The University of New Mexico took one step forward and one step back in game one of a three-game series at Fresno State.
The Lobos are now one game closer towards the end of the season, but on Friday evening, the Bulldogs won, 9-3, during a critical Mountain West game, which can affect the Lobos’ first place standing if they continue to lose throughout the remainder of the season.
However, that step back was shortened when San Diego State lost to Air Force on Friday evening, meaning UNM (28-21-1, 18-15-1 MW) has to win three games to clinch the regular season title instead of four, as previously reported.
The loss for the Lobos, however, came by way of nine unanswered runs spread across four separate innings from Fresno State.
But less-than-stellar pitching from the Lobos and great hitting from the Bulldogs played the biggest role in UNM’s loss. Fresno State racked up nine hits in the game—two of those being home runs—while Lobos’ starting pitcher Tyler Stevens gave up eight of the nine Fresno State runs and seven of the nine Fresno State hits. Stevens got the loss tallied onto his record, putting him at 6-5 on the year.
As for UNM’s offense, they managed to grab nine hits, though only three runs came to fruition off of them. Jared Mang paced the team with a 2-for-5 showing at the plate with three RBI and a double. One other Lobo tallied two hits on the game in Hayden Schilling who went 2-for-3 with one run.
The Lobos struckout 11 times as a team, prompting head coach Ray Birmingham to give his response to why his team lost.
“They just out-pitched us tonight,” Birmingham said in a press release. “We will have to get back after it Saturday.”
After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Lobos jumped out on top first in the second inning when they tallied three runs in the top of the frame. After Schilling and Justin Watari singled to get on base and Luis Gonzalez reached on a walk, Mang cleared the bases with a three RBI double, to put his team up 3-0.
But Fresno State answered in the bottom of the inning with four runs of their own, with three of those runs coming on a three run homer.
UNM was held scoreless for the remainder of the game, while Fresno State added a run apiece in the third and sixth and also added a three run inning in the fourth to take home a 9-3 victory over the first place Lobos.
Game two is set to start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 13. Johnathon Tripp (5-1, 4.90 ERA) will start for the Lobos, while the Bulldogs will counter with Edgar Gonzalez (4-3, 4.94 ERA).
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Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers baseball and women's basketball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz.
