ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – For a while Saturday it didn’t look like there would be any baseball played at Lobo Field due to about eight inches of snow covering the playing surface. The coaching staff, and even a couple players, helped shovel snow off the field to make it playable.
In the end, though, a game was played, and it was well worth the wait.
The University of New Mexico rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat San Francisco 4-3 in the Lobo Invite Presented by Fuddruckers Saturday night. Danny Collier drove in the winning run on a fielder’s choice with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth. He hit a sharp groundball to second, but instead of trying to turn a double play USF’s second baseman threw home to try and get the force out. Pinch runner Hayden Schilling dove in just ahead of the throw to give the Lobos (6-2) the win.
“I was just trying to go up the middle because I knew it would be a hard play for them to throw home and get that out,” Collier said. “I knew it would be pretty hard for them to turn a double play with my speed too, so I was just trying to get it up the middle basically.”
Luis Gonzalez got the rally started in the ninth with a double to right-center. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Dalton Bowers. Pinch hitter Jack Zoellner was hit by the first pitch he saw to put men on the corners for Cory Voss. The freshman catcher hit a squibber off the end of the bat just in front of the plate. Gonzalez broke on contact and slid in safely. To compound matters for the Dons, the throw home got away from the catcher, which allowed both Zoellner and Voss to move into scoring position. USF (0-10) intentionally walked Aaron Siple, setting the stage for Collier’s heroics.
“It was a good team win,” UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said. “We still aren’t there yet, though. We didn’t make a lot of mistakes today, but we did make one big mistake that almost cost us.”
That mistake came in the top of the seventh with UNM leading 2-0. Toller Boardman was on the mound for the Lobos and there was a man on first after a leadoff single. Boardman got what he wanted out of the next batter – a groundball – but Sam Haggerty couldn’t field it cleanly and a sure-fire double play turned into no outs. The next batter then hit a home run that just cleared the wall in right, giving USF a one-run lead.
“We still have a lot of things to fix,” Birmingham said. “The younger kids are playing lights out. They’re really playing well. At the plate (Chris) DeVito, (Carl) Stajduhar and Gonzalez are playing well.”
DeVito went 2-for-4 with an RBI, Stajduhar went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Gonzalez also went 1-for-4 with that clutch double in the ninth. Voss also had a solid game, going 1-for-3 with a walk and a deep double off the wall in left-center.
UNM opened the scoring in the third. Voss led off and worked a 12-pitch walk. One batter later he moved to second on an infield single by Collier. With two outs, DeVito lashed a single through the right side to knock home Voss and give the Lobos a 1-0 advantage. UNM added its second run in the sixth when Stajduhar singled home Haggerty, who had singled and stole second.
Carson Schneider was perfect through the final two innings to earn his first win of the season. Victor Sanchez also pitched a scoreless frame. Boardman struck out three without walking a batter in six-plus innings of work. On the season he has 15 strikeouts and just one walk.
The Lobos will play in the late game Sunday at approximately 1:30 p.m. against Utah Valley. The Wolverines will face off against San Francisco in the early game at 10:30 a.m. UNM’s game will be streamed live at GoLobos.com and broadcast live in HD on Comcast channel 26 by uPUBLICv. Colton Thomson will get the start on the mound for UNM.
Notes: Haggerty made his 115th straight start, the seventh longest streak in UNM history … the Lobos turned three double plays.