by Matthew Kappus
Daily Lobo
A hit batter, two errors and a blooper in the second inning sealed Hawaii-Hilo's fate in a win for the UNM baseball team Sunday.
The Lobos scored five runs off two hits in the second en route to a 12-2 victory.
Sunday's win was the fourth straight victory for UNM and concluded a three-game series against Hawaii-Hilo. The Lobos won Friday and Saturday's games 12-3 and 19-2, respectively.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Pitcher Jacob Norton earned his fourth win this year, allowing one hit - a home run - in six full innings.
Norton said he is pitching well heading into the final stretch of
the season.
"I felt pretty good out there today," he said. "I had an injury, and I was able to get through that."
Even though he gave up only one run, Norton said he was not happy about the mistake.
"The ball was supposed to be outside, but I just left it over the middle of the plate," Norton said.
Nonetheless, it was an impressive win for Norton, who played Sunday's game with an injured catching hand.
UNM head coach Rich Alday said pitching and defense have been the key to the team's recent success. The Lobos have gone 27 consecutive innings without an
error.
After this weekend, in which Lobo batters had a combined 47 hits, the Lobo offense also proved its solidarity.
The Vulcans' disastrous second inning was indicative of the series as a whole. In addition to the barrage of hits, the Lobos scored 43 runs against Hawaii-Hilo - a season high.
It was the first meeting between the Lobos and Vulcans. Before this weekend, Hawaii-Hilo had played only six games on the road, two of which were in Las Cruces against NMSU.
The Lobos, on the other hand, were back home after a three-week road stretch in which they won four of nine games, including a sweep of Air Force.
The three-game series versus Hawaii-Hilo provided UNM a short respite from conference play, in which the team is 7-8 and fifth in the Mountain West
Conference.
Alday said the Lobos gained some experience this weekend.
"We had the opportunity to get in some more at-bats and get in some new pitchers," he said.
The Lobos got by with 12 hits in a 12-3 win Friday. Stephen Smith got the win for the Lobos.
A season-record 2,535 fans welcomed the Lobos back to Isotopes Park on Saturday, and they were rewarded with a slugfest. The Lobos scored 19 runs off of 18 hits, six of which were home runs.
Junior Adam Skelton earned his first win as a Lobo. He allowed just two runs off eight hits while walking three.
Alday said the Lobos are starting to put things together.
"We had key base hits. We pitched really well," he said. "I thought, overall, it was very, very good. We are where we want to be right now."
