ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Utah State softball (19-33, 7-16 MW) began its final series of the season with a 12-6 loss to New Mexico Thursday night at Lobo Softball Field in Albuquerque 

The Aggies got down early in this one, giving up four runs to the Lobos in the first inning. USU got on the board in the second with a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Jaelyn Castillo to score freshman infielder Jazmin Ramirez from third. The hosts then countered with four more runs in the bottom of the second to pull ahead 8-1. 

USU's biggest scoring inning came in the fourth, when it got three runs on the board. A lead-off home run for freshman infielder Kate Vance started the scoring, followed shortly after by a two-run dinger for sophomore outfielder Faith Kroening. After the Lobos scored one in the bottom of the fourth, the Aggies scored another in the fifth on a groundout RBI for Castillo. 

New Mexico scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning to pull ahead 12-5. The final run of the day for the Aggies came on a single up the middle by Castillo, her third RBI of the contest. 

The Aggies finished the game with nine hits to New Mexico's 11. Leading the way at the plate for USU were Kroening, Ramirez and Vance, who each had two hits. 

In the pitching circle, the Aggies used four arms. Freshman Kendall Cochran started and earned the first two outs before being relieved by senior Carly Limosnero, who took the next two outs. Senior Sydney Saldaña threw the majority of the pitches, going for 3.1 innings, before freshman Jordyn Lish went the rest of the way. 

UP NEXT
Utah State (19-33, 7-16 MW) will play part two of the three-game series against New Mexico tomorrow in Albuquerque, beginning at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on Mountain West Network. 

For more information on the Utah State softball program, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUSoftball, on Facebook at USUSoftball and on Instagram at ususoftball.

- USU -