by Phil Parker
Daily Lobo
In a game of big plays, none was bigger than Lawson Burnat's pinch-hit, walk-off homerun that gave the Lobos a 12-11 win and capped an important three-game sweep of Utah on Sunday.
With the score tied 11-11 in the bottom of the ninth, head coach Rich Alday sent Burnat and his left-handed bat to the plate against Brady Martinez, a right-handed, side-arm pitcher who had been effective in relief to that point. Burnat led off the inning and tattooed the first pitch he saw.
"Lawson has been waiting in the wings for us," said Alday. "He's a good offensive player and we really wanted to take away the sidearm slider [from Martinez]. We had to use our left-handed hitters."
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Alday added that the Lobos were not looking for a homerun from Burnat.
"We were really just looking to get him on base and then bunt him over," he said. "Then he hits one out of the park. It was big for the team and it was big for Lawson."
The victory moved the Lobos back into a tie for second place in the Mountain West Conference. Their 13-8 MWC record is identical to San Diego State's, trailing only UNLV.
Down 2-0 in the second inning, shortstop Dusty Young put the Lobos on the board in dramatic style, sending a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam that gave UNM a 4-2 lead.
In the fourth, the Lobos increased their lead when consecutive singles by Joe Salas and Sean Murray, followed by a perfect slow-rolling bunt by Cory Lizarraga, loaded the bases for catcher Jeff Grady. Grady doubled, bringing home two more. A passed ball and a sacrifice fly by Young made the score 8-2 after four.
The six-run edge was short lived. In the top of the fifth, Utah second baseman Jared Pena hit a three-run bomb that closed the gap to 8-5.
UNM added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, but in the seventh inning starter Darren Coltrinari gave up a grand slam to Utah outfielder Matt Ciaramella that made the score 10-9 and ended Coltrinari's day on the mound.
Chad Giannetti came in on relief and quickly found himself in a jam in the eighth with runners at first and third and one out. Giannetti came through, striking out the next batter and then yielding an easy grounder to first that ended the threat.
"I was just trying to keep the ball down," Giannetti said. "If the batter was going to make contact I wanted it to be a ground ball that could get us a double play."
A passed ball in the bottom of the eighth increased the Lobo lead to 11-9, but in the ninth Giannetti found himself in a similar predicament. With the bases loaded, Utes' first baseman Jake Jordison hit a double to right field that tied the game 11-11.
The damage could have been worse in the ninth, if not for a sensational outfield assist by Lizarraga, who nailed Utah's Ryan Khoury from center field before two walks loaded the bases for Jordison. Khoury was trying to stretch for third base, but Lizarraga's strike was dead-on.
A tie game in the ninth paved the way for Burnat's heroics. As he finished rounding the bases he was mobbed by his smiling teammates, a display Alday says is indicative of his team's camaraderie.
"This is a fun group to be with," he said. "They all really like each other and they're a good baseball team. Everyone was behind Lawson when he went up there to hit."
Next up, the Lobos welcome Texas Tech to Lobo Field at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
