ALBUQUERQUE -- Senior Jodi Norton broke BYU's single-season home run record, as the Cougars (36-16, 12-2) swept New Mexico (18-21, 7-7) 4-1 and 7-4 Thursday.
BYU head coach Gordon Eakin has now led his team to 16 straight victories. The Cougars have hit a total of 77 homers on the season and have hit at least one home run in 16 straight games.
"These girls have tremendous character," Eakin said. "They never quit. The wins feel good, but it feels better to be associated with these players."
As has been the case for most of the season's late run, a BYU home run began scoring. It was sophomore Andrea Ramirez going long in the top of the second to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Freshman Angeline Quiocho gave BYU a two-run lead in the third. After stealing third base, her 13th stolen base of the season, senior Jennifer Whiteley hit a sacrifice fly to right field bringing Quiocho home.
The Cougars got their third run in the fourth inning when an Emi Snow lead-off double was followed by a Dani Urincho-Snow single to left field two batters later. Urincho-Snow's hit drove in her sister-in-law from third. BYU put a stamp on the game in the seventh where Quiocho went up to bat with runners at the corners and no outs. Quiocho singled to left field, scoring pinch-runner Jana Anderson. The Lobos scored an unearned run in the sixth for the 4-1 final.
Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week Christie Zinanti picked up her team-best 16th win. Zinanti struck out six in her 14th complete game of the year.
In game two, New Mexico took a 2-0 lead behind two solo home runs by Amy Ray in the first inning and Ashley Allen in the second. An unearned run in the fourth gave the Cougars a 3-0 deficit heading into the fifth.
With the team's 15-game winning streak in jeopardy, senior Jodi Norton hit her 22nd home run of the season. The two-run shot to center field gave Norton BYU's all-time single season record in home runs and cut the Lobos lead down to one.
The Cougars' second leading home run hitter, Snow, went to bat next and took care of that. The junior from Mililani, Hawaii cranked her 13th of the year to left field to make it a 3-3 ballgame.
New Mexico regained the lead in the bottom of the order when a fielding error allowed Ray to give the Lobos the 4-3 advantage. However, BYU was not quite ready to have its winning streak snapped. With runners in scoring position senior Cortney Nix-Clark grounded out to short, but Tracee Hoch scored on the play. Whiteley then doubled down the left field line bringing in Quiocho for the game-winning run. In the seventh inning, Urincho-Snow drove Anderson in, and Hoch drove Stephanie Platt in for the 7-4 final.
"We talked in the fourth about how they weren't going to give it to us," Eakin said. "We had to earn it. We made the right adjustments at the plate and just got the snowball going."
Next up for BYU is a visit to Fort Collins, Colorado where the team will face conference-foe Colorado State for a weekend series. Friday's game is slated to begin at 3 p.m. (MST), while Saturday's game will start at noon.
BYU at New Mexico (Game 1)
May 03, 2007 at Albuquerque, NM (Lobo Field)
BYU 4 (35-16,11-2)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cortney Nix-Clark c...... 3 0 0 0 1 0 6 2 0
Jennifer Whiteley lf..... 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 2
Jodi Norton ss........... 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 1
Emi Snow rf.............. 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Andrea Ramirez dp........ 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
Daniela Urincho 1b....... 3 0 2 1 0 0 6 1 0
Jana Anderson pr........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tracee Hoch 2b........... 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 1 0
Angeline Quiocho 3b...... 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0
Monica Gonzales cf....... 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Christie Zinanti p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Totals................... 25 4 7 4 2 5 21 11 4
New Mexico 1 (18-20,7-6)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Samantha Hughes cf....... 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0
Analise Rubalcava 3b..... 1 1 1 0 3 0 1 3 0
Amy Ray 2b............... 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 4
Lindsey Elcess 1b........ 3 0 0 0 0 1 9 1 1
Jennifer Deitrich pr.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Katie Gilmore ss......... 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 0
Becky Dover dp........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
Ashley Allen c........... 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0
Sara Loeffelholz lf...... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Ryanne Hodgins rf........ 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Kelly Ninemire p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 24 1 4 1 5 6 21 9 8
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 011 100 1 - 4 7 1
New Mexico.......... 000 001 0 - 1 4 0
-----------------------------------------
E - ZINANTI. DP - Lobos 1. LOB - BYU 4; Lobos 8. 2B - SNOW; URINCHO. HR -
RAMIREZ. HBP - RAY. SH - GONZALES. SF - WHITELEY. SB - QUIOCHO. CS - HUGHES.
