by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
The UNM baseball team will have extra motivation to pick up its next win.
The Lobos kicked off Mountain West Conference play at home this weekend, dropping 2-of-3 games to Utah at Isotopes Park on Sunday.
After the series, the Lobos fell to 12-17 on the season, while the Utes improved to 9-15.
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UNM head coach Rich Alday said his team is not living up to its potential so far this
season.
"If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year to predict how we'd be doing at this point in the season, I would not have predicted being under .500," Alday said. "We have the talent; we just have to start
winning."
UNM opened the series on a positive note with a win on Friday, beating Utah 9-1 in the opener.
Junior pitcher Bobby LaFromboise picked up the win, pitching eight innings and only allowing one run on four hits while striking out six.
The game also marked Alday's 1,000th game as a Lobo and his 499th career win.
Alday said the occasion was bittersweet since he will have to wait to celebrate his 500th victory.
"I've been coaching for 17 years here at UNM, and I've seen some good ball clubs," he said. "At the same time, I'm still looking for win No. 500."
In game two, the Lobos came up just short, losing 12-8 on Saturday.
The highlight for UNM came from junior Matt Hibbitts, who went 4-for-5 with five RBIs.
The Lobos lost the deciding third game 11-9 on Sunday.
Alday said his team didn't play consistent enough to win the last two games.
"We came out slow, were streaky at the plate. And bottom line, we didn't score enough runs," he said.
The loss was disappointing because all of Utah's 11 runs came with two outs, Alday said.
"We just couldn't get that third out," he said. "We need to work on playing the whole inning, not just two-thirds of an inning."
The Utes scored two runs in each of the first three innings, before the Lobos responded in the bottom of the third.
Max Willett started the inning with a leadoff double. Two walks and a wild pitch later, Jordan Pacheco doubled to center field to score two. Clean-up hitter Daniel Stovall then singled to score Pacheco and bring the game to 6-4.
Pacheco performed well at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a triple, a double, two singles and five RBIs.
Willett also had a big game, as he went 4-for-5 with three doubles, a single and three runs scored.
The Utes responded with four runs of their own in the top of the fourth and never looked back.
The Lobos' attempt at a late two-out rally in the eighth was stifled by Utah third baseman Erich Kemp, as he caught a hard-hit line drive off the bat of Drew McDonald to end the inning.
Alday said UNM will have to focus if it wants to have success next weekend against San Diego State.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to turn around and have a better weekend next week," he said. "We'll continue to practice hard this week and hopefully just get our
act together."
Baseball vs.
San Diego State
Friday, 6 p.m.
Isotopes Park
