ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A pair of errors put the University of New Mexico baseball team down in a quick 3-0 hole in the first inning against Fresno State as it seemed the Lobos may have their unblemished 9-0 Mountain West mark and five-game win streak put in jeopardy.
But the Lobos answered with six runs in the bottom of the first and went on to score 24 unanswered runs on their way to a 24-4 victory on a cold and windy Friday night at Santa Ana Star Field.
UNM (17-9 overall, 10-0 Mountain West) scored six in the first, four in the second, one in the fourth, seven in the sixth and six in the seventh on its way to its fourth 20-run game of the season and third in their last six games.
“The bottom of our lineup did a really good job,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “A lot of it for us (when we aren’t hitting) is with not being aggressive – not all of them, but some of them. … Overall it was a good job, but we got to win the series. Fresno State will come back at you and bite you in the butt. They aren’t going to be happy about tonight and they are going to come right back at us.”
As good as the hitting was for the Lobos, who are off to the best start in Mountain West play in conference history, the pitching was just as solid as ace Tyler Stevens had another stellar outing.
After the two errors allowed three unearned runs in the first, the junior right-hander shut the Bulldogs (14-11, 5-5) down over the next six innings – allowing just three hits over that stretch. Stevens finished the evening at seven innings pitched and gave up three unearned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and two walks to move his record to 4-2 on the season.
Drew Gillespie threw the final two innings and gave up an unearned run on four hits with no walks or strikeouts.
Sophomore Andrew Pratt, who entered the game in the bottom of the first, was one of seven Lobos with multiple hits and one of three with four hits as he went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and five RBI – the first four-hit game of his career. Luis Gonzalez was 4-for-5 with three doubles, three runs and three RBI and Jared Mang was 4-for-6 with four RBI and four runs. Jack Zoellner finished 3-for-7 with a double, two RBI and two runs, Hayden Schilling was 2-for-4 with a double, three RBI and four runs while Carl Stajduhar finished 2-for-6 with two runs.
Fresno State, who didn’t start ace and preseason All-American Ricky Tyler Thomas on Friday night, didn’t have a player with multiple hits. Fred Schlichtholtz got the loss, going 1.1 innings and giving up 10 runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks.
The two teams meet again 2 p.m. Saturday at Santa Ana Star Field for game two of the three game series. Johnathon Tripp (2-0, 5.18 ERA) is expected to start for the Lobos while Rickey Ramirez (2-3, 6.21 ERA) is expected to go for the Bulldogs. 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
- The Lobos have outscored their Mountain West opponents 158-57 thus far in its 10-0 start, winning by an average of 10.1 runs per game. They are also hitting .432 in conference play.
- The Lobos hit a season-high eight doubles Friday, including Luis Gonzalez with three doubles. It’s the second time he’s hit three doubles in a game – doing it at Air Force on March 5.
- UNM was walked a season-high 15 times on Friday, exactly a week after it was walked 14 times at UNLV. It’s the first time the Lobos have walked 15 or more times since walking 17 times at Hawai’i on Feb. 21, 2016.
- While the Lobos scored 24 runs Friday, they didn’t hit a home run and broke their streak of six straight games with a homer.