Lobos Drop Back and Forth Battle with San Jose State

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico baseball team dropped a close, back and forth contest, 7-6, in a game two loss to San Jose State on Saturday night at Santa Ana Star Field.

The Lobos faced a tough back and forth battle as the lead changed four times and the score was tied once throughout the matchup with the Spartans. Jeffrey David led New Mexico as he went 3-for-4 with two runs. Southpaw starter Matt Haley went 5.0 innings pitch, allowing three runs on eight hits while fanning six batters.

Haley struck out two Spartans in the top of the first, but an RBI single with two outs gave San Jose State an early 1-0 advantage.

The Lobos quickly knotted the game at 1-1 as a solo home run by Cole Posey did the trick. He jumped on the first pitch he saw in his first at-bat of the night for his fourth jack of the season.

San Jose State regained the lead as they scattered two runs across the third and fourth for a 3-1 advantage. Haley held the Spartans scoreless in the fifth frame on a flyout and two straight strikeouts to end the frame.

New Mexico then came together offensively in the bottom of the frame to take their first lead of the game. Bases were juiced as David walked, Lenny Junior Ashby was hit by a pitch and Kyle Smith was walked to open the inning. The next batter up struck out but with one out on the board, the Lobos had something to work with. Willie Cano then came up to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly to right field, enough to bring home David from third.

The Lobos now with two outs on the board were jumping at any opportunity to bring home a few more runs. With Posey up to bat, a wild pitch allowed Ashby to score from third and K. Smith to advance to third, tying the game up at 3-3.

Johnny Podsednik then struck out swinging but reached first on a wild pitch to load the bases again. Chase Weissenborn worked a full count to single and drive in K. Smith and Posey, giving the Lobos a 5-3 advantage.

The Spartans tied the game at 5-5 in the sixth as they scored two runs in the frame and the game stayed the same until the eighth.

In the eighth inning, the Spartans plated another pair of runs to take a 7-5 lead. Weissenborn made many outstanding plays, but the throw from his knees to get the second out of the eighth was the most crucial. Reliever Benjamin Baker-Livingston ended the frame with a strikeout to prevent further damage with the Lobos now down two runs.

In the bottom of the frame, the Lobos cut their deficit to 7-6 as David singled, advanced to third on a throwing error by the Spartans third baseman and then eventually scored on a groundout by Justin Olson.

Baker-Livingston forced three groundouts in the top of the ninth to keep the Spartans at bay, but the Lobos were unable to respond in the bottom of the inning, falling to San Jose State in game two by a final score of 7-6.

New Mexico’s record falls to 16-26 overall and 7-16 in Mountain West play, while San Jose State improves to 24-19 overall and 13-10 in conference action.

The Lobos and Spartans pair up for the final game of the series on Sunday. First pitch is set for noon (MT) at Santa Ana Star Field.

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