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Red shirt senior Colton Thimpson pitches against a Nevada batter Thursday afternoon at Sanra Ana Star Field. In the Lobos first game of the Mountain West Championship, they beat Nevada 3-0. 

Red shirt senior Colton Thimpson pitches against a Nevada batter Thursday afternoon at Sanra Ana Star Field. In the Lobos first game of the Mountain West Championship, they beat Nevada 3-0. 

Baseball: Lobos take down Wolfpack behind Thomson's gem

Colton Thomson said he wanted to give his team seven quality innings to put New Mexico in a position to win.

The senior lefty did much more than that.

Thomson chose UNM’s first appearance in the 2016 Mountain West Baseball Championships to throw his first career complete game, a shutout nonetheless.

His career day would not stop there as the southpaw also fanned nine batters, tying Thomson’s career best. UNM’s first game starter allowed just five batters to reach base on three hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

“Honestly, it was just another night at the ballpark, that’s the way you’ve got to take it,” Thomson said. “You can’t let the adrenaline get too much of you and that’s the way I took it.”

While Thomson certainly was dominant, he had some major help in the field. Senior Dalton Bowers had a phenomenal grab on a line-drive shot that had the looks of getting through the middle to save a hit. Luis Gonzalez also snagged away a base-hit on his sliding grab in centerfield in the bottom of the fifth.

“I can’t complain about anything,” Thomson said after the game. “We had a team deal tonight.”

Head coach Ray Birmingham said the key to Thomson’s success was the fact that he could throw all three of his pitches for strikes and was able to keep the ball down in the zone. While the head coach commented on the remarkable plays his defense made, he said it’s easier to do when someone is in a groove on the hill.

“There were some good plays behind him, but that’s easy to do when a guy’s pitching,” Birmingham said.

The Lobos started the contest off threatening with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Chris DeVito put the game’s first run on the board with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to keep runners on the corners and just one out.

After a Jack Zoellner walk, the bases were juiced, Jared Mang hit a weak grounder to for a 6-4-3 inning ending double play to end the Lobo attack.

UNM’s offense wasn’t done there after Gonzalez plated Austin Bell and Andrew Pratt with a high bouncing single up the middle.

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After that, there was not much offense left to be had. Both pitchers got into their respected grooves and not another run was scored.

Nevada’s Trevor Charpie threw six quality innings, but was snagged with the loss after giving up three runs on five hits, five walks, and seven strikeouts on 122 pitches.

When asked if Birmingham thought the three runs at the beginning of Thursday night’s contest would be enough, the head coach said the inexperience in the batting order was a concern.

“I knew it would have to be with so many underclassmen in the lineup,” Birmingham said. “The field is mostly covered with underclassmen.”

The three runs were more than enough, and UNM will now take on Air Force Friday night. The Falcons and Lobos are the only two undefeated teams left.

“You never know with Air Force because they can swing ‘em,” Birmingham said. “It’s going to be a tough one.”

First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m.

Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.

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