The University of New Mexico baseball team continued to improve on its record and run its current winning streak to five games by taking down the San Jose State Spartans Friday night at Santa Ana Star Field.
New Mexico (7-3, 1-0 MW) won the conference opener and first matchup in a three-game series by a score of 14-2. But the Lobos gaudy run total probably didn’t come the way most might expect.
UNM enjoyed an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second after junior catcher Reese O’Farrell drove in teammates Tyler Kelly and Connor Mang with a two-run single.
But the real damage came in the following inning — a seven-run home third that broke the game open after Spartan starting pitcher Andrew Mitchel had some control issues and was eventually pulled from the game.
Mitchel issued a lead-off walk and surrendered a base hit before recording the first out of the inning, but still had a chance to get out of the jam — particularly if his defense could turn a double play.
But the Lobos didn’t even have to bother putting the ball in play. Connor Mang walked on four pitches and Kelly did the same to score Hayden Schilling — making the score 3-0.
Jared Mang crossed home plate to notch another run after a hit batsman and Mitchel gave up another run-scoring base on balls when he couldn’t get O’Farrell out. It was a brutal stretch for Mitchel that included throwing 10 straight balls, which led to the Lobos taking a 5-0 lead.
A sacrifice fly marked the second out of the inning, but also brought home another run and UNM still wasn’t done inflicting damage. Mitchel issued another free pass to load the bases and exited the game to make way for reliever Nicholas Morales.
With Mitchel still responsible for the baserunners, Morales gave up a two-run single to Schilling to make it 8-0 with runners on the corners. The Spartans experienced more bad luck, as they got Schilling in a pickoff situation and looked to finally record the elusive third out. But Justin Watari alertly took off from third and headed home, evading a tag at the plate to execute an impromptu double-steal and plate another run.
New Mexico’s 9-0 lead through three innings was plenty of run support for the pitching staff — although it did tack on five more runs throughout the game just to be sure.
Lobo starting pitcher Justin Slaten (1-0) threw six strong, giving up six hits and one run, while striking out nine.
San Jose State actually outhit the Lobos on the night, grinding out 10 hits compared to eight from New Mexico — though three of UNM’s went for extra bases.
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But the nightmare bottom third for the Spartans proved to be too many gifted runs to overcome. SJSU also gave up an unearned run later in the game in the eighth inning due to a fielding error.
New Mexico cruised to a 14-2 victory, but will have to deal with San Jose State a couple more times this weekend. Round two will take place on Saturday, March 2 back at Santa Ana Star Field with a 2 p.m. start time.
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.
