by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
Adam Skelton was on his way to leading the UNM baseball team to an easy victory over Texas Tech with a brilliant pitching performance.
Then the sixth inning came.
In Tuesday's 10-8 loss to the Red Raiders at Isotopes Park, the Lobos' pitching and defense unraveled after building an 8-2 lead through five innings.
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Skelton gave up one earned run heading into the top of the sixth, but Texas Tech led off with a home run and three straight hits. UNM recorded an error, which led to another run and allowed the Red Raiders to pull within 8-5.
Lobo head coach Rich Alday said the sloppy sixth inning turned the game around.
"I think the momentum just completely changed," he said. "We just didn't do a very good job offensively or defensively. Pitching-wise we made some mistakes, and they took advantage of it."
Shane Dyer started the game for UNM but left after the first inning with a labrum injury. He gave up a run in the first inning before Skelton took over for him in the second. Skelton recorded three quick outs in the second and gave up just four hits and one run in his first four innings.
Alday said Skelton did a good job of picking up for Dyer until the sixth inning, when UNM's execution fell apart.
"I thought Adam Skelton came in and pitched really well," he said. "He kept us in the ball game, but those three runs they got on us in the sixth inning - we should have been out with no runs at all."
The Lobo defense played well behind him in the early innings, until UNM lost control in the sixth, Skelton said.
"I felt pretty good today, and they played really good defense," he said. "That one little error hurt us, but I think we're going to overcome it if it ever happens again. I think we'll be fine. That happens to the best of teams."
Texas Tech's Roger Kieschnick did the most damage to Skelton and the Lobos, going 5-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs.
He homered off Dyer in the first then doubled to lead off the fourth inning. He eventually was brought home by a Kyle Martin single to bring the score to 5-2.
After the Lobos extended the lead to 8-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Kieschnick homered to open the sixth, sparking Texas Tech's offense and ending Skelton's day.
In the seventh inning, he hit an RBI triple and then scored from third to close the gap to 8-7.
In the eighth, Kieschnick doubled to send Chris Hall to third for the eventual game-tying run. Martin then homered, scoring himself and Kieschnick to give Texas Tech the 10-8 lead for good.
Kieshnick said he was in a zone against the Lobos.
"I was just seeing the ball well," he said. "I got some good pitches to hit and took advantage of them."
Alday said Kieshnick is the type of player the Lobo pitchers didn't have room to make mistakes against.
"Everything he hit was hard," he said. "We left the ball over the plate, and you can't do that against good hitters."
The sixth inning, which saw three Red Raiders cross the plate, is something the Lobos are going to have to forget about, Skelton said.
"I think our bullpen is confident, and they're going to stay confident," he said. "It's going to bother us a little bit, but come this weekend, hopefully we have short-term memories, and we'll go at it again."