BYU IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Christie Zinanti.... 7.0 4 1 0 5 6 24 30
New Mexico IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Kelly Ninemire...... 7.0 7 4 4 2 5 25 29
Win - ZINANTI (16-6). Loss - NINEMIRE (12-11). Save - None.
HBP - by ZINANTI (RAY).
Umpires -
Start: 12:00 PM Time: 1:57 Attendance: 295
Game notes:
ID-517406
Game: BY-NM3
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 011 100 1 - 4 7 1
New Mexico.......... 000 001 0 - 1 4 0
-----------------------------------------
BYU starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 8/ss NORTON; 18/rf SNOW; 31/dp
RAMIREZ; 22/1b URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 33/3b QUIOCHO; 24/cf GONZALES; 14/p ZINANTI;
New Mexico starters: 4/cf HUGHES; 2/3b RUBALCAVA; 8/2b RAY; 20/1b ELCESS; 24/ss
GILMORE; 44/dp DOVER; 1/c ALLEN; 12/lf LOEFFELHOLZ; 13/rf HODGINS; 9/p
NINEMIRE;
BYU 1st - NIX-CLARK popped up to p. WHITELEY grounded out to 3b. NORTON
struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 1st - HUGHES struck out swinging. RUBALCAVA walked. RAY
struck out swinging. ELCESS popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
BYU 2nd - SNOW grounded out to ss. RAMIREZ homered to right center, RBI.
URINCHO grounded out to ss. HOCH flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
New Mexico 2nd - GILMORE singled to right field. DOVER popped up to 2b.
ALLEN reached on a fielder's choice to shortstop; GILMORE out at second ss to
2b. LOEFFELHOLZ flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - QUIOCHO walked. GONZALES out at first 1b to 2b, SAC, bunt;
QUIOCHO advanced to second. NIX-CLARK walked. QUIOCHO stole third. WHITELEY
flied out to rf, SF, RBI; NIX-CLARK advanced to second; QUIOCHO scored. NORTON
grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 3rd - HODGINS struck out looking. HUGHES singled to center
field. HUGHES out at second c to ss, caught stealing. RUBALCAVA walked. RAY
struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - SNOW doubled to left field. RAMIREZ grounded out to 2b; SNOW
advanced to third. URINCHO singled to left field, RBI; SNOW scored. HOCH lined
into double play 3b to 1b; URINCHO out on the play. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
New Mexico 4th - ELCESS struck out swinging. GILMORE walked. DOVER
popped up to ss. GILMORE out at second c to 1b to ss to 1b to 2b, picked off.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 5th - QUIOCHO struck out looking. GONZALES grounded out to 3b.
NIX-CLARK flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 5th - ALLEN flied out to lf. LOEFFELHOLZ grounded out to 2b.
HODGINS grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 6th - WHITELEY struck out looking. NORTON struck out swinging. SNOW
singled through the left side. RAMIREZ struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 6th - HUGHES grounded out to 3b. RUBALCAVA singled through
the left side. RAY hit by pitch; RUBALCAVA advanced to second. ELCESS reached
on a fielder's choice to pitcher; RAY advanced to second; RUBALCAVA advanced to
third on a throwing error by p. DEITRICH pinch ran for ELCESS. GILMORE grounded
out to p, RBI; DEITRICH advanced to second; RAY advanced to third; RUBALCAVA
scored, unearned. DOVER struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2
LOB.
