SILVER CITY, NM – Tarleton Softball has a new all-time run producer as Saturday marked a milestone for junior Nyka Wood, who became the school's all-time RBI leader while leading the TexAnns to a four-game sweep of Western New Mexico.
 
"Nyka has been steady since the day she stepped on campus," said head coach Mark Cumpian. "She has played the game the right way and has been a great leader. She has become one of the best hitters in NCAA Division II Softball and I'm so proud of her and what she's doing here at Tarleton."
 
"We had to battle today," he said about his team's performance Saturday. "Western New Mexico came out and played much better defense today. We did a good job of staying focused and barreling up the ball at the plate. Kayleigh and Jordan pitched really well. We did a good job of taking care of business, but now we need to turn our focus to our doubleheader with St. Edward's on Tuesday because that team is playing well right now."
   
Wood drove in the record-tying and record-setting RBI in each of her first two at bats of the game to give starting pitcher Kayleigh Williams all the run support she would need in a 6-0 shutout that pushed the Tarleton winning streak to five.
 
Tarleton got ultimately the only run it would need in the top of the first when Meghann Wrinkle singled and stole second before coming around to score on an RBI single from Wood, which tied Arianna Rodriguez atop the all-time RBI leaderboard at 149 runs driven in.
 
The 1-0 Tarleton lead held up over the first four innings before Wood stepped into the box in the fifth inning and doubled the lead with a two-out RBI single to plate Wrinkle again for her record-setting RBI and a 2-0 Tarleton lead. Avery Mullendore and Wrinkle broke the game wide open in the sixth inning when Mullendore plated a pair with a two-RBI double and Wrinkle answered with a two-RBI single two batters later to bring the game to its 6-0 score.
 
Meanwhile, Kayleigh Williams was dealing.
 
The junior right-hander threw her first career complete game shutout while allowing just five hits and two walks over her seven innings of work. Williams struck out two batters on the way to her fifth win of the season.
 
Wrinkle led the offense with her first career four-hit performance. The junior outfielder was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI while Wood also recorded a multi-hit day with two hits. Kadyn Kirkpatrick, Kaitlyn Thomas, Avery Mullendore, and Megan Durante each added one hit.
   
The offense kept right on rolling in the final game of the series, which counted as an in-region game only instead of a conference game, as Tarleton cruised to a 10-2 win in six innings, its sixth straight win, and a series sweep of the Mustangs.
 
Tarleton's new RBI leader cashed in first as the TexAnns put up a four spot in the opening frame, led by a two-RBI double to left center from Wood to bring home Quintanar and Wrinkle. Kirkpatrick brought home another run with a sacrifice fly before Mikayla Stogsdill capped off the inning with an RBI single to put Tarleton on top 4-0.
 
Wood added her final RBI of the game in the second inning when another RBI double brought Wrinkle around for a 5-0 advantage. Wood drove in 11 RBI in the series against Western New Mexico and pushed her season total to 52, which puts her three away from tying her career high (55) and six away from tying Monica Garza's 2004 single season record of 58.
 
After Western New Mexico struck for its only two runs of the game in the bottom of the second, Tarleton answered with two more of its own in the top of the third when Wrinkle drove home two runs with a triple to left center.
 
RBI singles from Flores and Stech and an RBI sacrifice fly from Avery Mullendore over each of the next three innings pushed Tarleton to double figures and qualified an early finish to the game.
 
Every Tarleton starter had a hit in the game as the offense pounded out 14 hits in the game, including three from Savannah Stech in a 3-for-4 game with two runs scored and one driven in. Wrinkle, Wood, and Flores each had two base hits while Quintanar, Durante, Kirkpatrick, Stogsdill, and Mullendore each had one hit. Durante's base hit extended her team high hitting streak to seven straight.
 
Jordan Withrow won her eighth game of the season with six innings of work, over which she allowed two runs on four hits.
 
Tarleton will travel to Austin Tuesday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against St. Edward's.