Who's afraid of the big bad Lobo? Howard strikes fear in hearts of pitchers

Apr. 30—Paula Congleton owes Nevada softball coach Linda Garza $7.

It was well worth it to the University of New Mexico softball coach.

Last Sunday in Reno, Congleton moved her senior star slugger Andrea Howard up to the leadoff position because opposing Mountain West coaches have apparently seen enough of Howard swinging the bat.

The Lobo center fielder is leading or among the league leaders in home runs, batting average, RBIs and basically every offensive category you can think of, which led to a string of six games — three vs. Fresno State and three vs. Nevada — in which Howard had 23 plate appearances and was walked 18 times.

Of those, 16 were intentional walks.

Of her five plate appearances in those six games, Howard homered twice.

Garza intentionally walked Howard anyway to start the game.

A frustrated Congleton, standing near the Wolfpack dugout in the third base coach's box, pleaded to Garza.

"I was like, 'Let my kid play this game,' " Garza said of what she told Garza.

" 'Stop doing that. I know you want to win, but can't you win on your own merit versus taking one of my kids out of the game?' "

Two innings later, whether it was the exchange between the two head coaches or not, Nevada pitched to Howard.

On the first pitch Howard saw, she launched a home run to right field that landed easily 30 feet beyond the 220-foot right field wall.

Did Congleton look at Garza?

"Yes I did. She was like, 'That just cost me $7 for the ball.' " Congleton said.

Yes, Mountain West Conference coaches who are giving Howard the treatment afforded Major League Baseball home run career leader Barry Bonds in years past are now well aware of what Albuquerque has known for at least a decade.

Andrea Howard can crush a softball.

Upcoming this summer, after all, is the 10-year anniversary of Howard and her Eastdale Little League teammates winning the 2012 Little League World Series.

And it was five years ago when Howard and her La Cueva High School teammates capped a perfect 28-0 Class 6A state championship season.

Since then, the senior center fielder has been doing her thing for the Lobos, for whom she's been an all-league performer. She also became an Olympian last summer for Team Italy. And this year, she has been as scary a hitter as there is in the league.

And it's all about to come to an end in the next couple weeks.

"This is it. Right now, I'm not planning to play softball after this year," Howard told the Journal on Friday.

"I think I'm ready to hang up my cleats and continue to focus on my medical career."

The Lobos lost 11-1 on Friday at home in the opener of a three-game series (Howard was 1-for-2 with no walks). They host the Rebels Saturday afternoon and Sunday, then play at Boise State next week. To finish the season, and Howard's softball career, UNM is home May 12-14 vs. San Diego State.

It was the April 14-16 home series vs. Fresno State that started to concern Howard how the season might end.

In 11 plate appearances in the series, Fresno State coach Stacy May-Johnson intentionally walked Howard nine times. In the two official at-bats, Howard was 1-for-2 with a home run.

"She changes the dynamic of the lineup and makes the hitters around her better," May-Johnson told the Journal. "... Every time she comes to the plate, she forces her opponent to decide if they are willing to take the risk of giving up a home run."

For Howard, staying patient has been a challenge.

"Yeah, it gets frustrating at times," Howard said. "I love hitting. But whenever that happens, I just have to think to myself that I can only control what I can control."

She's certainly handled the things in her control quite well through the years.

She will be graduating with two degrees from UNM next month and plans to apply for medical school next year.

Last fall, just months after new laws allowed for college athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness and retain their playing eligibility, Howard was in prime position to capitalize on her recent Olympic experience last summerin Tokyo by hosting a softball clinic of her own.

Instead, she helped coordinate a camp at UNM on Oct. 17 with 100% of the proceeds going to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

"She has been the guiding light of motivation, self discipline, optimism, poise under stress, her focus, her athletic ability, and just being the best teammate a team could want," Congleton said. "So, for me, she's established herself as one of the greatest players to ever play UNM softball. And her impact on our program will be long lasting."

Such praise is appreciated by Howard, though it's rare to hear her talk much about herself or her playing.

As it comes to an end, she is starting to reflect on it all.

"I put a lot of hard work into the sport and especially for UNM," Howard said. "So I just hope that can kind of resonate with my teammates and how they (the coaching staff) are able to coach younger players coming in, and that work ethic can stay here throughout the years."

Saturday

—Softball: UNLV at UNM, 3 p.m., themw.com (streaming)

—Triple-A baseball: Sacramento at Albuquerque, 6:35 p.m., 610 AM/95.9 FM.

Andrea Howard

—UNM senior centerfielder

—Lobos career home run leader

—Olympian for Team Italy in 2021

—State champion at La Cueva High

—Member of the 2012 Eastdale team that won the Little League World Series '

Howard's season (Mountain West rank/NCAA rank)

—Batting average: .415 (2/39)

—Home runs: 16 (1/t15)

—RBIs: 48 (2/19)

—Walks: 39 (1/5)

—On-base: .552 (1/t13)

—Slugging: .919 (1/8)

—OPS: 1.471 (1/not kept)

Howard's 6 games before Friday's opener vs. UNLV:

—23 plate appearances

—2-for-5 (.400)

—18 walks — 16 intentional

—2 homers

—8 runs

—5 RBIs