then, pinch hitter Dominique Jackson hit a two run homer giving the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead.
Jill Compton came in for Fresno State pitcher, Kamalani Dung to hold the Lobos off for the remainder of the contest, garnering the save. The Bulldogs would add two more runs in the seventh but not much happened offensively for the Lobos, as they fell to 18-16 (3-5 MW) on the season.
Colette Robert (8-7) pitched her second consecutive complete game on Saturday. Throwing 115 pitches and allowing 6 runs off 12 hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout.
“We came out really strong today, but then after a few bad luck plays that didn’t go our way it just really took away from our momentum,” Robert said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
A couple of defensive miscues and a few bad bounces helped propel the Bulldogs past the Lobos late in Saturday’s game.
Howe’s single in the sixth floated past first baseman Karissa Halman’s head, which appeared to land on the foul line, as the umpires ruled a fair ball.
That play brought in Willmon home from second for the Bulldogs. Then, Katie Castellon scored off a wild pitch by Robert in the seventh inning.
“There were couple of miscues on defense and pitching, we made a couple of costly mistakes,” Beach said. “We just have to toughen up in some of those situations with runners on and make sure were getting the outs."
The Lobos will look to avoid the sweep on Sunday at noon at Lobo Softball Field.
Wally Gallart is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @wallyagallart.