BYU 7th - ELCESS to 1b for DEITRICH. URINCHO doubled to center field.
ANDERSON pinch ran for URINCHO. HOCH singled down the lf line; ANDERSON
advanced to third. QUIOCHO singled to left field, RBI; HOCH advanced to second;
ANDERSON scored. GONZALES flied out to cf. NIX-CLARK grounded out to 1b
unassisted; QUIOCHO advanced to second; HOCH advanced to third. WHITELEY
grounded out to ss. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
New Mexico 7th - URINCHO to 1b for ANDERSON. ALLEN walked. LOEFFELHOLZ
flied out to cf. HODGINS singled down the lf line; ALLEN advanced to second.
HUGHES grounded out to p; HODGINS advanced to second; ALLEN advanced to third.
RUBALCAVA walked. RAY grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3
LOB.
BYU at New Mexico (Game 2)
May 03, 2007 at Albuquerque, NM (Lobo Field)
BYU 7 (36-16,12-2)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cortney Nix-Clark c...... 4 0 0 1 1 1 4 3 2
Jennifer Whiteley lf..... 4 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 0
Jodi Norton ss........... 4 1 1 2 0 1 4 0 3
Emi Snow rf.............. 4 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 1
Andrea Ramirez dp........ 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
Jana Anderson pr........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Daniela Urincho 1b....... 3 0 1 1 1 2 4 1 1
Stephanie Platt pr...... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tracee Hoch 2b........... 4 1 0 0 0 1 3 1 0
Angeline Quiocho 3b...... 4 1 2 1 0 1 1 2 2
Monica Gonzales cf....... 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Christina Gwyn p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Christie Zinanti p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 32 7 10 7 4 7 20 9 9
New Mexico 4 (18-21,7-7)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Samantha Hughes cf....... 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0
Analise Rubalcava 3b..... 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 2
Amy Ray 2b............... 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0
Lindsey Elcess 1b........ 2 0 1 0 2 0 7 0 0
Jennifer Deitrich pr.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Katie Gilmore ss......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 3 0
Becky Dover dp........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Ashley Allen lf.......... 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 3
Sara Loeffelholz lf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Erin Brandow c........... 1 0 0 0 2 1 6 1 0
CARTER pr............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ryanne Hodgins rf........ 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Caley Peterson p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kelly Ninemire p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 23 4 5 3 6 4 21 8 7
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 032 2 - 7 10 3
New Mexico.......... 110 110 0 - 4 5 2
-----------------------------------------
Note: 2 outs, 0 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - NORTON; HOCH 2; RUBALCAVA; PETERSON. LOB - BYU 9; Lobos 7. 2B - WHITELEY
2; RAMIREZ; URINCHO. HR - NORTON; SNOW; RAY; ALLEN. SH - GONZALES; DOVER;
HODGINS. CS - RUBALCAVA.
BYU IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Christina Gwyn...... 4.0 4 4 3 5 2 16 21
Christie Zinanti.... 2.2 1 0 0 1 2 7 10
New Mexico IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Caley Peterson...... 4.2 4 3 0 3 6 19 22
Kelly Ninemire...... 2.1 6 4 2 1 1 13 15
Win - ZINANTI (17-6). Loss - NINEMIRE (12-12). Save - None.
Umpires -
Start: 2:30 Time: 2:15 Attendance: 305
Game notes:
ID-517408
GWYN faced 1 batter in the 5th.
