Feb. 4, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. – The New Mexico baseball team fell to 12th-ranked Arizona on Opening Day Friday afternoon, 9-0, at Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium. Junior right-hander John Meloan struck out 12 batters and threw a one-hitter in 7.2 innings of action in picking up the win for the Wildcats. The two teams will meet in game two of the series Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Live stats will be available at ArizonaAthletics.com.
Meloan, who went a perfect 10-0 as a sophomore, was equally as dominatingin his first appearance as a junior. He didn’t allow a hit until junior shortstop Ryan Barba delivered a single to right field with two outs in the top of the eighth inning. Meloan exited the game after Barba’s single. Nine of Meloan’s 12 strikeouts were looking, and he also walked three batters.
After Meloan departed, Sean Jarrett tossed 1.1 innings of perfect relief for Arizona.
UNM’s only runner in scoring position came in the first inning as sophomore Chris Carlson walked and then advanced to second on a balk.
While the Lobo bats were cooled off all game long, Arizona got started early with two runs in the first. U of A added a run in the third on a Jason Donald RBI triple to right field, and plated two more in the fourth to go up 5-0.
Senior Jason Fernandez was relieved in the sixth after allowing five runs, all earned, on nine hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Senior Javier Lopez, a transfer from Arizona State University, pitched one inning of scoreless relief in his Lobo debut. Two other newcomers, Bobby Moore and Jesse Garcia-Perez, also made their UNM debuts with relief appearances.
Arizona, fresh off a College World Series appearance last season, collected 13 hits in the game. Jeff Van Houton went 3-for-3 with two runs, while preseason All-American Trevor Crowe produced three runs, two hits and two stolen bases.