The University of New Mexico baseball team suffered a rare loss as the team was
New Mexico (11-4) was almost no-hit in the game, picking up its lone hit in the seventh inning. Oklahoma State, the 23rd ranked team in the Baseball America poll, didn’t generate much more offense, but had enough to improve to 10-6 on the season with a hard-fought 3-0 win over the Lobos at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
Scoring opportunities were limited as both starting pitchers took no-hitters into the fifth inning. The Cowboys logged their first hit in the bottom of the fifth, but still couldn’t plate any runs, stranding two runners on the bags.
Head coach Ray Birmingham said the weather conditions had a lot to do with the lack of hitting and limited offensive output.
“The kids played well in an adverse situation,” Birmingham said in a release. “It was cold and the wind was blowing hard straight in from left center. It probably knocked down two or three homers.”
James Harrington pitched six scoreless innings for the Lobos, striking out four batters and allowing two hits to the 21 batters he faced.
With the game still tied 0-0, the Lobos finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning. Danny Collier drew a leadoff walk and third baseman Carl Stajduhar singled for the team’s only hit to put runners on first and second base with no outs.
But New Mexico was not able to capitalize, hitting into a double-play that took out the lead runner in the top of the seventh inning and grounding out to end the threat.
Oklahoma State did take advantage of its chances in the bottom half of the frame. Lobo reliever Brandon Langdon took the hill in the seventh and faced four batters, recording two strikeouts but also issuing two walks before exiting the game.
Cody Dye took over pitching duties with two out and two on in the bottom of the seventh. He gave up a single to Jon Littell, which scored the runner that was on second.
To make matters worse, junior Luis Gonzalez’ throw home bounced off Lobo
The earned run was charged to Langdon since he put the man on base, and also put him on the hook for the loss.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The Lobos went down in order in the eighth inning and dug a deeper hole after Oklahoma State’s Garrett Benge muscled a solo homer in the bottom half to make the score 3-0.
New Mexico drew another walk in the ninth and advanced the runner to second base, but again failed to convert with a man in scoring position. The team left four men on base in the game.
The 3-0 loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Lobos. The teams will meet up once more on Wednesday, Mar. 14 at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN Radio 101.7, The TEAM.
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
