A win on Saturday didn't appear to be in the picture for the UNM baseball team.
But the Lobos put on their rally caps in a five-run seventh inning to boost UNM over BYU 9-5. The Lobos notched a 2-1 series win over the Cougs.
Mike Brownstein had to hit a pitch if the UNM baseball team was going to salvage a win on Saturday at Isotopes Park. And that's when the Lobos' slugger started to envision it.
"When you believe, and you're expected to, and you can win, no matter what the score is, no matter how far you're down - you feel like you still have a chance," Brownstein said.
That's all the Lobos could ask for.
Brownstein delivered, and he broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Lobos. And this all came a day after Brownstein's 18-game hitting streak ended. On Friday, Brownstein was 0-of-5 from the plate, ending a career-best hitting streak.
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"I'm not too worried about it," Brownstein said. "I honestly didn't even know I had a hitting streak. You can't get three hits every single game. You're going to have games that you struggle. I came back. You can't dwell on a bad performance, because you play tomorrow."
Brownstein and teammate Kevin Atkinson have a friendly hitting rivalry going on. And Friday, Brownstein said he addressed his 0-of-5 performance before Atkinson had time to brag.
Already expecting some ribbing from Atkinson, Brownstein said he was the first to mention that his hitting streak had come to a close.
"Well, I told him, 'Uh-oh, my hitting streak's over,'" Brownstein said. "I knew he was going to mention something, so I just said it. He just said, 'Tomorrow, start a new one.'"
Brownstein obliged, spearheading the Lobos' comeback.
Entering the seventh inning on Sunday, the Lobos trailed 5-3. Brian Cavazos-Galvez brought the Lobos within a run, singling to bring in Ryan Honeycutt. Justin Howard then scored Atkinson, knotting the game at five apiece.
With Howard and Cavazos-Galvez in scoring position, Brownstein blasted a two-out, two-run single down the pipes, giving UNM a 7-5 lead.
Brownstein, who also scored in the inning, went 2-of-5 from the dish.
"I had a 1-2 count," he said. "I just had to throw the bat out there. Tried to make contact, and it fell in."
Cole White came in during the eighth inning and recorded his second save of the season, both of them coming against the Cougars.
Still, on Friday, a Lobo comeback faltered late.
UNM trailed 13-3 heading into the bottom part of the sixth inning, but UNM furiously pounded out seven runs to pull within three. Over the next three innings, though, the Lobos combined for just five hits and three runs, while the Cougars tacked on a run in the top of the seventh and eighth, culminating in a 15-13 BYU victory. It was the Lobos' first conference loss of the season.
If that wasn't the Lobos' mentality, then they might have been in trouble in their final two games with the Cougars. Thursday's near-choke was a precursor to what happened on Friday, when the Lobos rallied from 10 runs down but still lost.
"The whole series was tough," Brownstein said. "To win two out of three games is a pretty big deal for us."
Baseball vs. Texas Tech
Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Isotopes Park
