Hobbs, NM - The University of the Southwest Softball team opened up their conference season over the weekend against Our Lady of the Lake University. The Lady Mustangs dropped the series 2-1 taking Game 3. 

GAME 1 (OLLU 9 - USW 0)

Game 1 of the series was very sloppy for our Lady Mustangs as the defense or offense could not back up starting pitcher Gabby Heckmann. Heckmann was in a pitchers dual with OLLU's Cierra Martinez as both sides held scoreless innings until an errant throw in the 3rd inning with 2 outs allowed OLLU to score their first run. OLLU would pick up 3 more runs in the 4th and 5 more runs in the 6th to go up 9-0.

The offense was almost non existent as the Lady Mustangs struck out 7 times at the plate and could only produce 2 hits in the game. 

The Lady Mustangs would drop Game 1, 9-0 in 6 innings. 

GAME 2 ( OLLU 8 - USW 4)

After a quiet game at the plate in Game 1, the Lady Mustangs came out swinging in Game 2. Right off the bat the Lady Mustangs put up 2 runs in the 1st inning with a double by Sarena Maynez followed by a triple by Madylin Matthys, her 4th of the season, and a single by Monika Madrid. OLLU would tie it in the 2nd inning and take the lead in the top half of the 3rd to lead 4-2.

In the bottom half of the inning, Maynez and Matthys would once again lead the rally on back-to-back singles followed by a 2 RBI double by Heckmann. With the score now tied 4-4, OLLU would respond with 4 runs of their own in the 5th inning, with 3 of those runs coming off a homerun. 

The Lady Mustangs bats stayed hot the rest of the game, but they could not string enough hits together and would leave 6 runners on base in the final 3 innings. They would drop the game 8-4 despite busting out 10 hits for the game.

Sarena Maynez was 3-4 with 2 runs scored. Madylin Matthys was 4-4 with a double, a triple, an RBI and 2 runs scored.
 
GAME 3 ( USW 5 - OLLU 4)

Heckmann got the start once again for the Lady Mustangs in the series finale. She pitched a complete game and got the win, but not without the Lady Mustangs making it a little interesting. 

The Lady Mustangs determined to take the series finale after a heartbreaking lost in Game 2. They took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning after taking advantage of two walks to lead of the inning. Chelsea Carroll singled to load the bases for the Lady Mustangs. Then after a force out at the plate, Heckmann hit a deep sac-fly to left field to score Matthys for the 1st run of the game. Madison Rosenthal would come up an single to left field and score Carroll for to take a 2-0 lead. 

In the top half of the 5th inning OLLU would string together a couple base hits and scorch a double to tie the game up at 2-all. The Lady Mustangs would respond with some runs of their own in the bottom half. Monika Madrid would start off the inning with a single and advance to second on a ground ball. Heckmann would bloop a single into right and advance Madrid to 3rd. Rosenthal would come up a stroke a line drive single to center field for her second RBI of the game. Heckmann and Rosenthal would advance to 2nd and 3rd on the next play on a slow grounder to 3rd. A bobble by OLLU's first-baseman would allow Heckmann to score on the next play. With the Lady Mustangs already sitting at a 4-2 lead with runners on 1st and 3rd, Sarena Maynez singled up the middle to give the Lady Mustangs a 5-2 lead and just enough cushion for them to withstand a nail biting 7th inning. 

In the 7th inning, OLLU would start off with three straight singles. An error on the next play would cut into the Lady Mustangs lead, 5-3, with still no outs. The next batter would ground out to 3rd base giving the Lady Mustangs a little more room to breathe, but an infield single on the next play would attract some nerves. With one out and bases loaded still, Heckmann kept her composure. She would get the final two batters to fly out to 3rd and center field to secure the win 5-4. 

Heckmann picked up her 3rd win of the season with this win over OLLU. Madison Rosenthal had a nice day at the plate going 2-3 with 2 RBIs.

NEXT UP

The Lady Mustangs have their first road trip of the year this weekend as they travel to Louisiana to take on conference foe LSUA in a 3-game series. They will play a double-header Friday starting at 4 PM followed by Game 2. Saturday they will conclude the series with a single game at 11 AM. They will then continue their road trip and travel to Texarkana for another conference series against Texas A&M Texarkana on Sunday and Monday. That series is a make-up which was originally scheduled for Feb. 22-23.