In a series between two of the top teams in the Mountain West, the Lobos came out on top by sweeping the three-game set and taking first place in the Mountain West standings.
After losing to Texas Tech University earlier in the week, the University of New Mexico was able to win three straight against the San Diego State University Aztecs on April 10-12.
Game one of the series was an absolute thrill ride. Starting pitcher Cristian Mogen was looking for a bounce-back start after a rough outing his last time in Las Vegas, and he delivered in a big way. He gave the Lobos a quality start, going 7 innings, allowing 3 runs and striking out 11 while walking just 1 runner.
“(In) Mogen’s last start he was not himself. He was highly motivated to go out there today and throw strikes and today he was extremely dominant,” Head Coach Tod Brown said.
The Lobo’s only issue was that 3 runs was all their offense had. The game knotted at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Lobos had a chance to win it. It looked very promising as the first two men reached but center fielder Khalil Walker bounced into a double play. This complicated things, but the winning run was still 90-feet away for right fielder Anthony Diaz. The Lobos would’ve taken any base hit, but Diaz came through with a walk-off home run, ending the game with the Lobos winning 5-3.
“I saw the slider up and turned on it. It felt great to come through for the team in a big spot,” Diaz said.
Game two was a complete rout. Starting Pitcher Ryan Castillo spun an absolute gem, going the distance, pitching a complete game. His final line was 9 innings pitched, allowing just 3 runs and striking out 8 and walking 1. The Lobo offense did plenty in game two as they went on to win 11-3.
Game three was an absolute slugfest. This back-and-forth affair saw San Diego State catcher Zach Justice start the scoring with the first of three Aztec home runs featured in the game. This was the first time San Diego drew first blood in the series, but like the Lobo offense did so many times, they responded with a run of their own.
“That’s what winning teams do, when the other team scores you have to answer back somehow. That’s what we did today and that’s how you win games,” Brown said.
The back-and-forth nature of this game continued but it would be Lobo designated hitter Gene Trujillo who had the final word. In the eighth inning, with the Lobos up 9-8 with two men on base, Trujillo sent a ball over the right field fence to give UNM some important insurance runs. That bomb proved to be the dagger in this 12-8 Lobo win. Relief pitcher Talor Grubbs had an uneventful ninth inning and the Lobos had a sweep of the San Diego State Aztecs.
“We played some great baseball this weekend and being in first place feels great. It’s nice to see that we’re hitting (our) stride right now,” Trujillo said.
With the series sweep, the Lobos move into first place in the Mountain West and have a date with second-place University of Nevada on Friday, April 17 at Santa Ana Star field, but first the Lobos will go on the road for a rematch against New Mexico State University on Tuesday, April 14.
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“We’d like to get New Mexico State back, we lost to them last time and on Wednesday we’ll start focusing on Nevada,” Brown said.
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
