ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico baseball team struck for seven early runs en route to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Grand Canyon Antelopes Tuesday night at Lobo Field. Carl Stajduhar had the game’s biggest hit, a three-run homer in the third to back a strong start by sophomore Carson Schneider.
“We were just going up there seeing the ball and hitting the ball,” Stajduhar said. “We work so hard on our approaches. We were up there trusting all of our training and trying to make something happen so we could give our pitcher some run support.”
It was the fourth straight win for UNM (20-15) after snapping a four-game losing streak last Friday vs. Air Force.
On a windy evening, Cory Voss got UNM on the board with a leadoff home run in the second that cleared the batter’s eye in center field, some 413 feet away from home plate. The Lobos added a second run later in the inning when Hayden Schilling drove in Jack Zoellner with a groundout.
The big inning was the third, though, when the Lobos scored four runs with two-outs. The first two batters were quickly set down before Lane Milligan blooped a single to center field. Voss followed with a walk on a full count to put two men on. Zoellner ripped a single to right to score Milligan, and Stajduhar then roped his third home run of the season down the left-field line to give UNM a 6-0 lead.
“Stajduhar’s (home run) was legit,” UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said. “That was a rocket. It got out in a hurry. He backspun it.”
The Lobos’ final run came in the fourth. Dalton Bowers led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice and went to third on a groundout. Aaron Siple then drove him in with an infield single off the first baseman’s glove to make the score 7-0.
That would prove to be more than enough for Schneider (3-1). The southpaw scattered five hits, four of them singles, over five scoreless frames. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.
“I was just trying to work down in the zone, throw a lot of strikes, get groundballs and let the defense work,” said the Sandia High product. “That was the gameplan, and I did a pretty good job with it.”
Grand Canyon (21-15) got all its runs in the seventh when it began the frame with six straight hits against reliever Alex Estrella. However, Jake Cole came in and finished the game without allowing another run to earn his fourth save. The big righty struck out five in 2.1 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.42.
“He had already (pitched) last weekend, and we asked him to come back and work today,” Birmingham said of his senior closer. “He’s the strong bond that we can still count on. Most of the pitching staff is in the hospital.”
UNM got the win despite being out-hit 14-8. Stajduhar finished 2-for-4 with a double, Zoellner also finished 2-for-4 and, along with Voss, led the team with two runs scored.
“That’s a good team we just beat,” Birmingham said. “Glad to get (the win).”
The teams will meet again Wednesday afternoon at 3 for the second game of the short midweek series. Freshman Luis Gonzalez will make his first career start. The game will be streamed by LoboTV on the Mountain West Network, and ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will broadcast it.
Notes: Danny Collier saw his 16-game hitting streak come to an end … Chris DeVito got his first day off of the season after starting the first 34 games … Milligan also finished with two hits.