The University of New Mexico baseball team kept the good times rolling as it swept the University of Northern Colorado Bears and moved to 8-0, the team's best start since the 1973 season.
On Friday, Feb. 20, it appeared that the Lobos simply picked up where they left off the previous week against the Fordham Rams. The Lobos dominated game one of the series against the Bears with a 16-5 victory that was called after 7 innings, as per the NCAA’s run rule.
That was a productive day all around for the Lobo batters who had 11 walks to just 3 strikeouts to complement the 7 extra-base hits that included 4 home runs in that ball game.
2 of those 4 home runs came off the bat of Lobo second baseman Luke Mansy, who had a career day. He went 3 for 4, knocked in 4 runs, and came around to score three times to go with his 2-homer game.
Another one of those long balls was a grand slam off the bat of center fielder Khalil Walker. This swing blew the game open in the fifth inning and was the highlight of the Lobo’s 7-run explosion in that inning.
“It’s always cool to see your boys get excited for you — they definitely put me in a position to do damage at the plate and I couldn’t have done it without them,” Walker said.
Game two continued to look like the Lobos would steamroll the series when the pitching staff got its first shutout of the season with a 6-0 Lobos win. The win came off the backs of winning pitcher Ryan Castillo, who went 5 and 2-3 innings, giving just 2 hits while striking out 6 and pitcher Josh Barnhouse, who went the next 3 and 1-3 innings to pick up his first save of the season.
“I felt great out there, all my pitches were working and I was throwing strikes. Obviously, I would’ve liked to stay in the game and complete 6, but I have faith in my guys, so when Barnhouse got that strikeout to end the sixth, it was awesome,” Castillo said.
The next two games would not be so simple for the Lobos, as the Bears, desperate to avoid a sweep and an 0-8 start, played them very closely.
Game three of this series turned up the drama as Mountain West player of the week first baseman Gene Trujillo had the Lobos on the board first with an RBI single.
UNM’s lead extended to 3-0 in the third on a 2-run single from outfielder Lenny Junior Ashby. The Bears bit back though, chasing starter Diego Alvarez in the fifth inning as the Bears rallied 2 runs against him, and for another 3 in the sixth against pitcher Cooper Corkrean to take a 5-3 lead.
However, the Lobos mounted a rally of their own in the six. Walker hit a triple to score a man on first and was followed by Mansy, who sent the ball over the fence in right field to give the Lobos the lead.
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Thanks to an incredible diving catch in center field from Walker with two men on in the ninth, that swing over the fence held up as the game- and series-winning home run in a 6-5 Lobo win in game three.
“I wasn’t sure if that was going to be a homer, but I got a good pitch and luckily it snuck out,” Mansy said.
The Bears would not let the sweep be easy, as they came out swinging in game four. They jumped all over starter pitcher Ethin Woltz, scoring 4 runs off of him in just two innings of work. With this game came the second straight week that Woltz had struggled in the second inning.
“He’s a freshman and we’re trying to give him opportunities. His first inning today and last week were good, so it’s probably more of a mental thing for him — these are good learning lessons,” Lobo Head Coach Tod Brown said.
When the Bears scored another run off pitcher Tyler Do in the third, the Lobos were down 5-0, but after Northern Colorado responded with 3 runs in the fourth, the Lobos then found themselves down 7-1. That’s when they rallied for 4 runs in the fourth inning to get back in the game. The game’s eventual winning pitcher, Tommy White, came in the game for five innings of two-run ball.
“When you’re in the moment, you’re not really thinking about it like keeping your team in the game, it’s just a pitch-by-pitch mindset where you let the eight dudes behind you make plays and compete,” White said.
The six and seventh innings were led off by bombs from outfielder Anthony Diaz and third basemen infielder Akili Carris, respectively, and the eighth saw a one-run double from Trujillo, but the Bears responded with runs of their own in the eighth and ninth to keep the game at 11-8 entering the bottom of the ninth.
The Lobos pulled off another rally when shortstop Karsen Waslefsky left the yard with a bomb to left field. The Lobos continued to rally as Diaz and Mansy both reached for designated hitter Aidan Kuni, whose single made it a one-run game.
Things looked dire for the Lobos when right fielder Damian Garcia chopped a ball to third base, but Bears first baseman Jake Bullard couldn't handle the throw from shortstop Logan Pruski to complete the double play. This allowed Khalil Walker to come to the plate and pinch hit for Antonio Gianni, coming through with a base hit that knotted the game at 11.
“And when we started doing pinch runners, we kept (Walker) out on purpose — if a game-winning situation came up and we needed to hit, he was my guy. He’s a great player and he came through in the clutch today,” Brown said.
After White’s scoreless 10th, the Lobos needed to score just one run to complete the comeback, but when Northern Colorado’s ninth pitcher came in and walked the first two men he faced, the game fell on Diaz’s plate and he came through, lining a ball over the head of Mason Griffin in center field to give the Lobos a dramatic 12-11 walk-off win in 10 innings to remain undefeated.
“We really grinded that one out, a lot of credit to my teammates — we stuck in there and found a way to win,” Diaz said.
The Lobos will be back on home field on Friday, Feb. 27, against the University of St. Thomas for the first of a four-game set.
Elizabeth Bolke is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
Marley Herndon is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @Dailylobo
