by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
The UNM baseball team held off the San Francisco Dons in the ninth inning to win 10-7 after losing the two previous games in the weekend's series.
Head coach Rich Alday said the win came after some close losses in a weekend where things didn't go the Lobos' way.
"This was a great win for us after the two tough losses over the weekend when San Francisco rallied in the late innings in both games," he said. "They weren't really getting any power hits, but the ball was hit everywhere our players weren't."
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The Lobos won the game with their bats. They scored at least one run in the first six innings.
In the first inning Jordan Pacheco scored from third when Chris Carlson grounded out. Ryan Barba doubled in the second inning to drive in Ian Hollick.
San Francisco rallied back as they did all weekend to take a 3-2 lead in the third. The Lobos recaptured the lead in the bottom of the inning with a hitting display.
The home runs started flying in the fifth, with Carlson hitting a two-run homer.
Carlson said the pitcher threw the ball right down the middle. It was the perfect pitch for his home-run mentality.
"He threw a change-up, and it came over the plate in a good spot, so I made good contact with it," he said. "Every time I step to the plate, I'm trying to hit the ball really hard and get it out of the park."
In the next inning, Barba smashed a two-run homer that sailed over the Lobos' bullpen to put UNM up 9-3.
Barba said home runs are a rare occurrence for him.
"I'm not considered a power hitter, so I don't hit home runs like today's very often," he said. "I just try to make contact with the ball and hopefully that will help score some runs."
Starting pitcher Chace Lankford was relieved by Quentin Andes in the seventh after giving up a run in the sixth. Andes pitched a hitless inning, but then gave up two runs in the eighth, putting the Dons within reach going into the ninth.
UNM freshman Jordan Salazar was brought in to close the game. His first pitch was smacked out of the park by USF's Scott Cousins. Salazar then got three consecutive outs with nine pitches to save the game for the Lobos.
UNM's record stands at 15-7, which is its best start since Alday became head coach in 1990. The Lobos are leading the Mountain West Conference in almost every batting statistic, and are in the top three in every pitching and fielding statistic.
Half of the batters are hitting over .300 and pitcher Danny Herrera has been named MWC pitcher of the week twice this year.
The Lobos start a three-game series March 23 against Dallas Baptist University. This will be their last nonconference warm up before starting MWC play.
"There's always room for improvement, but I feel confident with where our team is at heading into conference play," Alday said. "Right now, Danny is pitching really well for us, but we need the rest of our pitchers to play well consistently."
