ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It was a memorable Senior Day for the University of New Mexico Lobos’ only fourth-year senior, Ryan Padilla, but it was a redshirt freshman, Reece Weber, who stole some of the spotlight Sunday afternoon at Lobo Field.
Weber tied a school record with four doubles and the Lobos (27-23, 16-11) completed a series sweep of San Jose State (12-40, 5-22) with a 19-8 rout Sunday afternoon. Weber was just the fifth Lobo to record four two-base hits in one game and the first freshman to do so. He had two chances for a fifth double, but he walked in the seventh and struck out in the eighth.
“Reece Weber has the highest batting average on the team right now, and he looks really good,” UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said. “He’s a kid that’s been itching to play, and he’s done well. So he got a job. (He’s) anxious to learn and anxious to get better. But it was a big day for Ryan Padilla, and that’s what I want to talk about.”
Padilla was named a Freshman All-American in 2012 after hitting .353 with five home runs and 49 RBIs while helping lead the Lobos to Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles. However, he struggled the last two seasons at the plate hitting just .266 and .252 in 2013 and 2014, respectively, so he returned to one of his high school positions this year: pitcher.
“His first year was off the charts,” said Birmingham. “But we wanted to (get him on the mound) because it might give him a chance to get drafted. I don’t know how hard he threw today, but he throws strikes and he has a good breaking ball. It’s a big-league breaking ball.”
Padilla, who is one of four co-captains on this year’s squad, recorded three groundouts in his lone inning of work in just his third career appearance on the mound, all of which have come in the last 10 days. On Friday May 1 he retired All-American Austin Byler on just one pitch in his first action on the mound. He also pitched an inning against New Mexico State last Tuesday. In 2.1 innings this year he has a perfect ERA of 0.00.
“I’m just glad I got the opportunity to come in today and give my mom a nice present on Mother’s Day,” Padilla said. “The more opportunities I get to go out there the more comfortable I get. I’m feeling relaxed out there and am just letting it fly.”
Padilla also smacked a two-run triple in the eighth inning in his only at bat.
“It’s a great day for that kid,” Birmingham said. “He’s one of my favorite kids of all-time. I’m just really pumped his last day at Lobo Field was this. … Ryan has meant a lot to me because he’s a New Mexico kid. We stuck with him and he stuck with us. He was a man about everything. He just does what he can to help the team. That’s awesome, and you don’t find that much anymore. You don’t find that unselfish dedication to a program like Ryan Padilla.”
UNM lead 6-2 after three but saw the Spartans tie it in the fourth. A six-run fifth, though, created some separation and the Lobos cruised.
Luis Gonzalez, who started on the mound for UNM, got the inning started with a bunt single. It was the first of six consecutive hits to start the frame. Carl Stajduhar and Jack Zoellner followed with singles of their own to drive in the first run of the frame. Weber then laced a two-run double down the right-field line, and Lane Milligan followed with a single to center. Hayden Schilling chipped in with an RBI-double down the right-field line. Gonzalez eventually came up again to drive in the sixth run of the frame with a fielder’s choice grounder to first.
UNM tacked on four more in the seventh and two in the eighth to finish its four-game week with 60 runs scored. The Lobos hit .455 as a team with a .714 slugging percentage and a .539 on-base percentage. Stajduhar, Gonzalez, Weber and Siple all hit better than .560 for the week.
“This is definitely what we needed going into the (MW) tourney and going into Fresno too,” Siple said referring to UNM’s final series of the season next weekend at Fresno State. “We needed these wins. It’s good to get them in such an emphatic fashion.”
Six Lobos recorded multiple hits on Sunday led by Weber. Stajduhar went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, while Zoellner was 3-for-6 with three runs and a pair of RBIs.
James Harrington (1-1) earned his first collegiate win by allowing one run in two relief innings. Alex Estrella also allowed one run in two innings, and Jake Cole, a fellow senior along with Padilla and Siple, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the win.
Despite Sunday being Senior Day, it is not UNM’s final home game of the season. The Lobos will host No. 9 Arizona State on Tuesday in their final game at Lobo Field in 2015. ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will carry the game, and it will be streamed online on the Mountain West Network at GoLobos.com. uPUBLICtv will produce the game and air it locally on Comcast channel 26.
Notes: The only Lobo senior not to play was injured pitcher Colton Thomson …Stajduhar has 50 RBIs on the season and is two shy of tying UNM’s freshman record set by Jordan Pacheco in 2005 … Weber is hitting .389 in 54 at bats this season … UNM raised its team batting average 10 points to .309 this weekend vs. the Spartans … DJ Peterson was the only Lobo freshman to ever have three doubles in a game, and he did so back in 2011 … Justin Howard was the last player for UNM with four doubles, performing the feat on May 2, 2010.