Lobos Drop Series Opener to Fresno State 15-5
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fresno State opened the game with three runs in the opening inning, and it never stopped. The Bulldogs scored in each of the first eight innings off five different pitchers, as Fresno State took the opening game of a three-game series 15-5 over New Mexico. The loss dropped UNM to 12-15-1 overall and 6-7 in the conference, while Fresno State improved to 18-11 overall and 5-8 in the league.
The two teams will meet up on Saturday in game two at 2 p.m. with Edgar Gonzalez going for Fresno State and Cody Dye for UNM.
The Lobos struggled in the field, giving Fresno State a pair of freebies in the opening inning, committing two errors, and four overall. In the opening inning, Fresno State took a 2-0 lead just four batters in on a two-run double by Carter Binns. A third run came home on UNM’s second error of the inning, making it 3-0.
UNM came right back, plating two in the bottom half. Derek Marshall and Connor Mang each laced run-scoring singles and put the tying run on third with one out, but UNM hit into one of three double plays on the evening, leaving UNM down 3-2.
From there, regardless of UNM’s offense which touched Ryan Jensen for five runs, it was Fresno State scoring in each inning that did the Lobos in.
Fresno State scored single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, each a different way. Miles Tomczak homered in the second, a run scored in the third on an error, in the fourth on a wild pitch and the fifth on a single. UNM responded in the third with a Danny Collier double and a Hayden Schilling single, which made it 5-3 in the third, and again in the fifth with two-out run scoring double from Darek Marshall, which made it 7-4 Fresno State after five.
But UNM’s bats couldn’t keep up. The Bulldogs put up two in the sixth on another two-run double by Binns, and then the Bulldogs put it away in the eighth with five runs scoring, the big blow a bases clearing double by Jeremiah Burks.
The Lobos picked up 12 hits on the night with Marshall and Brayden Merritt each getting two, but the Bulldogs got 16 hits, five more reached on walks and two batters were hit. For the Lobos, Justin Slaten picked up the loss to drop to 1-6, while Ryan Jensen earned his first win of the season, moving to 1-3.
NOTES: Fresno State needs one more win to take its first ever series in Albuquerque.