Baseball: Lobos lose third straight game, falling 2-1 to Cal State Fullerton

Pitching was the prowess in Friday evening’s game between the University of New Mexico and Cal State Fullerton.

But, despite a strong effort by the Lobos, they fell to the Titans, 2-1, at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California.

Despite another loss on the ledger, head coach Ray Birmingham said he was pleased with his team’s performance, especially that of his starting pitcher Tyler Stevens and his team’s best hitter Luis Gonzalez.

“That was a very competitive college baseball game,” Birmingham said in a press release. “Stevens pitched as good as anybody in the country and Luis Gonzalez was a superstar out there. Tough loss, but I saw a team get after it. The Lobo fight was there. Fullerton’s arms are for real, though.”

In Stevens’ time on the mound – which spanned seven innings – he allowed three hits and two runs, but was able to strike out eight CSU Fullerton batters. Stevens picked up the Loss, which has his record on the mound at 2-2 on the season.

On the night, CSU Fullerton was only able to grab those three hits on Stevens, but the Lobos were able to produce four hits total.

Gonzalez led the way, going 2-for-4 at the plate, with one run. Both Danny Collier and Jared Mang were able to produce one hit apiece, too, for UNM, but Collier also racked up an RBI.

Stevens was dominant early on, retiring the first 12 batters he faced, before eventually allowing a runner on base in the bottom of the fifth inning by way of catcher’s interference. With that call and that runner on base, CSU Fullerton was able to work its way throughout the inning, eventually scoring that same runner on an RBI double to grab ahold of the 1-0 lead.

But that lead didn't last long, as Gonzalez – who led off the top of the sixth inning – was able to muster a triple off of the left field wall. After reaching third, Gonzalez was eventually scored by a Collier RBI double to tie the game up at one point apiece. However, that's all that UNM would get in the inning.

The Titans weren't able to score in the bottom of the frame, but they did get things going in the seventh. CSU Fullerton’s Taylor Bryant led off the inning with a double, reached third on a sacrifice bunt by Hank LoForte and then eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to right field, which eventually put up the Titans 2-1.

The Lobos had their chances in the eighth and ninth innings but weren't able to get things going on offense, eventually losing the game 2-1.

New Mexico will still have two more cracks against Cal State Fullerton to break up a three-game losing streak. Those games will be broadcasted live 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