ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s a rare day when The University of New Mexico baseball team puts on a uniform and the score doesn’t matter – but that’s exactly what the annual alumni game as the past met the present Saturday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field.
“This is such a great day,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “This is the day that brings the Lobo brotherhood together.”
While the score doesn’t matter, there was still a game played and the current Lobos dominated on their way to an 18-3 victory over the alumni. At one point, the alumni put 13 players on defense to try and slow down the Lobo bats.
Jeff Deimling and Robby Campillo got the Lobo offense going in the second inning as each had a pair of RBI singles to make it 3-0 before a home run from senior Danny Collier pushed the Lobo lead to 4-0.
Campillo, a sophomore, added to the lead as he blasted a two-run shot in the third inning to make it 6-0. Freshman Phillip Sikes followed with a two-run double and freshman Brayden Merritt hit an RBI double to make it 9-0.
The alumni got on the board thanks to a Danny Gonzalez RBI single and a Johnathon Tripp RBI groundout made it 9-2.
Sikes drove in two more with a two-run single in the fourth to give the Lobos a 12-2 lead and junior shortstop Hayden Schilling followed with a two-run single to make it 15-2 Lobos.
The Lobos eventually took an 18-2 lead before the alums got a solo home run from Logan Lippert eventually made the final 18-3.
There was one more key moment in the game in the seventh as current Lobo Christian Tripp pitched against his brother – 2017 Lobo alum Johnathon Tripp – and the older Tripp got the best of it with a double.
The Lobos begin the season Friday in Surprise, Arizona, when they take on No. 2 Oregon State.