Baseball: Lobos perfect in MW play after completing a three-game sweep of San Jose State

The Lobo baseball team may have racked up fewer hits than San Jose State on Sunday afternoon, but they were still able to scrounge up a win.

New Mexico took home an 8-3 victory in its final chapter of a three-game series with the San Jose State Spartans, completing the sweep to improve its record to 11-3 overall and an unblemished 6-0 in the Mountain West.

Meanwhile, after losing three straight to the Lobos, the Spartans have dropped to 6-8 on the season with a 2-4 record in conference play.

UNM was uncharacteristically outhit in the game, as the Spartan bats put plenty of balls in play. But they weren't able to translate those hits into runs, scoring just three times on 15 hits for the game.

New Mexico was very efficient as a team, converting 14 hits into eight runs, with redshirt junior Danny Collier doing much of the damage. Collier collected three hits in his five plate appearances, batting in two runs and scoring twice as well.

In a rare occurrence, junior Luis Gonzalez wasn't able to collect a single hit on Sunday, going 0-for-2 from the plate, though he did rack up one run and one RBI as part of his efforts.

Gonzalez also helped out his team by contributing on the mound. He pitched five strong innings. He allowed 10 hits, but surrendered just two runs.

But Gonzalez didn't get the win. Instead, it was freshman Justin Slaten (2-0) – who came in as relief – that added another win to his record.

In Slaten’s time on the mound – which spanned through part of the sixth and through part of the eighth inning – he allowed one run on four hits and struck out three SJSU batters. The Lobos also made an offensive push during that stint, with a five-run inning in the sixth.

Similarly to Saturday’s game, the Spartans were able to score first on an RBI single in the top of the second inning.

The Lobos weren't able to score in the bottom of the frame, but did go on to register their first score of the game off a Collier solo home run in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game up a one run apiece.

UNM grabbed its first lead later in the same inning, when first baseman Jack Zoellner hit an RBI-double to make the score 2-1.

Neither team was able to mount enough offense to get a runner home until the sixth inning. San Jose State tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI single. But the Lobos made a pitching change and brought Slaten to the mound, who got UNM out of the jam without any further damage.

He struck out two batters in the inning, something head coach Ray Birmingham said he believed was a defining moment in the game for Slaten and the Lobos.

“That was a big moment right there,” Birmingham said. “Justin [Slaten] came in and got the job done. He did that for us at Air Force last weekend as well.”

The Lobos unleashed an offensive explosion in the bottom half of the frame, scoring five huge runs to take a 7-2 advantage.

The Spartans mustered a run in the top of the seventh inning, cutting the Lobo lead to four runs, but couldn’t get any closer.

Senior Andre Vigil knocked home another run in the eighth inning with an RBI triple to put UNM up 8-3, which ended up being the final score in the game.

Collier said he was pleased with the individual performance, as well as that of the team overall during the sweep over San Jose State.

“Any time you can get a conference sweep it is incredible,” Collier said. “Especially last weekend getting one on the road at Air Force. That was pretty clutch. Then we were able to come home in front of our fans and do it.”

Up next for the Lobos is a two-game series at Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Mar. 14 and Wednesday, Mar. 15.

Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz