New Mexico’s bat wasn’t as flamboyant as it was in the first game of the series, but right-hander Tyler Stevens tossed a gem to take the series.
Granted, UNM jumped on SJSU first on Saturday with two runs in the bottom of the first, but it was Stevens who fueled the Lobos in the second conference series of the year.
New Mexico’s 3-2 victory didn’t take much time in a two-hour and nine-minute pitching duel.
Although the Lobos did commit an error in the top of the eighth, Stevens granted four double plays in just the first six innings of play to give UNM enough firepower to generate the win.
Head coach Ray Birmingham has been adamant about finding a back-end of the game guy, one of the reasons he was so pleased with redshirt Victor Sanchez, New Mexico’s new all-time saves leader.
“Congratulations to Victor on being the all-time saves leader. That’s a New Mexico guy replacing a New Mexico guy,” Birmingham said in the postgame presser. “Tyler did a great job today. He threw strikes and kept them off balance. We needed that pitching and that defense today. You can’t score double digits every game.”
Gera Sanchez, the previous owner of the record with 15, was replaced by Victor Sanchez who recorded the 17th save of his career.
Stevens improved to 3-1 on the year as the Lobos also improved to 12-6 (4-1 MW). UNM will finish off against the Spartans (6-12, 2-5 MW) at 1 p.m.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
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