A late blown lead barred New Mexico from completing a sweep against UNLV in a tight 6-5 loss on Sunday afternoon.
The Lobos again received a quality performance from its starting pitching, but a rough eighth inning prevented UNM from winning the third and final game against UNLV (10-17, 4-8 MW).
Colton Thomson had a solid outing over six innings, but a high pitch count prevented the senior lefty from trotting to the mound for another inning.
Despite only giving up one run, Thomson’s day was shadowed with constantly having to out of trouble. His only 1-2-3 inning came in his last, but his pitch count had risen to 107, forcing head coach Ray Birmingham to call on Fernando Fernandez to head the seventh.
“Glad we won the series against a tough UNLV team,” Birmingham said over text message. “I’m concerned over some of our bullpen. We can’t give up five in the last few innings and expect to be a championship team.”
Birmingham, UNM's winningest baseball coach of all time, was inducted into the New Mexico Hall of Fame immediately after the contest.
Fernandez only recorded one out on his short-lived day putting Drew Bridges in a tough spot to protect a tie game 2-2.
Bridges got out of the rocky seventh inning, protecting Fernandez from the loss. However, the eighth inning wasn’t smooth sailing for the reliever. After allowing a leadoff hit followed by two consecutive walks, Birmingham called on the all-times saves leader in UNM history to complete the two inning save.
Victor Sanchez was unable to come through for New Mexico giving up two singles between the shortstop and third baseman, before finally ending the bleeding with a 6-4-3 double play.
Though the bullpen was unable to hold onto a late 5-2 lead, the offense almost bailed the relievers out with timely hitting.
Scottie Graham led the charge on his three-hit day behind the dish. His three hits translated to three of the Lobos’ five runs. Graham also added to a dramatic ninth while UNM looked to rally back.
“I was just letting the ball get deep, let it travel and getting my hands through it,” Graham said. “I was just getting good pitches to hit.”
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Following a Jack Zoellner single, Graham represented the winning run after singling to center field and moving the Lobo first baseman into scoring position.
Reece Weber had an opportunity to continue the rally and potentially tie the game with a base-knock. However, the redshirt sophomore was unable to come through, ending UNM’s comeback chances.
“I was just hoping Reece was going to pull one down the line and I was going to try my hardest to score,” he said.
Graham said the Lobos will work on being consistent through the entirety of the game in order to remain as one of the frontrunners to take the Mountain West.
“We just have to execute better next game,” Graham said. “We just need minor adjustments here and there.”
Fresno State’s win over Air Force on Saturday put the Lobos (19-9) and Bulldogs (20-8) locked at 9-3 conference records. The two teams atop the Mountain West will have a deciding series next week as the Lobos play host to Fresno.
Before deciding the leader in the Mountain West, UNM will travel to Roswell on Tuesday to take on NMSU at a neutral site. Opening pitch is scheduled for 6 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.
