The University of New Mexico baseball team flipped the script on No. 6 Texas Tech on a cool, breezy Wednesday evening at Santa Ana Star Field.
After the game’s original start time of 6:30 p.m. was delayed an hour, New Mexico picked apart its opponent on offense and a near-perfect showing from its bullpen. That type of play helped the Lobos grab ahold of a 16-5 win over Texas Tech for the first time this season.
Wednesday’s victory was one for the books, with the win being the Lobos’ first over a top-10 opponent since 2010, when UNM beat then ranked No. 4 TCU 3-2.
Starting pitcher Carson Schneider couldn't have asked for a better outing, pitching six innings, striking out a career-high seven Texas Tech batters, and allowing four runs on just seven hits.
Schneider’s performance moved him up in some of the all-time rankings for UNM. After Wednesday concluded, Schneider threw 64 strikes on 93 total pitches; he tallied his nineteenth victory as a Lobo, putting him in the top-10 in wins as a Lobo; and his winning percentage moved to .760, putting him at second best all-time.
With all that said, head coach Ray Birmingham had nothing but praise for his senior pitcher’s performance.
“Carson was really good tonight,” Birmingham said in a press release. “He was controlling the strike zone and showed what he's capable of. It was great to see.”
As for the hitting, the Lobos tallied its fourth straight 10 plus hit ball game, adding 15 hits to its stat line, while holding the Red Raiders to eight hits. However, Luis Gonzalez paced the Lobos at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three RBI’s and two runs. Five other Lobos managed to tally two hits onto their stat line in Jack Zoellner (2-for-3), Carl Stajduhar (2-for-4), Danny Collier (2-for-3), Andre Gregory (2-for-5) and Jared Mang (2-for-5). Of those five, though, Zoellner and Gregory each had two runs and two RBI’s as part of their efforts.
The Lobos’ bats were working early and often, scoring three runs in the first inning, with the scoring being highlighted by a Collier two RBI single, to put the Lobos up 3-0.
Again in the second – while holding Texas Tech scoreless yet again – the Lobos added two runs to the scoreboard. Zoellner highlighted the inning on an RBI double.
Texas Tech managed to muster a run in the top of the third inning, but the Lobos followed suit by adding another three runs, with two of those coming on a two RBI double from Gonzalez, to give the Lobos an 8-1 lead.
After the Red Raiders tallied another run in the fourth inning, while holding UNM scoreless in the frame, the Lobos added a run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings, while holding Texas Tech scoreless in those two innings.
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Texas Tech picked up its pace in the seventh inning, scoring three runs to shorten the Lobos’s lead to 10-5, but UNM didn't back down in the latter innings. UNM went on to tally six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, highlighted by a Gregory two RBI triple. Ultimately, however, Justin Slaten and Christian Tripp shutout Texas Tech in the innings eight and nine, to give the Lobos the 16-5 victory at home – and its first over Texas Tech this season, after losing two to the No. 6 team earlier in the season.
Up next for UNM is game two against Texas Tech at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. 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.
