SILVER CITY, N.M. – Senior weekend awaits the Western New Mexico University softball team as they look to continue to try and make the RMAC Tournament field when they host in-state rival New Mexico Highlands University.
The Lady Mustangs sit seventh in the RMAC standings with eight regular season games remaining. The top eight teams make the field. WNMU is 19-24 overall and 16-16 in the conference.
WNMU remains one of the top hitting teams in the RMAC holding a .328 team batting average.
Mariangela Garcia (Tucson, AZ/Desert View) leads the way with a .431 average, along with 11 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 31 RBI. Senior
Stephanie Higgins (Escondido, CA/Mission Hills High School) is also over .400 with a .417 to go along with a team-high 15 doubles, nine home runs and 43 RBI.
Mary Othon (Tucson, AZ/Desert View High School) is right behind Higgins in most of the offensive categories as she holds a .393 average with nine doubles, seven home runs and 36 RBI. Both Higgins and Othon had a triple each as well.
Davi Martin (Silver City, NM/Silver City) (.350),
Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) (.338) and
Thailyza Ramirez (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) (.314) are all over .300. WNMU as a team has hit 73 doubles, 12 triples and 34 long balls.
In the circle,
Mikayla Austin (Florence, AZ/Florence ) has lowered her ERA to 5.03, as she also leads the team in wins (10), complete games (8) and strikeouts (112). She is tied with
MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) in innings pitched as both have tossed 117.
MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) has a 5.98 ERA along with five victories, three complete games and leads in appearances with 34, as both have started a team-high 16 games.
WNMU is in the top-five in the RMAC in terms of batting average, double plays per game (.28), doubles per game (1.70), fielding percentage (94.4), home runs per game (.79), on-base percentage (.389), scoring (6.12), slugging percentage (.492) and triples per game (.28). Nationally they rank in the top-50 in batting average (37
th), doubles per game (27
th), scoring (48
th) and slugging percentage (36
th).
Individually, several rank inside the top-100. Garcia is 71
st in batting average, good for fourth in the RMAC. Higgins in 76
th in home runs, fifth in the RMAC, 35
th in RBI, fourth in the RMAC. Ramirez is 76
th in RBI, eighth in the RMAC and Othon is 99
th. Othon is 66
th in RBI per game, eighth in the RMAC and Higgins is 84
th. Ramirez is 43
rd in sacrifice flies (3), sixth in the RMAC.
Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) is 95
th in sacrifice hits, sixth in the RMAC. Austin and
MaryJo Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) are tied for 10
th in saves with three apiece, which leads the RMAC. Higgins is 76
th in slugging percentage, fifth in the RMAC. Austin is 64
th in strikeouts, third in the RMAC and 91
st in strikeouts per game (6.7), third in the RMAC.
Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) is 65
th in toughest to strikeout, third in the RMAC, Martin is 75
th, fourth in the RMAC, while
Alicia Enriquez (Gilbert, AZ/Mesquite) is fifth in the RMAC.
Linzy Granger (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad) is also ranked 61
st in triples, eighth in the RMAC.
The Cowgirls are 16-24 overall and 10-17 in the RMAC, currently 11
th in the standings, but just a game-and-a-half back of Chadron State in eighth. They split this past weekend at home against Chadron State winning the first two games, before dropping the final two on Sunday.
NMHU hits .310 as a team led by Gabby Hansell hitting .406. They have four other players hitting at least .324. They have also hit the long ball this season with 30 as a squad. Katelyn Bates leads the team in home runs (8) and RBI (36).
In the circle, Jessica Brink has a 4.27 ERA with nine wins and 114.2 innings pitched. Michelle Brincefield adds a 5.23 ERA with five wins and 80.1 innings pitched. WNMU took all four games last year in Las Vegas.
Seniors
Stephanie Higgins (Escondido, CA/Mission Hills High School) and academic senior
Mary Othon (Tucson, AZ/Desert View High School) will be honored after the games on Sunday. Othon is a redshirt junior on the field, but is a senior in the classroom and will be graduating this spring. Higgins hit for over .300 in every season as a Lady Mustang and was named to the First-Team All-RMAC academic team as a junior. She was named to the All-RMAC Second-Team academic and All-RMAC Third-Team as a sophomore. Othon was named to the All-RMAC Third-Team as a redshirt freshman. For their careers, Higgins has 22 home runs and 126 RBI, while Othon has 20 home runs and 97 RBI.
WNMU and NMHU will open their four game series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon. Live stats will be available for all games.
