New Mexico returns home, but will be challenged with a nationally ranked opponent as Fresno State comes into town.
After losing a series on the road to Nevada last weekend, the Lobos will play host to No. 23 Fresno State (24-9-, 6-0 MW) on Friday for the start of a three game home stand.
UNM’s offense will need to come alive against a competitive Bulldogs pitching staff highlighted by Jill Compton.
Compton is 14-4 with a 2.66 ERA. In her 17 starts, she has thrown 13 complete games with 75 strikeouts this season. The Bulldogs swept San Diego State this past weekend, and outscored Boise State 49-14 the last time they were on the road.
“This week’s series will be a big challenge for us, we have to play extremely well,” head coach Erica Beach said. “I’m confident and know we’re capable of competing against anyone. We have to show that we belong on the same field.”
New Mexico (18-14, 3-3 MW) will look to continue to pitch at a consistent level.
UNM will need to manufacture runs and score early on, as opportunities with runners on base and in scoring position will be hard to come by.
“Our offense will have to execute this weekend, we need to bring runners across the plate,” said Beach.
The Lobos rarely capitalized with runners on base the past weekend, as the club was only able to go 4-21 with runners in scoring positions against Nevada.
UNM dropped two out of three at Nevada this past weekend, losing the first two games and only managing to score one run in both losses. However, UNM was able to avoid the sweep by rallying late in the sixth and seventh innings of Sunday’s series finale, in a 3-2 victory.
Mariah Rimmer’s homerun in the sixth and Michala Erickson’s double in the seventh inning broke the Lobos bad luck spell at the plate against Nevada on Sunday.
The Lobos will look to play spoilers and ruin Fresno State’s perfect conference record this weekend. First game of this series will be Friday night at 6 p.m., the series will conclude on Sunday at noon.
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Wally Gallart is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @wallyagallart.
