March 10, 2007
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It was a total team effort in the 8-2 win Saturday afternoon at Isotopes Park as the Lobo baseball team improved to 9-11, topping the Rhode Island Rams. Every New Mexico batter recorded at least one hit while junior starter Stephen Smith improved to 2-3 overall, allowing just two runs in 6.0 innings and the UNM bullpen turned in three scoreless innings.
Senior Matt Foote got New Mexico on the board in the bottom of the first, leading off with a single and then stole second. Foote scored on a grounder to third by senior Daniel Stovall. Stovall scored the second run of the inning on an 0-2 double to left by junior Matt Hibbitts.
Smith didn’t allow a hit to the Rams until the third inning. In the fourth, he gave up a single and a double, cutting the Lobo lead to just a run. However, a double by junior Ian Hollick and a triple by freshman Derek Pilkington plated two runs, giving New Mexico a 4-1 lead.
Rhode Island wore down Smith and drew two walks and a hit for a run in the sixth. But the Rams hit a wall with the Lobo relief pitchers, pounding out just four hits in the last 3.0 innings.
The Lobos solidified the win in the seventh, scoring four runs on six hits. Senior Jay Russell, Stovall and sophomore Dane Hamilton all doubled and scored.
Russell and Pilkington led UNM at the plate, going 3-for-4. Hibbitts also notched three hits, going 3-for-5. Hamilton and Pilkington each drove in a team-high two runs while Stovall scored a team-leading two runs. Freshmen Ryan Escarcega and Jarrad Watkins each threw a one-hit inning of relief, striking out one.
The Lobos go for the series sweep against Rhode Island tomorrow at 1 p.m.