Lobos come up short in slugfest with UC Riverside
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico and UC Riverside baseball teams combined for 28 runs on 31 hits in the series opener on Thursday night out at Santa Ana Star Field. UC Riverside emerged victorious from the slugfest with an 18-10 win over UNM.
The scoring in the game started early as the Lobos (16-21) plated four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. In that inning Zack Doak and Hayden Schilling each had RBI singles. The Highlanders (12-23) responded in a major way, however, in the next half inning as they struck for nine runs on 10 hits to take a 9-4 lead through an inning and a half.
That five-run lead then shrunk to just two as the Lobos scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning to make it a 9-7 game. Both of the Mang brothers contributed to the scoring for the Lobos in the second as Jared Mang had a RBI double and Connor Mang, a two-RBI single a batter later. The double for J. Mang was the 50th in his career.
After neither team scored in the third, the Lobos scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to knot the game at 9-all. In that inning, Doak collected his third RBI on a double down the right field line. He later scored as well on a RBI groundout by Tanner Baker.
In the fifth, the Highlanders scored a pair of unearned runs to take an 11-9 lead. That lead swelled out even further in the seventh as UCR had another big inning offensively, this time scoring six runs on five hits to take a commanding 17-9 lead.
The two teams traded single runs over the final two innings to bring the game to its final of 18-10. The Lobos’ final run of the game came in the eighth on a RBI groundout by Micah Pietla-Wiggs.
Game two of the series is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 19 at Santa Ana Star Field.