Lobos Fall to Texas Tech 9-3
LUBBOCK, Texas – The University of New Mexico baseball team dropped a 9-3 decision to Texas Tech Tuesday afternoon. The Lobos (8-4-1) were undone by their inability to get a few Red Raiders (10-3) out in key situations, as four TTU batters combined to record 16 of the team’s 17 hits.
The Lobos jumped on the board in the first. Sam Haggerty laced the first pitch of the game to right for a single. Two batters later he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. John Pustay then came through with a two-out RBI with a single to center to give UNM an early 1-0 lead.
Texas Tech responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, however. UNM fought back in the second, though. Jack Zoellner was hit by a pitch leading off the inning. With two outs he advanced to third on a double by Jared Holley. Haggerty then beat out an infield single to third to knock Zoellner home and make the score 3-2.
After that, though, the Red Raiders began to chip away at the Lobo pitching staff. TTU scored one in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the eighth.
UNM’s final run came in the top of the eighth as Kirby McGuire singled home Alex Real, who had doubled earlier in the inning, with an infield hit. McGuire and Haggerty each finished with two hits and an RBI as all three of UNM’s runs came with two outs.
Another bright spot in the Lobo lineup was freshman Danny Collier out of Sandia HS. Making his third straight start in the outfield, he finished 3-for-5 with a stolen base. Over the last four games he is batting .583 (7-for-12) with three runs and two RBIs.
Jake Cole, who began the season as UNM’s closer, made his first start for the Lobos and suffered his first loss.
The Lobos open Mountain West play this weekend when they welcome UNLV to Lobo Field. The Rebels is currently 8-3 overall, including 3-0 in the conference after a sweep of Air Force last weekend. All three games will be streamed live on GoLobos.com, and each game will be broadcasted by ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM.
Notes: UNM recorded 10 or more hits for the sixth straight game … A.J. Carman, Jonathan Cuellar, Taylor Duree and Carson Schneider each made their fifth relief appearance of the season, which is tied for the team lead … Holley tied a career high with seven assists in the field.