ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico baseball team used a mix of patience at the plate and a strong performance on the mound from Luis Gonzalez to take down preseason All-American pitcher Ricky Tyler Thomas and Fresno State 6-2 Sunday afternoon to claim the rubber match of the three-game series at Santa Ana Star Field.
The Lobos (18-10 overall, 11-1 Mountain West) scored five combined runs in the sixth and seventh innings without the benefit of a hit thanks to drawing eight walks and taking advantage of a Fresno State (15-12, 6-6) error to turn a 1-1 game into a 6-2 lead (the Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the seventh).
Combine it with Luis Gonzalez giving the Lobos seven strong innings on the mound, giving up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks, and Carson Schneider coming off injury to throw two scoreless frames, and the Lobos bounced back from their first loss in conference play Saturday 2-1 in extra innings after a Mountain West-record 10-0 start.
“To win two out of three against the defending regular-season champs last year that returns everyone but one guy is a good thing,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “… I don’t know what’s going on with us at the plate – maybe we used all of our hits up on Friday night (during a 24-4 win), but you got to tip your hat to their pitchers. They are pretty good. But our pitching was pretty good this weekend too.”
The Lobos took an early 1-0 lead on Fresno State when Jared Mang came through with a two-out RBI double to score Gonzalez (who led off the game with a walk).
“It was good for us to go out and get that early lead,” Gonzalez said. “I can just go out there then and throw strikes and pitch with confidence.”
Fresno State evened the score in the third inning when it came through with its own two-out RBI hit – this one by Jake Stone – to make it 1-1.
The score remained that way as Gonzalez and Thomas battled until the sixth when a one-out walk to Carl Stajduhar led to the Lobos scoring the go-ahead run – and they would stay ahead for good. Mang followed the walk with a ball hit back to the pitcher Thomas, but his throw to try and get Stajduhar at second base was offline and the junior hustled his way around to score to give UNM a 2-1 advantage as Mang moved to second.
The Lobos eventually loaded the bases before Andrew Pratt entered to pinch hit and drew a walk to give UNM a 3-1 lead.
Fresno State got one back in the top of the seventh before the Bulldogs walked the first five UNM batters of the bottom of the inning to force in two runs and make it 5-2. A wild pitch scored another run as the Lobos took a 6-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Lobos were patient all weekend at the plate as UNM walked a season-high 15 times Friday, nine times Saturday and 12 times on Sunday for 36 walks during the series.
The runs were more than enough for Gonzalez as he moved his record to 3-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.86.
Overall, the UNM pitching staff surrendered just four earned runs during the three-game series with the Bulldogs to lower the team ERA down to 4.42 on the season – something that doesn’t go unnoticed by the position players.
“Going into a weekend like this, the weather is definitely a factor,” UNM senior outfielder Andre Vigil said. “It’s definitely a weekend for our pitchers to come out here and show what they got – and that’s what they did.”
Vigil paced UNM at the plate, getting two of the Lobos’ three hits while Mang had the other Lobo hit and finished 1-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two runs.
UNM returns to action Wednesday when the Lobos travel to take on University of San Diego at 7 p.m. (MT) before heading north to start a three-game Mountain West series with San Jose State 8 p.m. (MT) Friday.
Patience, pitching lead Lobos past Fresno State
