SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of New Mexico baseball team dropped a 4-3 decision in 10 innings Friday night at San Diego State. The Aztecs tied the game with a run in the bottom of the eighth, and won it on a single to left-center in the 10th.
With a full count and a man on first SDSU’s Sevy Zavala knocked a base hit into left. Lane Milligan dove and knocked it down and quickly threw it in to shortstop Dalton Bowers. Bowers’ throw home easily beat the runner, but it one-hopped catcher Scottie Graham who was unable to corral it and the winning run scored.
It was a well-pitched game by both sides, as UNM (16-12, 8-6) didn’t record its first hit until the sixth inning. However, they recorded five over the next two innings to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Danny Collier got the Lobos’ first hit with one out in the sixth. He moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Milligan. Chris DeVito then doubled Collier in to make the score 2-1.
In the seventh Collier was again in the middle of things as UNM took the lead. Jack Zoellner was on second and Jared Holley was on first with two outs when the 2014 Mountain West Freshman of the Year lashed a full-count triple deep into the right-field corner to easily score both runners. That would be the last hit of the game for the Lobos, however, as three SDSU relievers kept them off the basepaths for the rest of the game.
The Lobos bullpen allowed the Aztecs (23-8, 11-3) to tie it in the eighth without a benefit of a hit. A walk, sacrifice bunt, flyout to advance the runner to third and a wild pitch gave SDSU its third run with two outs in the eighth.
UNM starter Toller Boardman wiggled out of a jam in the first as he allowed one run but left the bases loaded. After that he was excellent, scattering six hits in 6.1 innings while striking out four. Hayden Schilling was charged with the tying run in 1.1 innings, while Taylor Duree (0-2) suffered the loss.
The rubber match of the series will be Saturday at 2 p.m. MT, and it will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network and will be available at GoLobos.com.
Notes: It was just UNM’s second extra-inning game of the season … the first was an 11-10 win over the Aztecs at Lobo Field on March 7 … it was the ninth one-run game of the year for the Lobos (4-5).