ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An explosive offensive performance by the University of New Mexico baseball team led by a five-hit day by Jared Mang paced the Lobos past Missouri State 17-8 on Thursday night at Santa Ana Star Field in a matchup of two top-45 RPI teams.
The Lobos (19-13-1), ranked 43rd in the latest RPI rankings, trailed 7-5 heading into the bottom of the fifth before a three-run inning highlighted by a go-ahead RBI single by Danny Collier gave the Lobos an 8-7 lead. UNM followed it up with a six-run sixth inning thanks to a three-run triple by Beau Capanna and a three-run double by Jared Mang to take a 14-7 advantage into the seventh.
“We hit the ball well, but we were still sloppy,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “That’s a good Missouri State team over there and we better clean some things up and have a better focus on what’s going on or they will get us the next two days.”
The sloppiness Birmingham speaks of is a trio of Lobo errors that led to three unearned runs for Missouri State (21-12), ranked 24th in the latest RPI rankings, early in the game.
However, the Lobos eventually found their stride and surrendered just one run over the final 4.1 innings – highlighted by a scoreless inning from Chad Smith and a scoreless 1.1 innings from Austin Wendt. Brandon Langan picked up the win, going 0.1 innings and giving up two hits as he was in when the Lobos took the lead in the fifth. James Harrington got the start for UNM, going three innings and giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
At the plate it was a trio of underclassmen pacing the Lobos as the sophomore Mang finished 5-for-6 with a home run (the Lobos’ first in seven games), double, four RBI and three runs, the freshman Capanna went 3-for-4 with a triple, double, four RBI and two runs while sophomore Hayden Schilling went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs.
MSU ace Jordan Knutson took the loss, going 4.1 innings and giving up eight runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts and two walks. MSU’s Justin Paulsen went 3-for-4 at the plate while Blake Graham went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer.
The Lobos and Bears play again 6:30 p.m. Friday at Santa Ana Star Field with Tyler Stevens (4-3, 3.40 ERA) going for UNM and Dylan Coleman (4-1, 3.54 ERA) going for MSU. Listen to the game with play-by-play from Robert Portnoy on ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM.
NOTES
- It’s the 11th time this season the Lobos have scored 10 or more runs in a game.
- The five hits Thursday was a career high for Mang as he’s now hitting .349 on the season.
- The Lobos changed their lineup for Thursday as it was the first time Luis Gonzalez didn’t hit lead off this season in this being UNM’s 33rd game. Danny Collier led off for the Lobos while Gonzalez hit third.