It is not very often one sees a team steal three bases in a single inning and somehow manage to find a way not to score.
But that's what happened to the University of New Mexico baseball team Tuesday night in the top of the first inning at Presley Askew Field down against its rival New Mexico State Aggies.
Freshman second baseman Tyler Kelly led off the game with a single to left field and immediately proceeded to steal second base. The next batter, Hayden Schilling, drew a four-pitch walk and the Lobos decided to stay aggressive with the base running after the Aggies induced a fly out to record the first out of the game.
UNM head coach Ray Birmingham saw Kelly and Schilling execute a double-steal, swiping second and third respectively. But the three stolen bags were not enough to get things done as Aggie starting pitcher Christopher Jefferson settled in to strike out the next two batters and avert an early crisis.
Three stolen bases in an inning while failing to score a run has to be rare — but it seemed to set a weird trend for the game as New Mexico State posted some interesting numbers in the home half of the first.
The Aggies filled the bases after forcing a couple of walks sandwiched between a bloop single, bringing up junior first baseman Tristan Peterson. The slugger cleared the bases by uncorking a towering grand slam that he seemed to hit just as high as it was far. Peterson's high-arcing blast was his sixth home run over his last three games and spotted his team a 4-0 lead.
New Mexico was able to get it all back in the ensuing half inning though.
Ediberto Reyes got a one-out base on balls and promptly took off to steal another base for the Lobos as Reese O'Farrell showed patience and forced another Jefferson walk.
Playing small ball paid off this time around.
Adam Adkins singled through the left side to score Reyes, followed by a Kelly shot up the middle to plate O'Farrell and a Schilling base hit to the right side of the infield to show diversity in getting its first three runs and put runners on the corners with one away.
Schilling took off and sprinted toward second, successfully stealing for the second time of the day — giving the Lobos five stolen bases in the first two innings. A Jared Mang sacrifice fly brought home O'Farrell and evened the score at 4-4, but UNM was unable to get any more production, stranding its third base runner of the day.
Another oddity ensued in the bottom of the third inning, when the Aggies where about to tack on another run despite being held hitless in the frame.
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A walk, a hit batsman and a wild pitch put Aggie runners on second and third with one out, which allowed a soft grounder to score a run and give NMSU a 5-4 lead.
New Mexico State really poured it on with a 5-run fourth, three of them unearned, to create some separation again. The Aggies took advantage of walks and passed balls — one of which allowed a batter to take first base despite striking out.
The Lobos appeared as though they might duplicate the comeback effort exhibited earlier in the game, putting the first three men on in the top of the fifth. Tanner Baker got one run back with a sacrifice grounder, scoring Schilling and putting runners on first and third with one out.
But New Mexico State was able to get the next two Lobo batters to fan, getting out of the jam and limiting the damage to just one run and protect its 10-5 lead.
NMSU broke through again offensively to throw up three more runs in the bottom of the eighth and coasted to a 13-5 win win over its I-25 rival.
Both teams turned two double plays in the game and were almost even in team hits on the day, but the Aggies made the most of their nine walks and capitalized on Lobo mistakes. Despite some shaky pitching to start the game, NMSU was able to record nine strikeouts for the game.
Peterson finished 3-for-4 with 7 RBI as he continues to crush the ball. He has 11 hits, including six home runs and healthy 16 RBI in his last three games.
Kelly went 3-for-4 from the dish for the Lobos, but New Mexico was unable to overcome stranding a total of 11 men on base, leaving a bunch of potential runs out there.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers basketball and baseball and contributes content for various other sports as well. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Robert_Maler.
