STILLWATER, Okla. — The University of New Mexico baseball team allowed seven two-out runs in the first two innings and lost its second game in a row to No. 23 Oklahoma State 13-0 on Wednesday afternoon at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
The Lobos (11-5) and starter Austin Isenhart retired two of the first three batters in the opening inning before the left-hander hit a Cowboy (11-6) on a 2-2 count to put runners on first and second. OSU proceeded to put together four consecutive two-out hits to score four runs and take an early lead.
Again, Isenhart retired two of the first three batters to start the second inning before a two-run homer by Oklahoma State’s Garrett Benge led to a three-run inning for the Cowboys to build a 7-0 lead.
The Cowboys added another run in the third inning and five more in the seventh to make it 13-0 as the Lobos struggled at the plate for the second game in a row. UNM didn’t record its first hit until the sixth inning – a Danny Collier single – as that was one of three hits (the other two came from Hayden Schilling and Jared Mang) for a UNM team that entered this two-game series No. 2 in the nation in batting average.
“Oklahoma State is known for its pitching,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “Rob Walton, the pitching coach, has been a friend of mine for years and I consider him the best. The Cowboys went to Omaha last year as a result of pitching 23 shutout innings through the playoffs. It is obvious why! … Now we face the other legendary pitching program in the USA in Cal State Fullerton, who has a team ERA under 2.00. To make a run at being in Omaha, we have to do this! We can do this.”
Isenhart picked up the loss, going 1.2 innings and giving up seven runs on eight hits with a strikeout and no walks to move to 2-1 on the season.
The Lobos stay on the road as they begin a three-game series at No. 7 Cal State Fullerton starting 8 p.m. (MT) Friday. Listen to all three games of the series on ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM streamed at www.1017theteam.com and on the TuneIn Radio app.
“Besides the competition being the best in the country we’ve played lately, these kids have been in four time zones in four days,” Birmingham said. “It will help them appreciate big leaguers.”
NOTES
- The Lobos are now 2-11 against Oklahoma State all-time and 0-6 in Stillwater.
- The last time UNM was shut out in back-to-back games was May 13-14, 1990, against Hawaii (Hawaii won 3-0 and 2-0).