May 20, 2005
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The New Mexico baseball team smashed 22 hits and tied a season high in runs as it pounded Air Force, 20-14, Friday afternoon at Falcon Field.
Although the Lobos (25-29, 15-14 MWC) won their second straight game over the Falcons and have won six of their last seven conference games, they will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s Mountain West Tournament. San Diego State (17-13 MWC) clinched the No. 3 seed with a 12-1 victory over BYU earlier Friday in San Diego. The Lobos will play fifth-seeded Utah in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday, May 25 in Salt Lake City. The series finale between the Lobos and Falcons (8-42, 3-26 MWC) is set for Saturday at 12 p.m.
Several Lobos had outstanding days at the plate in the offensive onslaught. Senior catcher Jeff Grady led the way with two solo homers, four hits and four RBI. Grady now has a team-best 15 homers for the season.
Garrick Haymore went a perfect 4-for-4 with a two-run homer, three RBI and two runs. It marks the fourth time Haymore has collected four hits in a game this season.
Ryan Barba continued his hot hitting as he went 3-for-4 with three runs, and Daniel Stovall also tallied three hits and two runs. Chris Dabbs drove in three runs and hit a two-run inside-the-park homer in the eighth for his seventh round-tripper of the year.
Danny Ray Herrera (8-4) won his MWC-leading eighth game of the season, striking out seven and allowing 10 runs, eight earned, in seven innings of work.
The Lobos got on the board quickly as Haymore hit a two-run shot in the top of the first. The Falcons answered right back with four in the bottom of half of the frame to go up 4-2.
Haymore was at it again with a run-scoring double in the second, cutting the lead to 4-3. UNM took the lead for good with four in the third to take a 7-4 lead.
The Lobos built a 14-5 cushion after scoring in the fifth on a Jeff Grady solo homer and plating six more in the sixth. Chris Carlson delivered a three-run, bases-loaded double in the big sixth inning.
The runs kept piling up in the late innings. After a Jeff Grady RBI single in the seventh, Dabbs hit his inside-the-park homer in the eighth. In the ninth, Grady nailed his second solo homer of the game and his brother, Tim, roped a pinch-hit RBI single to give UNM 20 runs in a game for the second time this year. The Lobos also plated 20 in a 20-7 win over Savannah State March 11.
Air Force also hit the ball well in the late innings, scoring two runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Falcons made things interesting with four unearned runs in the ninth, including a three-run homer by Reid Lamson.