Feb. 20, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Texas State broke a 2-2 tie with five runs in the top of the seventh inning, keyed by an Elliot Babcock grand slam, to defeat the New Mexico baseball team, 9-2, Sunday afternoon at Isotopes Park. The Lobos now stand at 4-6 for the season, while the Bobcats improve to 8-2. New Mexico returns to action next weekend (Feb. 25-27) for the Rice Tournament in Houston, Texas. The Lobos will face Nebraska Friday at 12 p.m. MT, Western Carolina Saturday at 3:30 p.m. MT, and No. 10 Rice Sunday at 2:30 p.m. MT.
The Lobos jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings. In the first, A.J. Spitaleri drove in Jay Russell on an RBI single to right field. Carlos Castillo hit his first homer as a Lobo with a solo shot down the left-field line line in the second.
But after collecting four hits in the first two frames, the Lobo offense was limited to one hit the rest of the contest.
Texas State got on the board with two in the fifth. Kyle Jones delivered an RBI double and Jose Rodriguez drove in the other run on an RBI groundout.
The game remained tied until the top of the seventh. Darren Coltrinari, UNM’s starter, struck out Cassidy Dresch to start the inning, but after allowing a double and then hitting the next batter, he was relieved in favor of Petr Pacas. Pacas walked his first batter to load the bases before Elliot Babcock cleared them, hitting a grand slam over the center-field fence. The Bobcats scored one more unearned run in the inning to make it 7-2 and added two in the eighth on a Kyle Anson two-run single.
Jason Baca threw three innings of hitless and scoreless relief for Texas State to earn his first victory of the season. He relieved starter Ryan Bennett in the sixth, who allowed two runs and five hits in five innings.
Despite picking up the loss, Coltrinari (1-2) had a solid outing, striking out five and giving up four runs on seven hits.
In addition to Spitaleri and Castillo, Jay Russell, Jordan Pacheco and Ryan Barba each collected hits for the Lobos.