EL PASO, Texas – The UTEP softball team (5-6) travels to Albuquerque, N.M., to take on host New Mexico (6-3), Buffalo (3-2), Tarleton State (10-0), and North Dakota State (7-2) in the Lobo Classic Feb. 24-26.
Schedule
Thursday
vs. New Mexico – 4 p.m. MT | Stream: Mountain West Network | Live Stats
vs. Buffalo – 6:30 p.m. MT | Live Stats
Friday
vs. Tarleton State – 3 p.m. MT | Live Stats
Saturday
vs. North Dakota State – 10 a.m. MT | Live Stats
vs. Buffalo – 3 p.m. MT | Live Stats
"We are excited to take the field again this Thursday," head coach TJ Hubbard said. "It'll be another challenging tournament with very good competition. We learned a lot from the games this past weekend and are took the time to address those notes in practice this week."
In the Circle
Aalijah Alarcon (2-2) leads the squad with 23.2 innings in seven appearances and six starts, throwing two complete-game victories and earned one save.
- 1.69 ERA | 17 K's | 7 BB | 33 H | 16 of 21 runs allowed are earned
Zaylie Calderon has thrown 16.0 innings and has started in two of her six appearances.
Annika Litterio has thrown 12.0 innings with a 2.08 ERA and has started in three of her five appearances.
Notables
- Lexi Morales leads the squad with a .462 batting average and 12 hits. She's slugged .500 with a .576 on-base percentage and seven walks.
- Four Miners have hit a home run this season, Pate Cathey, Ajia Richard, Karina Somoza, and Cheyenne Stark.
- Cathey is tied with Morales with 13 total bases.
- The Miners are 7-for-8 in stolen bases as Savannah Favre leads 3-for-3 and Autumn Scott follows with 2-for-2.
New Mexico
- At 6-3 entering the Lobo Classic, the Lobos are off to the best start in program history since 2012, when the Lobos started 9-0. In the first two games of the 2022 season, the Lobos had two pitchers throw double-digit strikeouts and a near no-hitter. Through the first two weekends of the season, the Lobo pitching staff has a 2.15 ERA and has thrown three complete games and recorded a shutout. Besides leading with three home runs, Andres Howard leads the Lobos in batting average (.379), slugging percentage (.759), on-base percentage (.424), RBI (10), hits (11), runs scored (eight) and total bases (22).
- After meeting twice in 2019, the Miners and Lobos notched a win a piece with UTEP winning the most recent game, 7-1. Both teams have 11 wins in the overall series with the Lobos winning six of the last 10 games.
Buffalo
- The Bulls are 3-2 overall through their first weekend of play. The campaign is led at the plate by Madison Fernimen, who hit .429 with a .643 slugging percentage and .579 on-base percentage, and recorded six hits, five walks, three doubles and nine total bases. Alexis Lucyshyn recorded six RBI with a home run and a double and four total hits.
- UTEP leads the all-time series, 2-0, against Buffalo meeting only in 2007. The Miners shut-out the Bulls in their first meeting winning 5-0 and only allowed one run to the Bulls in the home matchup (21-1) the following week.
Tarleton State
- The Texans improved to 10-0 on the season with another perfect 5-0 tournament weekend, this time at home with the Whataburger Softball Invitational. The campaign is led by Brady Rowland who is hitting .429 with a 1.389 OPS, has three home runs and 12 RBI while having only struck out once. She leads the team with a .568 on-base percentage.
- UTEP is 0-1 against Tarleton with the lone meeting last season in Lubbock, Texas on day two of the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic. The Miners fell 6-4 as the Texans rallied past the Miners' 4-0 lead in the fifth with a 3-run homerun that tied up the game. Tarleton acquired two insurance runs the next two innings.
North Dakota State
- NDSU enters the Lobo Classic on a five-game win streak. On the season, the Bison have 33 doubles, two triples and six home runs. After two weeks, the Bison are tied for second in total extra-base hits (41). NDSU's 4.56 extra-base hits per game ranks first in the NCAA. Molly Gates is leading the Bison, hitting .469 with 15 hits and six doubles. She also has five walks leading to a .525 on base percentage.
- The Miners will take on the Bison for the first time in program history on Saturday.
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