by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
If Quentin Andes pitches down the stretch the way he did Tuesday against the University of Arizona, the Lobos could be in good shape.
The UNM offense has been on a roll lately, scoring a combined 86 runs in the past four games. In Tuesday's 13-3 victory, Andes was the star player for the Lobos.
The junior pitcher tossed eight innings in the victory, giving up two runs, striking out five and walking just one.
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Andes said he was happy with his performance, which was helped by another strong offensive showing from his teammates.
"It felt great," Andes said. "I'm just glad the team could give me some run support so I could pitch well. It was an overall good day for the whole team."
Andes surrendered 11 hits in the victory, but never put himself in a jam he couldn't get out of. He gave up two singles in the top of the second, but got himself out of trouble by forcing Arizona's Konrad Schmidt into a double play and striking out Brad Glenn to end the inning.
Andes said being able to escape an inning with minimal damage helps give the team momentum for the rest of the game.
"It's always great to get out of some jams," he said. "It does a lot for our confidence as a team."
UNM head coach Rich Alday said Andes did a good job of locating his pitches as well as mixing up some of his throws.
"The thing about Quentin is he's not a hard thrower," Alday said. "He's got to throw off-speed pitches for strikes and he did a good job of that. He was able to change speeds on them, and that's why he was so successful today."
After a rocky first inning, Andes cruised until the eighth inning. He had control of his pitches, and did not walk a batter until the top of the eighth.
Alday said it was important to get strikes early in the count and make the Arizona hitters try and catch up to him.
"He threw a lot of strikes and was ahead in the count a lot," Alday said. "Throwing the first strike is always really important."
Alday left Andes in the game despite the Lobos having a comfortable 10-1 lead heading into the seventh inning. Alday said he did not take him out because Andes was still effective at that point.
"We kept him on there and he did a great job," Alday said. "He kept throwing strikes and getting himself out of innings. We weren't really thinking about trying to get him out."
With Andes' performance, the Lobo pitching staff has been solid lately, helping to complement a powerful offense. Andes said he is glad to be pitching his best at this point in the season to help out what he said is a strong group of pitchers.
"The staff has always been there this year," he said. "We've had a couple games where we struggled, but I feel like our pitching staff is one of our strengths this year."
Alday said he's excited about the possibility of having many of his pitchers being on top of their game as the season goes along.
"It's really good," he said. "By the time we play in the tournament, you're going to need that fourth starter going into the championship game. That's when it counts."
Andes said he is thrilled about the way the team is playing, and doesn't think a College World Series appearance is too far-fetched.
"We can take it to the Series," Andes said. "We can take it to regionals, the super-regionals and we can take it all the way to the Series, in my mind."
