Staff Report
The UNM baseball team almost pulled off its third upset of the weekend, but fell three runs short in a 19-16 loss to Arizona on Sunday.
After dropping 23 games in a row to Arizona, UNM won the first two of a three-game series over the weekend. The last time UNM beat Arizona was in 1997, and the last time the Lobos defeated the Wildcats in two consecutive games was in 1994.
The Lobos ended the streak on Friday when they rallied from a 3-0 deficit to hold on to a 6-5 win. UNM scored four runs in the third inning as Dane Hamilton, Ryan Barba and Jordan Pacheco scored in succession. Jay Russell gave the Lobos the go-ahead run shortly after.
Senior pitcher Nate Melek won his first game as a Lobo after pitching 6.2 innings and giving up three earned runs. Arizona's Mark Melancon was given the loss after tossing five innings and allowing five earned runs.
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The action continued Saturday, and again the Lobos won behind a three-run inning, winning 7-3. Lobo starting pitcher Danny Ray Herrera (2-0) was awarded the victory after pitching a complete game, striking out six and allowing three runs. UNM scored four runs in the eighth to pull away from the Wildcats.
Sunday's high-scoring affair was in contrast to the first two games of the series, and UNM was unable to out-slug Arizona. UNM led 3-0 early, but the momentum swung Arizona's way as the Wildcats took a 10-5 advantage in the bottom of the third. The Lobos started a rally and pulled to within one run at 10-9 in the fourth inning. However, Arizona knocked in eight more runs and led 18-11 in the bottom of the seventh. Darren Coltrinari was given the loss for UNM.
After the weekend, UNM improved to 5-3 while Arizona dropped to 5-4.
