The Lobos started strong but couldn't strike when it counted in an 11-9 loss to the San Diego State Aztecs Sunday at Isotopes Park.
With two outs, Ryan Barba came to the plate representing the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, with speedy Matt Foote on second. Barba, who had hit his second home run of the season earlier in the contest, couldn't come through at the end, striking out to end the game.
It had been a battle all game just to get to that point. UNM took the lead early with a big first inning. Consecutive RBI doubles by Joe Salas and Sean Murray, followed by an RBI single off the bat of catcher A.J. Spitaleri gave the Lobos a 4-0 lead.
Starter Cooper Eddy handled the second inning easily, and Barba's home run to lead off the bottom of the second increased the Lobos' lead to five.
The Aztecs hung tough, however, finally getting to Eddy in the fourth with bloop singles to score three runs in the inning.
In the fifth, they got closer on an RBI by fielder Jake McLintock.
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The Lobos tacked on another run in the fifth with Daniel Stovall's RBI double and went up 6-4, but from that point on, the game was controlled by SDSU.
A two-run sixth tied the score, and then in the seventh, Aztec fielder Landon Burt hit a two-run slam off Lobo pitcher Joe Salas to give SDSU the lead for good.
Down by as many as three in the late innings, the Lobos rallied to get within one run of tying the score, but in the ninth a two-run triple by catcher Brock Ungricht put the Aztecs up 11-8.
The Lobos would add a score in the ninth to keep hope of rallying alive, but they ultimately fell short on Barba's strikeout.
Lobo head coach Rich Alday said the final outcome came down to a lack of timely hitting by the Lobos.
"We didn't put the ball in play when we needed to," he said. "SDSU swung the bats well at important times and got the key base hits they needed."
In spite of the last at-bat, second baseman Barba had a solid game, going 2-4 with the home run and double.
After going 0-3 in the series' first game on Friday, then not playing in the second game on Saturday night, Alday said Barba made the changes necessary to put up good numbers.
"He made good adjustments today," Alday said. "We tried to get him to do that and I think he did really well."
The Lobos took just one of three games in the series - a 13-7 win Saturday night - and now stand 3-3 in Mountain West Conference play. The Aztecs are 5-1.
The Lobos will host the New Mexico State Aggies for their second match-up of the year Wednesday at 6 p.m.
