Lobo Baseball Earns First Win of Brown Era in Home Opener

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico baseball team opened up its’ home season with an explosive 13-4 win over the Holy Cross Crusaders on Friday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field. This victory marks the first win under the reins of head coach Tod Brown.

Willie Cano led the Lobos as he went 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, two triples and a double. Senior catcher Cody Holtz notched his first hit as a Lobo in a big way, as he hit a three-run home run in the third inning. Senior shortstop Kamron Willman also recorded his first homerun as a Lobo, shooting a two-run blast to left center in the seventh inning.

Junior starting pitcher Riley Egloff earned his first win of the season as he held the Crusaders to two runs on six hits in 5.0 innings pitched with four strikeouts. Brian McBroom did a solid job in relief as he allowed two runs on three hits and notched two strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched.

The Lobos jumped out to a 4-0 advantage early using a couple extra base hits and a sacrifice fly to score those runs. After Adam Schneider ripped a double down the left field line, Willman brought him home with a triple down the right field line. Willman then scored on a sacrifice fly by Lenny Junior Ashby. After Jeffrey David and Kyle Landers were walked, Cano brought them both home with a triple to lead the Lobos to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning.

The next inning, New Mexico tacked on another run as Cole Posey hit the Lobos’ third triple of the game and then was brought home by a Schneider sacrifice ground out for a 5-0 lead.

In the third inning, Holtz game the Lobos a 8-0 advantage as he launched a three-run homerun to left field, scoring Jack Silverman and Cano in the process.

After a clean fourth inning, the Crusaders notched two runs in the top of the fifth to make the score 8-2, still in the Lobos’ favor. New Mexico responded with another run in the bottom of the inning as a line out to center by Schneider brought home Cano from third.

Relieving Egloff in the sixth inning, McBroom started off strong with a three up-three down inning, all three fielded by second baseman Posey. The Lobos notched on another run in the bottom of the inning as David scored on a Cano double, making the score 10-2.

The Crusaders scored a run in the top of the seventh, but New Mexico responded with two more in the bottom of the inning as Willman hit his first home run in a Lobo uniform, a two-run jack to left center to put the team up 12-3.

In the eighth inning, Kyle Smith notched his first hit in the white and red, a triple to score Lance Russell from first and make the score 13-3 in favor of New Mexico. Holy Cross was able to put another run on the board in the ninth but the Lobos came out victorious by a score of 13-4.

The Lobos earned their first win of the season for a 1-4 overall record, while the Crusaders fell to 0-5 overall in the 2022 season.

New Mexico continues its’ four-game series against Holy Cross with a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game set for 11 a.m. (MT).

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