Lobos close out Opening Weekend with 5-0 loss to No. 7 Oregon State
SURPRISE, Ariz. – Three days after opening the 2019 season against consensus top-10 nationally-ranked Oregon State and nearly completing an upset, the University of New Mexico baseball team took to the diamond once more against the defending National Champions on Monday afternoon. In the second meeting, Oregon State would pick up a 5-0 shutout victory over UNM.
Despite being shutout for the first time this season, the Lobos (2-2) did have some success offensively as they totaled six hits with half of those going for doubles. All three of the doubles also led off respective innings in the third, fifth and seventh, but the Lobos were unable to register the timely hit to push those runners across the plate.
Connor Mang and Derek Marshall Jr. accounted for the doubles with Marshall Jr. doubling twice. Both hitters also registered multiple hits in the game with Mang going 3-for-4 and Marshall Jr. going 2-for-3.
On the mound, the Lobos used four pitchers with three making their collegiate debuts. Junior right-hander Drew Gillespie got the start and worked 5.0 innings. The Beavers (4-0) would tally six hits and three runs (two earned) off of Gillespie, who registered both his strikeouts in the game against preseason All-America honoree, Adley Rutschman.
True freshman Jack Murano was first out of the bullpen and pitched 0.2 innings in his collegiate debut before being relieved by redshirt freshman Jack White. White would get the final out of the sixth inning on one pitch and then tossed a perfect seventh inning to close his debut.
Redshirt freshman Drew Marrufo had the final three outs of the game in the bottom of the eighth and allowed one earned run while notching his first career strikeout.
The Lobos will now return home and prepare for their home-opening series beginning this Friday at Santa Ana Star Field. The series will be a four-game slate against Niagara with a single game slated for Friday night, a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday afternoon as well.