RENO, Nev. – Toller Boardman held one of the top offenses in the nation in check into the ninth inning, and freshman catcher Cory Voss drove in two runs as the University of New Mexico baseball team defeated Nevada 3-1 Friday evening to move into a first-place tie in the Mountain West. It was the first home loss of the season for the Wolf Pack (13-4, 5-2), and the first true road game for the Lobos (11-4, 5-2).
“What Toller did today in that yard on a windy day is off the charts,” UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said. “That’s one of the best pitching performances I’ve seen as coach of the Lobos. He had them off-balance all day, and that’s a big-time lineup and one of the hottest teams in the country.”
Boardman (4-0) allowed just one run on four hits and one walk in 8.1 innings against a Wolf Pack team that came in averaging 7.1 runs per game and slugging .457. But after allowing a leadoff home run to Ryan Howell in the second, he just gave up three more singles the rest of the way while lowering his ERA to 2.43.
“Everything was working for him tonight,” said Voss. “He’s in the zone right now. He went into the ninth, and he probably could’ve finished it off and completed the game, but we got the win either way. Toller is pitching great. He’s doing a fantastic job.”
A key for Boardman was throwing first-pitch strikes, which he did to 22 of the 30 batters he faced.
“The biggest thing that I did was getting ahead with first-pitch strikes,” he said. “I was very efficient. I was also able to control my sliders down and away to their left-handed hitters.”
While Boardman was very good at throwing strikes, his counterpart, Cameron Rowland, struggled in that department. The Lobos were very patient in the early going off Rowland, who had walked just five men all year coming in. The Lobos, though, drew seven, with two of those coming around to score in the third inning.
Aaron Siple and Chris DeVito got things started with back-to-back one-out walks. Voss then doubled home Siple, and with two outs Luis Gonzalez singled home DeVito to give the Lobos a 2-1 lead.
Voss added his first career home run in the seventh to give UNM a valuable insurance run.
“(Rowland) had been working soft away and then come in hard late,” he said. “I had two strikes and I was trying to go the other way, but he threw a fastball up and in and I got a good swing on it. Sometimes that’s the best. You hit a home run when you’re not trying to hit a home run.”
Voss finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
“Cory Voss had a great day. They robbed him of a hit early on, but he hammered the ball all day long. He let the ball travel and did a super job.”
As it turns out, Boardman didn’t even need the extra run Voss produced. Although he walked just his third batter of the year and also hit two men, he threw 65 of his 95 pitches for strikes. No out was more important than his last, though.
After allowing a leadoff single to start the ninth, Nevada brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Preseason First Team All-American Austin Byler. No big deal for Boardman, though, as he struck out Byler on three pitches before giving way to Jake Cole.
“I would’ve loved to finish it off and throw a complete game,” Boardman said, “but with the tying run at the plate, and how he hit a home run off me earlier, I knew (pitching coach Dan) Spencer would come and get me. But I have complete faith in our bullpen, and Jake Cole proved that tonight.”
Cole’s task? Just keep Howell from adding to his NCAA-leading seven homers. Cole more than kept him in the year as he got Howell to ground into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play to earn his first save of the season.
“Jake Cole came in against a really tough hitter in a really tough situation and got the job done,” Birmingham said. “Our pitching was off unbelievable today.”
Jack Zoellner went 2-for-2 with two walks and his second triple of the season. DeVito drew three walks while Siple went 1-for-3 with two free passes.
Second baseman Sam Haggerty and left fielder Danny Collier each missed the game due to injuries, but it didn’t slow down UNM.
“We were able to get this win without Haggerty and Collier,” Birmingham said.
The teams meet at 2 p.m. MT on Saturday, and senior lefty Colton Thomson will get the start for the Lobos. The game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network at GoLobos.com.
Notes: This was the second straight game the Lobos drew seven walks …Voss leads the team with a .356 average … Boardman now has 18 strikeouts and just three walks on the season … UNM left nine men on base compared to just three for Nevada.