Two heavyweights stood toe-to-toe and traded shots all the way into the final round, but the slugfest didn’t occur in a boxing ring, rather on a baseball diamond in Dallas, Texas.
New Mexico (4-1) made it to the final bell and emerged as the winner, outlasting No. 23 Dallas Baptist (4-2) to take a 6-5 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Lobos landed the first blow, scoring in the top half of the first inning. UNM’s Luis Gonzalez laid down a bunt to the third base side to open the game and advanced to second base after a throwing error by DBU pitcher Trevor Conn.
With one out, outfielder Danny Collier brought Gonzalez home with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead. Left-handed pitcher Carson Schneider got off to a hot start, ending the first with a strikeout and sitting down the first three batters of the game.
But Dallas Baptist took round two. Conn needed just seven pitches in the inning to retire the Lobos side and the Patriots took advantage in the bottom half of the frame.
Dallas Baptist got two men on after getting hit by a pitch and hitting a double. Schneider exacerbated the problem by issuing a full-count walk to load the bases with just one out.
The Patriots tied the score after tagging up on a foul ball hit to the rightfield side, but the Lobos were able to limit the damage to just one run and get out of the inning.
Both pitchers saw short work in the third inning, as just one base runner found the bag on a leadoff bunt.
In the fourth inning, the Lobos landed a couple of clean shots. Collier hit a one-out double and scored when Carl Stajduhar singled by driving the ball right up the middle.
UNM took a 2-0 lead, but first baseman Jack Zoellner hit into a double play, ending the Lobo half of the inning.
DBU answered back in eerily similar fashion, wasting no time in doing so. The Patriots also hit a one-out double after putting the leadoff man on base. Another base hit brought home one run, but Schneider induced a double play of his own to get out of the fourth inning with the score tied 2-2.
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The Lobos exploded in the fifth ending, rocking its opponent and chasing the starting pitcher out of the game.
Senior outfielder Andre Vigil blasted a two-run shot over the fence to put the Lobos up 4-2 and the team looked to break the game wide open later in the inning.
With Beau Capanna on first and Danny Herrera on second base, Gonzalez doubled to right field, but Herrera was thrown out at the plate to record the first out of the fifth.
The Lobos tacked on another run when all runners were safe after a fielding error in the next at-bat, which ended the day for Conn.
Cody Weaver entered the game and recorded an out before walking the bases loaded. But the Lobos missed out on the opportunity to add more runs to the scoreboard, stranding all three runners.
The action slowed as the bats went quiet over the next several innings as the Lobos maintained a 5-2 edge through seven innings as Brandon Langan took the mound in relief of Schneider after he issued a leadoff walk.
In the eighth inning, it was Langan who allowed the lead man to reach base and Drew Gillespie entered to handle pitching duties. But Gillespie hit the first batter he faced, putting another man on base.
Dallas Baptist advanced the base runner from second to third on a flyout and got aggressive, attempting to steal second base. The gamble paid off as the Patriots got an unearned run after the Lobos made an error trying to throw the man out.
Gillespie responded by striking out the next batter, but the problems continued as a passed ball gave the Patriots third base as part of a four-pitch walk that put runners on the corners.
Justin Slaten came on as the third Lobo pitcher of the inning. He surrendered a single, but forced a groundout to end the threat and get out of the eighth inning with New Mexico still up 5-4.
The Lobos made one last flurry in the ninth, as Vigil plated another run off the bat of Gonzalez, who singled him home with one out.
The Lobos had a chance for a bigger cushion, but struck out and flew out to leave two more men on base. Still, UNM entered the bottom of the ninth with a 6-4 advantage.
Dallas Baptist knew it needed a knockout to win, and came out swinging, getting to Lobo closer Chris Tripp early. The Patriots touched him up for a leadoff single and promptly stole second base.
DBU third baseman Matt Duce doubled home his teammate to make it a one-run game again and represented the potential tying run with nobody out.
But then, Tripp seemed to lock in.
He struck out the next batter to alleviate some of the pressure and received even more breathing room in the next at-bat.
New Mexico, still clinging to a 6-5 lead, not only recorded the second out of the inning on a groundball hit to short, but managed to hold the base runner at second as well.
In a situation where base hit would have likely tied the score, Tripp was able to force a fly ball to right field that allowed the Lobos to hang on and preserve the victory.
The win avenged Friday’s loss to Houston Baptist and evened things up in the three-game series. The rubber match will take place Sunday at noon with the game being aired on ESPN Radio, 101.7 The Team.
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.
