By Hailey Smith
BYU softball heads into the Mountain West Conference tournament championship in fifth place, following two wins and two losses on the road.
After sweeping Colorado State in a double header in Fort Collins on Thursday May 2, the team hoped to advance to third place, but a double loss to the New Mexico Lobos in New Mexico on Saturday May 4 ended the Cougars regular season at 29-21 overall and 6-10 in the conference.
In game one, freshman second baseman Milli Jones scored the game''s only run off a sacrifice fly by Lauren Watson in the fourth inning. Freshman pitcher Niki Anderson struck out five, and gave up only three hits.
Game two had the Cougars trailing 1-0 heading into the sixth, when sophomore outfielder Oli Keohohou hit her 18th home run of the season to left center. Watson scored the game''s final run after two costly errors by the Rams, ending the game at 2-0. BYU ended the day at 29-19, 6-8, while Colorado dropped to 17-29, 4-13.
BYU and UNM had split their first series this season on April 6th, and UNM was in fifth place in the conference at 15- 27, 7-10, going into Saturday. Game one saw the Lobos leading 4-0 in the second inning, when the Cougars scored runs in the third and fourth innings.
A run by New Mexico in the fourth increased its lead to 5-2, but in the fifth inning BYU scored two runs and pulled within one. Lobos'' sophomore shortstop Sabrina Sandberg''s second home run of the game opened up New Mexico''s lead to 8-4.
The Cougars made a strong final effort with three runs in the seventh, but the rally wasn''t enough to recover. New Mexico won the game 8-7.
In game two, the Lobos had a 3-0 lead going into the sixth inning when the Cougars once again pulled within one run by scoring two in the top of the inning. UNM later answered with three runs, and won the game 6-2.
'We''re looking to starting our 2nd season, the post season, this weekend at home. We need to play consistently in both hitting and pitching,' coach Mary Kay Amicone said.
The MWC Championship will be at Gail Miller Park in Provo, May 9-11.