ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico baseball team’s bats went cold as the Lobos fell to Grand Canyon University 6-1 on Tuesday night at Santa Ana Star Field.
UNM collected four hits in the contest and its only run of the game came on a fifth-inning home run by Andrew Pratt that landed on top of the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center across the road that sits behind the 405-foot marker in left-center field.
“We work really hard on mechanics and swings and attacking the fastball and we were doing that through the first 10 games of the season,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “Now we have a virus. All the sudden Oklahoma State didn’t throw us any fastballs and now we don’t want to go hit a fastball. We are being too picky.”
The Lobos (11-9) fell behind in the second inning when GCU (6-12) had the first four runners reach and all of them scored (highlighted by a two-run double by Garrison Schwartz) off UNM starter James Harrington.
It was the lone major blip for Harrington as the junior went 5.2 innings and gave up five runs on eight hits with no strikeouts and one walk.
Other than Pratt’s fifth-inning homer, Jared Mang doubled and Robby Campillo and Andrew Gregory each singled to account for the Lobos’ four hits. UNM struggled with runners on base, going 1-for-13 (.077) while GCU was 7-for-19 (.368).
Leading 6-1, it appeared GCU was going to tack on more as it loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning as the Lobos went to freshman Nathaniel Garley out of the bullpen. The right-hander got a lineout, strikeout and a flyout to get UNM out of the jam.
The two teams meet again 1 p.m. Wednesday with Austin Isenhart (2-1, 6.92) getting the start for the Lobos while Bobby Milacki (0-1, 10.50 ERA) will go for the Lopes. Listen to the game with play-by-play from Robert Portnoy on ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM streamed at www.1017theteam.com and on the TuneIn Radio app.
NOTES
- Freshman left-hander Chandler Coates made his collegiate and Lobos debut, going 1.2 innings and giving up a run on five hits.