A potent late inning offense in Thursday's series opener at Santa Ana Star Field was all the University of New Mexico baseball team needed to secure a win.
A strong sixth inning, which saw the Lobos (19-13-1, 11-2-1 MW) score six runs -- both scored in three runs a piece off of key hits -- tallied the final score in favor of the home team, 15-7.
The game didn't play out into the Lobos' favor early on and, instead, saw a tight-knit game throughout five innings, before UNM grabbed the lead and never looked back in the bottom of the fifth.
Missouri State (21-12, 6-0 Missouri Valley Conference) got off to a hot start on offense, scoring two runs in the first inning. After starting pitcher for the Lobos, James Harrington, walked the first opposing batter, the Bears ran with it. First, a fielding error brought in a Missouri State runner from second, and towards the end of the inning, an RBI single scored the away team's second run to take a quick 2-0 lead.
UNM didn't shy away on offense. Lead off batter Danny Collier was immediately hit by a pitch and a single courtesy of Jared Mang put two Lobos on base with no outs. Luis Gonzalez, however, played to the tune of a sacrifice play and grounded out to the Bears' third baseman and put Collier and Mang on third and second base. From there, a Carl Stajduhar RBI groundout and an Andre Pratt RBI single tied the game up 2-2.
Again the Lobos exploded on offense, but this time in the bottom of the third inning. Mang, who led off the inning, reached first on a single, and Gonzalez followed with a double, putting two runners in scoring position. Another Stajduhar groundout RBI scored Mang, and a Hayden Schilling RBI single scored Gonzalez. Jack Zoellner got on base via walk, and scored towards the end of the inning on a Beau Capanna RBI double to put the Lobos up 5-2 early on.
The Bears quickly responded in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs of its own with the inning being highlighted by a two shot home run on the second at-bat to tie the game up at five runs apiece.
Mang singled in the bottom of the frame, but that's the only offense the Lobos produced in the inning.
Missouri State tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth inning, but UNM responded in the bottom of the frame with three runs of its own to take an 8-7 lead.
After reliever Chad Smith allowed a Missouri State single to start off the sixth inning, he was quickly replaced by Brandon Langan who closed out the inning.
But again UNM saw an offensive explosion in the bottom of the frame, though this time it proved to distance the Lobos further from its opponent. The Lobos scored six runs in the frame, highlighted by a three RBI triple from Capanna and a three RBI double from Mang to give the Lobos a 14-7 lead.
The Lobos held Missouri State scoreless in the seventh, while scoring two more runs of its own to take a 16-7 lead.
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The Bears scored a run in the eighth inning, but reliever Austin Wendt -- who came in for Austin Isenhart -- closed out the inning with no further damage. UNM still led by eight runs, 16-8.
Mang -- who paced the Lobos with five hits (5-for-6) --again grabbed a hit, and this time it was a lead off home run to left field to give the Lobos the 17-8 advantage.
Wendt pitched in the ninth and closed out the game by retiring the side, giving the Lobos its first win since April 2nd when they beat Fresno State at home.
The Lobos, as a team, acquired 15 hits, with Mang leading the way with four RBI's and three runs as part of his efforts. Capanna went 3-for-4 from the plate with four RBI's and two runs, and schilling also mustered three hits (3-for-4) with three RBI's and two runs.
Up next for UNM is its second game if the series against Missouri State on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The game can be heard 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
