The third time wasn't a charm for the UNM baseball team.
After suffering two defeats to UC-Irvine on Friday and Saturday - the Lobos lost 5-3 on Friday and 11-6 on Saturday - the Anteaters swallowed the Lobos on Sunday, winning 12-1.
On Friday, UC-Irvine ace Scott Gorgen helped eke out a win. But the weekend was all about Ollie Linton, a one-man-show - a thorn in the Lobos' side.
He went 11-for-15 for the series, including a solo home run in the fifth that sparked a five-run Anteater inning.
UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said the Lobos just didn't have an answer for him.
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"We couldn't stop anybody," he said. "He just got the most hits of a bunch of guys that got a lot of hits. Our pitching staff just got absolutely shelled."
Including Sunday's loss, the Lobos are now 27-18 and 0-10 against the top 25.
Offensively, the Lobos were stagnant.
Mike Brownstein helped jumpstart the Lobos, knocking out a solo home run in the bottom of the first.
However, the Anteaters responded with two of their own in the third.
In the fourth, with two on base and Brownstein coming to the plate, the Lobos had a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead.
Instead, Brownstein stared at strike three, and Ian Hollick grounded out to end the inning.
Afterward, Brownstein said he let an opportunity slip from his fingers.
"I made a mistake," he said. "With two strikes, you have to battle, and I just made a stupid play."
UNM's Adam Courcha steals second base in the Lobos' 12-1 loss to UC-Irvine.
Coupled with a brilliant ESPN highlight-worthy snag by UC-Irvine third baseman Eric Deragisch, the strikeout lifted the Anteaters spirits, Brownstein said.
"That definitely did swing the momentum," he said. "I regret that."
With momentum in their holster, UC-Irvine exploded in the fifth with five runs.
Linton spearheaded the surge, blasting a Stephen Smith offering over the right-field fence. Ben Orloff singled to set up Dillon Bell, who proceeded to belt another one out of the park, making it 5-1.
Still, Birmingham chose to stick with Smith, but the umpire ensured the right-hander took an early exit.
Smith was served his second ejection of the season after a ball that appeared to slip out of Smith's hand plunked the batter. Home-plate umpire Jon Wolfe viewed Smith's actions as intentional and quickly signaled for him to take a seat.
Birmingham said he hopes the NCAA will not take any action against Smith.
"We'll see what happens," he said "It's part of baseball, but I've told these guys to keep their mouths shut. I don't want anymore ejections."
Irvine tacked on two more in the inning, making the count 7-1.
One run is all the Lobos would score as the offense sputtered, recording a lowly six hits compared to UC-Irvine's 17.
The Anteaters continued to score at will, bringing one run in the sixth and four in the ninth.
And every time the Lobos slipped up, even a little bit, the Anteaters punished them. Meanwhile, UC-Irvine got some breaks, with bloopers dropping fair and a couple critical UNM errors.
Still, Brownstein was quick to credit UC-Irvine for making plays when they had to.
"They did the little things right," he said. "Sometimes that's enough to beat teams - doing the little things right."
