HOBBS, N.M. — The Lady Mustangs wrapped up their weekend series against Louisiana Christian on Saturday, falling 5–2 in the series finale at home.
After playing a doubleheader on Friday, the Mustangs returned to the field for a single, seven-inning contest to close the series. Southwest continued to fight throughout the game but was unable to overcome the Wildcats' early scoring.
Louisiana Christian jumped out to an early lead with a run in the first inning and added two more in the second to go ahead 3–0. Southwest pitchers Jazmynn Hernandez and Cali Saldana worked through traffic and kept the Mustangs within striking distance as the game settled into the middle innings.
Southwest broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Dalaney Utajara ignited the rally by reaching base, and Danali Garces followed with an RBI double to center field to score Utajara and put the Mustangs on the board.
The Wildcats responded with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend the lead, but Southwest answered again in the bottom of the sixth. Utajara reached base for the second time and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Chloe Corral, cutting the deficit to 5–2.
Southwest threatened again later in the inning, loading the bases with two outs, but Louisiana Christian escaped the jam to maintain the three-run lead. The Wildcats closed out the game with a scoreless seventh inning to secure the win.
Utajara finished the game scoring both Southwest runs, while Garces drove in a run with her double. Elexes Martinez and Andrea Contreras each added hits as the Mustangs collected four on the day.
In the circle, Hernandez pitched 5.2 innings, allowing five runs while battling through multiple innings of pressure, and Saldana provided 1.1 innings of scoreless relief to finish the game.
Head Coach Chris Petroski
"We had our opportunities to score runs, but couldn't produce enough when we had runners in scoring position. The game plan is to go back to the drawing board and find ways to keep fighting for runs."
Southwest concludes the series and will head to the University of Texas Permian Basin for a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday.
