A strong start by the New Mexico softball team wasn’t enough for the Lobos as they fell in five innings to Fresno State in game two of a three game set on Friday night at the Lobo Softball Field.
Freshman Alexis Ruel got the start for the Lobos in the game, and cruised through the first two innings, cutting down six straight Bulldogs to start the game. Offensively, the Lobos were off to a quick start, as Sydney Townes walked to lead off the game and was eventually brought home from second via a single from Chelsea Johnson to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead.
The Lobos added to that lead in the second as they put three more runs on the board, loading the bases before an out was recorded and chasing Fresno State starter Savannah McHellon from the game. Cameryn O’Grady walked to bring in the Lobos second run, and another single from Johnson brought home two more runs to give the Lobos a 4-0 lead.
From there, things began to fall apart in the circle for Ruel. She loaded the bases on a single and two walks before she was pulled in favor of Krissy Fortner, who gave up a hit to Miranda Rohleder that scored Fresno State’s first two runs and gave Fresno State some life. Katie Castellon followed her teammate with a three run home run to center field that gave Fresno a 5-4 lead, one they would not relinquish.
Fortner was quickly replaced for Marissa Bethke and officially, pitched zero innings, giving up two hits and two earned runs. Bethke didn’t fare much better, but was able to record two outs before giving up a two run home run to Vanessa Hernandez that gave the Bulldogs a 7-4 lead going into the bottom half of the inning.
It was more of the same for the Bulldogs in the fourth, as Ruel re-entered the circle and gave up five runs on four hits, including another home run. Going into the bottom half of the inning, the Lobos trailed 12-4. Fresno State added two more runs in the fifth to bring the score to 14-4 before the game was halted due to the eight run rule.
Samantha Mejia, who relieved McHellon, recorded the win for her four innings of two hit pitching. Fortner took the loss for the Lobos.
“As I said last night, they’re a good team and I knew today would be a tough game,” head coach Paula Congleton said. “Unfortunately, four runs is not going to win a game, not with what we have right now”.
“It’s important for our kids to understand that they have to play the whole game, you know in that third inning the energy completely shifted on us. At 7-4, that’s a close game. All we have to do is push a few more runs across and we’re pushing right back.”
The series will conclude on Saturday at noon with the series win on the line.
Cameron Goeldner is a sports beat reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer and softball, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
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