by Kelly Brocklehurst
Daily Lobo
Darren Coltrinari's strong nine innings pitched weren't enough for UNM. The Lobos fell 4-3 to Brigham Young on Saturday as the game went into extra innings.
"Nine innings is pretty stressful out there on the mound," Coltrinari said.
Coltrinari gave up three singles, a triple and a home run in the eighth and ninth innings before sophomore reliever Jackie Smith came in during the 10th.
BYU pitcher Blake Torgerson gave up three runs before sophomore Joshua Barrett relieved him in the ninth inning.
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"It was a great game, great pitching on both sides," senior catcher Jeff Grady said.
Grady went 2-for-4 in the game, driving three runs for the Lobos with a double to center field in the second inning and a two-run homer to deep left field in the fourth inning.
"It wasn't enough to win," Grady said.
Grady leads the team with five home runs this season.
Despite a weak offense, the Lobos flashed strong defense throughout the game.
"Our outfield played great," Coltrinari said.
Sophomore right fielder Chris Dabbs helped complete a double play to end the ninth inning.
And the infield proved to be just as good as the outfield. At the end of the third inning, third baseman Ian Hollick and first baseman Daniel Stovall completed a double play.
"Defense all weekend was great, and when it came down to it, they got one more hit than we did," Grady said.
BYU's first run came in the fourth when Jeff Hiestand scored on Brandon Taylor's single to right field. In the eighth, Hiestand tripled, bringing in the second run for BYU. In the ninth, BYU scored again on Ryan Chambers' home run, tying the game and forcing extra innings.
Smith pitched a solid 10th inning for UNM, but in the 11th, he gave up a triple that allowed BYU to score.
The Lobos were not able to overcome the deficit. With two outs on the board, Grady walked, and pinch hitter Nick Carlson popped up to the shortstop.
"We've gotten better with every series, so we just got to continue getting better," head coach Rich Alday said.
The series with BYU marked the beginning of Mountain West Conference play for both teams.
Alday said the start of conference play has not added pressure to the team.
"It's just games," he said. "They're tough games that we got to play, and we should have gotten the one here, but we didn't."
The Lobos played a doubleheader Friday and split the two games with BYU. They won the first, 6-5, after rallying to score four runs at the bottom of the ninth.
In the nightcap, UNM lost 19-6. The Lobos led 5-4 in the seventh but gave up a staggering 15 runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
