Baseball: Lobos flex muscles, blasting six homers to take second win over Binghamton

Lobo baseball struck early and often in game two of a three-game weekend series against Binghamton on Saturday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field.

New Mexico (2-0) cranked out six home runs and used some solid pitching and timely defense in the infield to cruise to a 10-4 victory over Binghamton (0-2).

First baseman Jack Zoellner accounted for three of those homers as he went 3-for-4 from the plate. And Carson Schneider pitched his way out of some early trouble, going five innings strong and striking out four batters to earn the win.

New Mexico left the bases loaded in the first inning, but Andre Vigil got the Lobos on the board first with a solo homerun.

Binghamton threatened in the top half of the third inning, but New Mexico kept a hard-hit ground ball in the infield to escape unscathed.

The Lobos capitalized on a leadoff double and subsequent single as Zoellner went yard for the first time in the game to make the score 4-0 after three innings of play.

Binghamton pulled starting pitcher Jacob Wloczewski after the fourth, but New Mexico didn’t seem to care who was on the mound.

UNM also plated three in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 7-0 after right-hander Ben Anderson entered the game. Carl Stajduhar and Zoellner both sent the ball over the fence, a two-run blast and another solo shot, respectively.

Zoellner completed the trifecta, touching up Anderson for another home run the following inning. His third homer of the day brought home two more men, giving him six RBI.

Lobo pitcher James Harrington appeared to find his stride in the seventh inning, retiring three batters on just seven pitches. UNM’s Andre Pratt tacked on another insurance run via the long ball to take a commanding 10-0 advantage into the eighth inning.

But Harrington ran into trouble in the eighth. He allowed a pair of singles and a walk to give Binghamton its best scoring chance of the game. Pitcher Cody Dye inherited a mess with the bases loaded and just one out.

The Bearcats took advantage, as the next batter singled to bring in a run. A fielding error allowed two more runners to score in the next at-bat and cut the lead to 10-3.

Dye induced a couple of ground balls, allowing one more run to cross the plate before quelling the threat.

Drew Gillespie came in to close things out in the ninth inning. He quickly rung up the first two batters to put the pressure on the Bearcats. After allowing a single, he recorded his third strikeout of the inning to preserve the 10-4 win.

The two schools will square off again Sunday at 1 p.m. in the final game of the series as the Lobos eye a sweep.

Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.