ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Cory Voss, Carl Stajduhar and Dalton Bowers each had three hits, but the University of New Mexico baseball team lost a back-and-forth game to Stephen F. Austin 8-5 Tuesday night. UNM (9-4) allowed the Lumberjacks (5-12) to score four times in the eighth inning as the Lobos dropped their second straight.
Stephen F. Austin pounded out five hits in the decisive eighth off Victor Sanchez (0-1) after the Lobos had taken the lead in the bottom of the seventh on a triple by Voss and a single by Stajduhar.
The Lobos had a great chance in the bottom of the eighth with two men in scoring position and just one out, but Andre Vigil and Chris DeVito both struck out to end the threat.
Voss became the first Lobo in nearly five years to record two triples in one game, and he know has four on the season. He finished 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs.
The Lobos opened the scoring with three runs in the fourth. Voss led off with a triple and scored on a groundout by Lane Milligan. Stajduhar and Jack Zoellner then hit back-to-back doubles for another run, and Bowers drove in Zoellner with a single through the right side.
But, like they did the whole game, the Lumberjacks answered with a rally of their own to tie it. When UNM added one in the fifth, Stephen F. Austin again tied the game with a run in the next half inning..
The Lobos are starting to hit the ball as a Ray Birmingham-coached team usually does, as they rapped out at least 10 hits for the fifth straight game. However, the usually reliable UNM bullpen has struggled of late. Lobo relievers have allowed 12 runs in the eighth inning or later in the last three games, two of which have been losses.
Freshman Tyler Stevens made his first career start and did not allow a run in three innings. He gave up three hits and walked two, but he got a key double play and had a runner thrown out attempting to steal to keep the Lumberjacks off the board.
The teams meet again Wednesday afternoon at 2 at Lobo Field. Junior right-hander Mike Gould will make his first start of the season on the mound.
Notes: Alex Allbritton was the last Lobo before Voss to record two triples in one game, doing so against Coppin State back on April 18, 2010 … Aaron Siple went 2-for-4 and scored a run … Bowers, who was hitting .077 at the start of March, has raised his average all the way to .205 after a 7-for-18 stretch.