ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A ninth-inning rally fell just short for the University of New Mexico baseball team Sunday against San Diego State, as the Lobos dropped the series finale 10-8. Lobo pitchers walked seven batters in the first five innings, five of which eventually came around to score, as UNM (9-3, 4-2) fell behind 7-2 and couldn’t climb out of the hole as it was denied in its attempt to sweep the Aztecs (13-3, 4-2).
“We gave away too many free bases,” UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said. “Our pitching looked vulnerable these last two days, but (San Diego State) is a very good ballclub, and I’m excited to take two out of three against them in a really strong (Mountain West) conference this year.”
With the score 10-5 in the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitter Reece Weber got the rally started with a single up the middle. Danny Collier’s infield single moved him to second, and he went to third on an error by the Aztec’s shortstop. Ryan Padilla squibbed a single to third to drive home Weber and make the score 10-6.
Chris DeVito, who hammered the Aztecs all weekend, was denied extra bases by SDSU’s no-doubles defense, but his groundout moved both men into scoring position. Pinch hitter Carl Stajduhar knocked Collier in with a sacrifice fly, and Padilla scored on a wild pitch.
Luis Gonzalez then walked with two outs to bring the tying run to the plate, but Jack Zoellner struck out to end the game.
“If our bullpen and our defense do what they’re supposed to do, we probably tie this game,” Birmingham said.
Alex Estrella, UNM’s seventh pitcher of the game, was the only one not to allow at least one run all game. Gonzalez (2-1), who actually started the game at designated hitter, suffered his first loss after allowing four runs in 2.2 innings.
The Lobos actually out-hit the Aztecs 14-13. DeVito went 2-for-4 with his second home run of the series, and Collier, Andre Vigil, Aaron Siple also finished with two hits apiece, but it wasn’t enough to dig UNM out of its early hole. The Aztecs finished with eight free passes to just three for UNM.
UNM didn’t draw its first walk until the seventh with the score 8-5 in favor of the Aztecs. Back-to-back walks to DeVito and Lane Milligan loaded the bases with two outs, but Gonzalez struck out to end the threat.
“Baseball is a game of chains of events,” Birmingham said. “People have to do their part. It’s one guy here, it’s one guy there. Ryan Padilla didn’t hit a rocket (in the ninth), but he put the ball in play and made things happen. In other clutch situations we had guys take strike three right down the middle. We can’t take a pitch off. One guy can’t let the other guys down. You have to battle. Whether you get a hit, whether you make a great catch, whether you make a great pitch, you have to battle.”
The Lobos battled all weekend and took two of three from a very hot Aztec team. UNM is tied for second with San Diego State and a game behind Nevada, which took two of three at UNLV this weekend.
“Getting two out of three from these guys is huge,” Birmingham said. “(SDSU has) a senior-laden ballclub and we’ve got freshmen and sophomores dominating the lineup.”
UNM returns to action Tuesday against Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. in the first game of a two-game midweek series.
Notes: Sam Haggerty’s streak of consecutive starts ended at 118, the sixth longest in school history, due to an oblique injury … DeVito leads the team with four home runs, 16 RBIs and a .364 average … Padilla led the team with two RBIs … a season-high 1,024 fans attended the game.