PORTALES, N.M. – Wrapping up its 10-game road trip Wednesday (April 2) in Portales, N.M., the New Mexico Highlands softball team (11-19) takes a break from Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play when it takes on Eastern New Mexico (9-27).
This will be the first non-conference game for the Cowgirls since sweeping Oklahoma State Panhandle on Feb. 19 in Las Vegas, N.M.
Live stats for game one will be located by clicking
here while live stats for game two will be located by clicking
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Going Streaking The Cowgirls have recently made a move up the RMAC standings – four spots in the last week – and currently sits just three games behind Regis for the final spot in the conference tournament. Of the three teams just sitting above Highlands in the standings, the Cowgirls host Western New Mexico (sitting ninth) for four games (April 18-19) and travel to Chadron, Neb., for a four game set (April 12-13) at Chadron State (sits ninth).
During the six-game winning streak, the Cowgirls are batting .350 and average just more than 10 hits a game. However, the interesting part is Highlands has only hit two home runs during that time. The Cowgirls are currently 12th in the country with an average of 1.13 home runs per game.
Individually, junior
Jessica Brink is 11-20 (.550) with five RBI's and four runs scored. Both Brink and junior
Jacquelyn Wood have a trio of complete game wins in the circle for the Cowgirls, giving up less than three runs a contest.
Scouting Eastern New Mexico In contrast to the Cowgirls, the Greyhounds are currently on a four-game losing streak. However, their nine wins in 2014 include a sweep of Oklahoma State Panhandle - which Highlands also swept - but also wins over Adams State, Colorado Mesa, Fort Lewis and CSU-Pueblo in single games, which the Cowgirls have lost to.
However, the Cowgirls must remain vigilant on the base path as Eastern New Mexico is 12th in the country with 0.53 double plays turned per game. Conversely, the Cowgirls have hit into 15 double plays (and four in their last six games) on the year.
The Greyhounds allow teams to hit .334 while only hitting .270 for the season themselves. Audrey Velasquez paces Eastern New Mexico with a .318 batting average with 34 hits in 107 at-bats. Cailin Garmon paces a pitching staff that goes five deep, holding a 5-13 record and one save and a 4.74 ERA in 93 innings of work. However, she can be wild as she has issued more walks (59) than has struck out (55) and has more than half of the team's wild pitches (25-of-42).
Next UpThe Cowgirls wrap up pod play this weekend when it hosts UC-Colorado Springs and Metro State for four games this weekend. Play begins Saturday (April 5) at 11 a.m. and Sunday (April 6) at 10 a.m.
