ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Playing with heavy hearts, the University of New Mexico baseball team took to the field for the first time in over a week as they played a doubleheader against UNLV on Saturday out at Santa Ana Star Field. The Lobos would drop both ends of the twin-bill, falling 4-2 in the opener and 18-8 in the nightcap.
Prior to the games on Saturday, both teams and the entire crowd in attendance came together on the field for a touching moment of silence and prayer around the pitching mound in honor of Jackson Weller, a teammate who was shot and killed last Friday night.
While not having thrown a pitch this season for the Lobos, a tremendous tribute was payed to Weller as game one starter Justin Slaten delivered the first pitch of the game using the glove of Weller. After the pitch, the glove and ball where taken into the dugout.
Slaten went on to nearly throw his first career complete game as he recorded two outs in the ninth inning before being relieved by Drew Marrufo. Slaten’s line saw him scatter five hits, allow four runs (three earned), walk five and strikeout eight.
Most of the run-scoring damage was done against Slaten early in the game as the Rebels scored three runs over the first three innings. The Rebels did plate their fourth and final run off of Slaten in unearned fashion in the fifth. After that, however, Slaten retired eight batters in a row before issuing a one-out walk in the eighth. A pair of flyouts rendered the walk harmless and ended the eighth.
Scoring for the Lobos in game one saw single runs in the third and sixth innings. The run in the third was a RBI single to left field off the bat of Jared Mang for his 50th RBI of the season. In the sixth, Reese O’Farrell singled home Connor Mang.
While the first game was a low-scoring affair, game two was anything but as the two teams combined for 26 runs on 41 hits.
The scoring started early as the Rebels plated a run in the top of the first inning on a solo home run. The Lobos answered back with a two-run bottom of the first inning. The first run in the frame came on a RBI single by Hayden Schilling that scored Justin Watari. Two batters later, Jeff Deimling singled up the middle to chase home Schilling and give the Lobos a 2-1 lead.
After neither team scored in the second inning, the Rebels took control with nine runs over the next two innings to take a 10-2 lead. Two runs in the bottom of the fifth for the Lobos made it a 10-4 game and featured a solo home run by Ediberto Reyes and a RBI single up the middle by C. Mang.
The Rebels and Lobos traded two-run innings in the seventh to keep it a six-run game at 12-6. After a three-run top of the eighth, UNLV took a 15-6 lead. In the bottom half, C. Mang got two of those runs back with a two-RBI double to right-centerfield.
UNLV struck for three more runs in the top of the ninth to bring the game to its final of 18-8.
The Lobos and Rebels will conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. First-pitch is slated for Noon and prior to that, the Lobos will hold a Senior Day ceremony for the six seniors on this year’s team.
Lobos drop twin-bill to Rebels