Game: NM-BY4
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 032 2 - 7 10 3
New Mexico.......... 110 110 0 - 4 5 2
-----------------------------------------
BYU starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 8/ss NORTON; 18/rf SNOW; 31/dp
RAMIREZ; 22/1b URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 33/3b QUIOCHO; 24/cf GONZALES; 11/p GWYN;
New Mexico starters: 4/cf HUGHES; 2/3b RUBALCAVA; 8/2b RAY; 20/1b ELCESS; 24/ss
GILMORE; 44/dp DOVER; 1/lf ALLEN; 16/c BRANDOW; 13/rf HODGINS; 11/p PETERSON;
BYU 1st - NIX-CLARK struck out swinging. WHITELEY doubled down the rf
line. NORTON struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. SNOW flied out to cf.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 1st - HUGHES flied out to cf. RUBALCAVA flied out to lf. RAY
homered to left field, RBI. ELCESS walked. GILMORE singled through the right
side; ELCESS advanced to second. DOVER fouled out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 2nd - RAMIREZ flied out to lf. URINCHO struck out swinging. HOCH
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 2nd - ALLEN homered to left field, RBI. BRANDOW struck out
looking. HODGINS grounded out to 1b unassisted. HUGHES walked. RUBALCAVA struck
out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - QUIOCHO struck out looking. GONZALES lined out to 3b.
NIX-CLARK walked. WHITELEY singled to left field; NIX-CLARK advanced to second.
NORTON grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
New Mexico 3rd - RAY grounded out to 3b. ELCESS walked. GILMORE reached
on an error by ss; ELCESS advanced to second. DEITRICH pinch ran for ELCESS.
DOVER flied out to rf; GILMORE advanced to second; DEITRICH advanced to third.
ALLEN grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 4th - ELCESS to 1b for DEITRICH. SNOW flied out to cf. RAMIREZ
walked. URINCHO walked; RAMIREZ advanced to second. HOCH grounded out to 3b;
URINCHO advanced to second; RAMIREZ advanced to third. QUIOCHO popped up to ss.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
New Mexico 4th - BRANDOW walked. CARTER pinch ran for BRANDOW. HODGINS
reached on a fielder's choice to third base; CARTER out at second 3b to 2b.
HUGHES reached on an error by 2b, out at second 1b to ss; HODGINS scored,
unearned. RUBALCAVA walked. RUBALCAVA out at second c to ss, caught stealing.
1 run, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
BYU 5th - BRANDOW to c for CARTER. GONZALES struck out looking.
NIX-CLARK grounded out to 3b. WHITELEY reached on an error by p. NORTON homered
to center field, 2 RBI, unearned; WHITELEY scored, unearned. SNOW homered to
left field, RBI, unearned. NINEMIRE to p for PETERSON. RAMIREZ walked. URINCHO
struck out looking. 3 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 5th - RAY singled to right field. ZINANTI to p for GWYN.
ELCESS singled to right center; RAY advanced to third. GILMORE reached on an
error by 2b, RBI; ELCESS advanced to second; RAY scored. DOVER out at first p
to 2b, SAC, bunt; GILMORE advanced to second; ELCESS advanced to third. ELCESS
out at home c to ss, picked off. ALLEN struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 1
error, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - HOCH reached on an error by 3b. QUIOCHO singled to second
base; HOCH advanced to second. GONZALES out at first 3b to 2b, SAC, bunt;
QUIOCHO advanced to second; HOCH advanced to third. LOEFFELHOLZ to lf for
ALLEN. NIX-CLARK grounded out to ss, RBI; QUIOCHO advanced to third; HOCH
scored, unearned. WHITELEY doubled down the lf line, RBI; QUIOCHO scored,
unearned. NORTON grounded out to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 6th - BRANDOW walked. HODGINS out at first c to 2b, SAC,
bunt; BRANDOW advanced to second. HUGHES struck out swinging. RUBALCAVA
grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 7th - SNOW grounded out to p. RAMIREZ doubled to left field.
ANDERSON pinch ran for RAMIREZ. URINCHO doubled to right center, RBI; ANDERSON
scored. PLATT pinch ran for URINCHO. HOCH popped up to ss. QUIOCHO singled down
the rf line, RBI; PLATT scored. GONZALES singled to left field; QUIOCHO
advanced to second. NIX-CLARK popped up to 3b. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
New Mexico 7th - RAMIREZ to dp for ANDERSON. URINCHO to 1b for PLATT.
RAY popped up to ss. ELCESS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.