Lobos Drop Game Two to Golden Bears

BERKELEY, Calif. — The University of New Mexico baseball team dropped game two to the California Golden Bears by a final score of 23-5 on Saturday at Stu Gordon Stadium.

Kyle Landers led the Lobos as he went 2-for-3 with a run, a RBI and a double on the game. Both Lenny Junior Ashby and Justin Olson hit home runs, Olson’s being his fourth and Ashby’s being his Moutain West-leading 15th.

The Golden Bears opened up scoring in the bottom of the first as they scored two runs to take a 2-0 lead. Starting pitcher Brett Russell got out of the inning with a strikeout and flyout after the runs scored.

The Lobos scored their first run of the series, after being shutout in Friday’s series opener, in the top of the second. After a Braydon Runion groundout to start the inning, Landers doubled down the right field line. Then, on a 1-0 count, Willie Cano singled up the middle to bring home Landers.

In the third frame, B. Russell notched his third strikeout of the game but gave up five runs as Cal took a 7-1 advantage.

In the top of the fourth, Ashby launched a solo shot to right field, his 15th home run of the season. The Oranjestad, Aruba, native is now tied with Hunter Dorraugh of San Jose State for the most home runs in the conference.

The Bears were only kept scoreless in three innings this game – the second, fourth and fifth. In the fourth, B. Russell allowed a single but sat the rest of the batters down on a strikeout, a groundout and a pop out. In the fifth, after the first two batters were walked, Riley Egloff took over for B. Russell. He immediately forced two fly outs to begin his outing. After allowing a single which loaded the bases, He then forced a fielder’s choice in which the Lobo defense got the runner out at second to get out of the jam.

In the top of the sixth, New Mexico drove in another run as Landers hit a single to bring around Jeffrey David from third.

Cal then responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame to extend their advantage to 12-3. In the seventh, the Bears added nine more runs to jump out to a 21-3 lead.

Bringing in some pinch hitters in the eighth, the bench power came through. Pinch hitting for Ashby, Jack Silverman doubled to right center on the first pitch he saw. A couple batters later, Justin Olson pinch hit for Landers and launched the first pitch he saw for a two-run homerun to cut into the Lobos’ now 21-5 deficit.

The Bears responded with a two-run homerun of their own in the bottom of the frame to once again extend their lead. New Mexico failed to answer the 18 run deficit, falling to Cal by a final score of 23-5.

New Mexico’s record falls to 19-30 overall, while California’s record improves to 24-25 overall

The Lobos and Golden Bears will go head-to-head for the series finale at 1:05 p.m. (PT)/2:05 p.m. (MT) on Sunday afternoon.

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