April 2, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY – For the second straight day, the Lobo pitching staff came through with a complete-game effort on the mound as sophomore Danny Ray Herrera threw an eight-hit, seven-strikeout gem in New Mexico’s 7-3 victory over Utah Saturday afternoon at Franklin Covey Field. Herrera, who improves to 4-1, only allowed three runs – one earned – on just two walks.
The complete game was Herrera’s first of his career, and the seven strikeouts were a season high. He nearly notched a complete game in his win over UNLV last week, just missing out after firing 8.2 innings. Herrera matched Jason Fernadez’s complete-game triumph in the first game of the series Friday afternoon.
The only runs Herrera surrendered all afternoon arrived in the first inning. After UNM scored one run in the top of the first on an Ian Hollick RBI single, the Utes (7-18, 1-7 Mountain West) answered with three in the bottom half of the inning. John Welsh scored on a Lobo error, and Ryan Khoury scored from third after the Lobos turned a double play. Doug Beck completed the scoring on an RBI single off the bat of Jay Brossman to make it 3-1 in favor of Utah.
The Lobos (14-15, 3-3 Mountain West) cut the lead to one on a Matt Foote RBI sacrifice bunt in the third that plated Daniel Stovall. UNM took the lead for good in the fourth as Ute left fielder Seth Tartler committed a two-out fielding error that brought home Garrick Haymore and Chris Carlson.
Although Stovall didn’t get credit in the fourth for driving in Haymore and Carlson due to the error, he certainly did in the sixth as he hit a three-run blast to left field, plating Haymore and Carlson once again to put UNM up 7-3. For the game, Stovall went 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBI. Hollick was 3-for-5 with a triple.
The four-run cushion was more than enough for Herrera, who only allowed three base runners in the final three innings.
The Lobos will look for the series sweep Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available at GoLobos.com and UtahUtes.com.