Lobos complete DH sweep of BYU with 5-4 win
SURPRISE, Ariz. – A few hours after shutting out BYU 2-0 inside the Spring Training home of the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals, the University of New Mexico baseball team moved over to a side field at the complex and completed a split DH sweep with a 5-4 win in the nightcap.
In the second game against BYU, the Lobos (2-1) played as the home team and saw their dominant pitching from game one carry over as starter Tristin Lively struck out the side in the top of the first. After nothing doing in the bottom half, the Lobos suddenly found themselves down 3-0 as the Cougars struck for three runs on four hits off of Lively in the second.
The Lobo offense backed Lively and pulled even with the Cougars in the bottom of the third. Jarrett Gonzales led off that inning with a single to right-centerfield. Justin Watari then tripled to right-centerfield to chase home Gonzales and put the Lobos on the board. Kemuel Thomas-Rivera then lifted a sacrifice fly out to left field to plate Watari.
Following a groundout, Connor Mang drew a walk to extend the inning. Ediberto Reyes then singled through the right side to move Mang to third. In the next at-bat, the Lobos tied the game at three-all on a RBI double to right-centerfield off the bat of Harry Fullerton.
An inning later, the Lobos plated two more runs to take a 5-3 lead. Watari was responsible for the first run of the frame as he singled to centerfield to score Lance Russell, who led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error by the Cougars’ third baseman. Later in the inning Watari scored from third on a walk to Kyler Castillo that turned into a wild pitch.
That rally in the fourth put Lively in line for the win and he would take his outing into the fifth inning, but was relieved with two outs after loading the bases with consecutive walks. Freshman right-hander Will Armbruester was called upon for the high-leverage situation and he rose to the occasion striking out the lone batter he faced in the inning to escape the jam and keep the Lobos on top.
Armbruester, who would earn his first collegiate victory, came back for the sixth and walked the first man he faced, but a clutch 6-4-3 double play negated the free pass. Armbruester then retired the next man at the plate to out a cap on his collegiate debut.
Sophomore Jack Murano was handed the ball for the seventh and he worked around a lead-off hit-by-pitch with a pair of strikeouts in the inning. Murano then came back for the eighth inning and had to work around another hit-by-pitch as well as a walk to keep it a 5-3 lead for the Lobos.
In the ninth, the Lobos turned to junior newcomer Miguel Reyes Jr. After retiring the first two batters of the inning on a flyout and a strikeout, Reyes Jr. surrendered a solo home run by the Cougars’ three-hole hitter Hayden Leatham to make it a 5-4 game.
Undeterred by the homer, Reyes Jr. struck out the next batter to put the nail in his first save as a Lobo and give the team the double-dip of the Cougars.
Offensively, the Lobos totaled nine hits and four players had multiple hits with Watari, Fullerton, Kyle Landers and Gonzales all having two hits. On the mound, the Lobos registered double-digit strikeouts of the Cougars for a second-straight game, ending the nightcap with 11. Lively had six of those strikeouts in his start followed by one by Armbruester and two apiece from Murano and Reyes Jr.
The Lobos will have Sunday off and will take to the field for their final game of the Sanderson Ford Collegiate Classic on Monday morning against Gonzaga. First-pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. (MT).