Lobos complete mid-week sweep of Incarnate Word
SAN ANTIONIO, Texas – The University of New Mexico baseball team kept their winning streak going on Wednesday night as the Lobos were able to sweep the mid-week series at Incarnate Word thanks to an 11-6 victory. The Lobos now have a season-best six-game winning streak.
In the game on Wednesday night, the Lobos (14-4) got started quickly with three runs in the top of the first inning. The first of those runs was scored before the Lobos recorded their first hit of the game as both Justin Watari and Kyle Landers walked to start the game.
Kyle Castillo was then hit-by-a-pitch to load the bases. Following a strikeout for the first out of the inning, Harry Fullerton drew a walk as well to force home Watari. Ediberto Reyes then drove in Landers on a sacrifice fly to centerfield. The Lobos then caught a bit of bad luck as Lance Russell’s double to the left-centerfield gap went out of play for a ground-rule double, allowing only Castillo to score.
That three-spot in the top of the first would prove to be all of the run support that the Lobos pitching staff would need, but the Cardinals (9-7) still made things interesting over the first five innings. UIW would score single runs in the first and second innings to make it a one-run game, 3-2, through two innings of play.
Neither team scored in the third and fourth innings, but the Lobos struck for a crooked number in the fifth thanks to a 2-RBI single to centerfield off the bat of Reyes. Once again facing a three-run deficit, the Cardinals came back in the bottom of the inning and plated a run, but reliever Terrell Hudson came on for Will Armbruester and got out of the inning without further damage. Armbruester had previously entered the game in the third and recorded scoreless frames in the third and fourth innings.
After Hudson pitched out of the fifth, the Lobo offense went back to work in the top of the sixth and scored three runs to take an 8-3 lead. In that inning, the Lobos once more were able to load the bases with no outs. This time it was thanks to a pair of walks and a bunt single by Watari. On the very next pitch after Watari reached, Landers dumped a single to right-centerfield to score Jarrett Gonzales and Kemuel Thomas-Rivera. Two batters later, the bases were loaded once more and Connor Mang then drove in the third run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Hudson came back out and worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning to keep it an 8-3 game in favor of the Lobos. A half inning later, Landers picked up his third RBI of the game as he doubled to right field, scoring Thomas-Rivera and making it a 9-3 game.
A two-run home run by Incarnate Word in the bottom of the seventh brought the Cardinals within grand slam range of the Lobos, but the Lobos got both of those runs back in the top of the eighth to once more push the lead out six runs. Both runs in the inning scored on bases loaded walks with Thomas-Rivera and Watari each picking up the free RBI.
The Cardinals did score in the eighth inning as a leadoff hit-by-pitch came around to score, but Isiah Campa, who was making his first appearance since February 21, limited the damage there. Campa then came back for the ninth and despite issuing a leadoff walk, retired the side in order to close out the game.
True freshman Matt Haley made the start for the Lobos. On a predetermined pitch count and in first collegiate start, Haley worked 2.0 innings, allowed two hits, two runs, walked one and struck out three.
The Lobos will now prepare to head about an hour and a half northeast to Austin to take on the University of Texas in a weekend series. The last time that the Lobos played UT in Austin, the Lobos took two-of-three to open the 2010 season. The Longhorns were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time of that series.