The University of New Mexico got back to its hitting ways again on Friday evening at Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UNM (13-9, 7-0 MW) racked up 24 hits on its way to a 29-8 victory over a veteran UNLV (10-14, 5-5 MW) squad – the most the Lobos have ever scored on the conference foe.
And though that's the most runs the Lobos have ever produced against UNLV, it was also a night for the record books, as it was the third most points UNM has ever scored and a season-high thus far. The school record for most runs in a single game is 31.
With the plethora of scoring and hitting, Lobo coach Ray Birmingham said he recognized the success his team had, but must keep it up.
“It was a great job by our hitters today, but tomorrow is a new day,” Birmingham said in a release. “UNLV will come out fighting and it’s going to be a hard one tomorrow. The Lobo fight needs to be ready.”
UNM got things going in the top of the first inning, quickly going up 1-0 on an RBI single courtesy of Jared Mang. But UNLV responded quickly in the bottom of the frame with a solo homer to tie the game up at one run a piece.
The Lobo bats got hot again in the second inning, tacking on a whopping eight more runs in the frame. The biggest moment of the inning was a three-run homer from Jared Mang, which gave the Lobos a commanding 9-1 lead.
The third inning saw UNM still firing on offense, as they amassed another six runs. The scoring was aided by another Lobo hitter sending one over the fence with Daniel Herrera blasting a two-run shot to right field, bringing the score to 15-1.
Carl Stajduhar – who reached the five hit plateau in a game for a second time in a row – helped the Lobos bring home two runs in the fourth inning to go up 17-1. However, UNLV matched the effort with two runs of its own in the frame to cut the Lobos’ lead to 17-3.
Both teams would score one run each in the fifth inning, making it an 18-4 ball game, but the Rebels weren’t going to get back into it by trading runs.
The Lobos made sure there would be no comeback, removing all doubt with more 11 runs over the seventh and eighth innings to seize a 29-4 advantage.
UNLV, however, was able to produce four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the game was well out of reach and the Lobos won the road game 29-8.
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Stajduhar led the way at the plate, going a nearly-perfect 5-for-6 with five RBI and five runs. Mang picked up six RBI and two runs in a 3-for-6 performance at the plate. Beau Capanna and Herrera also grabbed three hits each as part of the offensive explosion, with Herrera notching four RBI and three runs.
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz
