Rafael Neda took care of business for the UNM baseball team when it mattered most against San Diego State on Sunday at Isotopes Park, giving the Lobos a 2-1 series win.
On Friday night, Lobo fans witnessed a pitching duel for the ages. Top prospect Stephen Strasburg shut out the Lobos in a 1-0 victory for the Aztecs, but the Lobos struck back, taking Game 2 12-4 on Saturday. Max Willet had five RBIs on Saturday.
And on Sunday, with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Neda hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Mike Brownstein tagged up at third base and outran the throw from Aztec left fielder Brandon Decker, clinching Game 3 for UNM, 6-5.
"Aren't the Lobos fun to watch? The kids played their butts off," head coach Ray Birmingham said. "Lobo baseball is the most fun (thing) you can watch. It is the most fun thing you can be a participant of. I love this team."
Lobo reliever Cole White cleaned up after Gabe Aguilar made a mess.
White replaced Aguilar with one out and the bases loaded. White made designated-hitter Chris Wilson pop up to second base and Josh Chasse ground to third base to end the top half of the ninth.
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Brian Cavazos-Galvez tied the game at five with a blast over the center-field wall in the bottom of the eighth. He got the home run off a familiar foe, SDSU pitcher Nate Solow.
"I know (Solow) pretty well. I used to face him in high school," Cavazos-Galvez said. "I was really confident going into that. (I've) faced him I don't know how many times."
Cavazos-Galvez couldn't understate the importance of the series.
"To (take) two of three from them puts us in a tiebreaker with them," he said. "And now we just have to take care of business the rest of the way and we should be fine."
But the Lobos almost blew it. A successful sixth inning turned into a staggering seventh.
Clinton Cox replaced Lobo starting pitcher Rudy Jaramillo in the top of the sixth.
After the Lobos claimed a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, Cox gave up three hits and three runs in the top half of the seventh.
Cox mishandled an easy double-play ball that should have ended the inning. But SDSU's Matt Parker hit a one-hopper to the mound. Cox rushed the throw and threw it past Brownstein at second base. The inning continued and Cox paid for his mistake.
Decker hit a triple that flew down the right-field line past Kevin Atkinson at first base. The Aztecs tied the game at three apiece.
The two teams traded runs in the eighth inning before the spectacular conclusion in the ninth.
"This is huge for us because we're now leading the conference, and we keep our playoff hopes alive with these wins this weekend," Atkinson said. "I mean, it's huge, and there is a lot of excitement (with this team), and we have a lot of fun."
