Lobos Fall to No. 25 TTU 6-3 in Midland
MIDLAND, Texas – The University of New Mexico baseball team lost to No. 25 Texas Tech 6-3 in the first ever neutral-site meeting between the schools. The Red Raiders (23-9) hit a three-run homer in the fifth to break a 2-2 tie and held on for the victory over the Lobos (19-10-1) in the second of three meetings between the schools this season.
Tyler Gibson (0-1), who had not allowed a single run in 10.2 innings coming into the game, was the victim of the home run and charged with all three runs.
Texas Tech jumped out to a 2-0 lead after three innings and neither run came off a base hit. The Red Raiders got a run in the first off an error, and a bases-loaded walk in the third provided the other run off starter A.J. Carman.
Carman gave up four hits and walked three, but he also struck out three and gave up just one earned run.
The Lobos tied the game in the fourth. Chase Harris got the inning started with a single to left center, and he scored on a double by Alex Real, who advanced to third when TTU unsuccessfully tried to throw Harris out at home. John Pustay then drove in the tying run with a groundout.
After Tech’s homer in the fifth, UNM crept closer in the eighth. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Sam Haggerty drove in a run with a groundout to second. However, the Lobos were unable to get any closer as Harris and Real struck out to end the inning.
The Red Raiders got the run right back in the bottom of the inning, though, on a two-out single, a pair of wild pitches and a passed ball. Pustay led off with a single in the ninth, but the Lobos couldn’t manage anything else.
Danny Collier led the team with three hits, including a double, while Harris and Ryan Padilla added two apiece as UNM out-hit the Red Raiders 10-7. The Lobos will host Texas Tech at Lobo Field on Monday, April 21
UNM returns home to play New Mexico State Wednesday with the game time now at 6 p.m. ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will broadcast the game, and fans can also catch a live stream of the game at www.golobos.com. Freshman righty Preston Ryan will make his third start of the season.
Notes: Collier’s double was his third of the season and Real’s was his team-high 10th … freshman Carson Schneider struck out a career-high three in 2.2 innings of relief work.