Lobos upset No. 23 Oregon State on opening day
SURPRISE, Ariz. – Riley Egloff and Brian McBroom combined for 13 strikeouts on Friday afternoon at Surprise Stadium, propelling the New Mexico baseball team to a stunning 7-2 upset of No. 23 Oregon State University on opening day at the Sanderson Ford Classic.
Egloff earned the win, allowing just one run in his five innings of work, before McBroom tossed the final four frames to claim his first save of the year. “It all starts on mound, and we got a great start from Riley,” said UNM head coach Tod Brown, whose team snapped a nine-game losing streak to the perennial powerhouse Beavers. “He threw three pitches for strikes today, competed in the zone, and challenged hitters. Defensively we were outstanding with no errors. We made all the plays, and that helps out our staff. Then Brian came in, threw four quality innings, and competed in the zone. They were both outstanding today.”
The Lobos (1-0) racked up 14 hits, had runners on base in every inning, and took advantage of an uncharacteristic three errors by the Beavers (0-1) to grab momentum midway through the game. In his Lobo debut, Dylan Ditzenberger went 4-for-6 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Newcomers Reed Spenrath, Jake Holland, and Deylan Pigford each also had hits in their Lobo debuts, while Jeffrey David delivered what proved to be the winning hit with a two-run single in the top of the fourth. “Offensively we were really good,” said Brown. “We left a lot of runners on base early and had a lot more opportunities, but they’re a good team and you can’t get them all.”
The Lobos overcame five runners left on base in the first three innings, as they threatened on multiple occasions but failed to break through before their three-run fourth. After that, UNM added one in the sixth, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth to solidify their first win over a ranked opponent since last year’s 12-7 win over No. 11 Arizona on March 23, 2022. “It’s huge for us,” Brown said. “We’ve got to get off to good starts, and Riley certainly did that. When he got into trouble he didn’t panic, and we played good quality baseball. The guys competed at a high level today.”
Ditzenberger led the game off with his first hit in a Lobo uniform, and Lenny Junior Ashby drew a patient walk on a 3-2 pitch to give UNM a pair of baserunners in the top of the first. OSU starter Trent Sellers got out of the jam, but had to work hard to do so as he threw 25 pitches in the opening frame. Egloff, who led the team a season ago with 52 punch outs, got off to a good start with his first strikeout of the year amid a clean first inning.
Pigford took after Ditzenberger’s lead and blasted a deep drive to the gap in right-center for a triple in the first at-bat of his Lobo career. Sellers shook off the one-out trouble however, ending the second inning with back-to-back strikeouts to keep the score at 0-0. “Our offense did what it needed to today,” said Egloff. “Pigford put it in perspective with that first triple that we are here to play, and everyone was locked in. If we can do that every time, we are going to have a good season. When the pitching and offense are both doing their job, it makes it easy to go on the bump and give it your best.”
The Beavers struck first in the bottom of the second, with the first home run of the year by Gavin Turley kicking off a string of three consecutive hits with one out. Egloff did well to limit the damage, stranding two runners on base and ending the inning with the score at 1-0.
The Lobos failed to capitalize on a dropped fly ball with one out in the third inning, and left two more runners on base as Sellers used his seventh strikeout and a routine fly ball to keep his team in front 1-0. Egloff kept building momentum in the bottom of the inning, striking out the side and upping his total to five through his first three frames. “It felt good,” said Egloff. “The velo wasn’t all the way there, but I mixed my pitches well and liked my changeup and slider today. It felt really good all around. When you’re able to have every pitch in your arsenal and throw them whenever you want, you’re going to have a good day no matter what.”
Holland was the third Lobo newcomer to collect his first hit in the cherry and silver, as he legged out a high chopper to third base to give UNM a leadoff baserunner in the top of the fourth. After Pigford’s second hit of the day, a single to move Holland to second, Sellers gave way to righty Ian Lawson. The right-hander posted a final stat line of three innings with two runs on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in his 2023 debut.
After Lawson retired the first two hitters he faced, Ditzenberger and David delivered back-to-back, RBI-singles to help the Lobos rally and take a 3-1 lead. Egloff responded with a shutdown bottom of the fourth as he retired the Beavers in order for the first time. “It feels awesome knowing that 1-through-9 our lineup can get us through anything, even if we go down early,” Egloff said. “We have a group of guys who are hungry and wants to win. They are a really good team, and we just did what we had to do. It’s really exciting to see what this team will do this year.”
Lawson worked around OSU’s third error of the game and a double off the bat of Braydon Runion in the top of the fifth, stranding runners at the corners with back-to-back strikeouts. Egloff ended his stellar outing with two more punch outs in the fifth, shrugging off his only walk of the day and stranding the runner on base. The righty allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk, throwing 90 pitches on the way to his eighth-career victory.
Runion came through again in the sixth, this time punching a two-out, RBI-single into left field that scored Ditzenberger and pushed UNM in front 4-1. Making his season debut in the bottom of the inning, McBroom used a highlight back-hand play by second baseman Devon Dixon and a strikeout to blank the Beavers for the fourth straight inning.
The Lobos kept their foot on the gas in the seventh inning, loading the bases with no outs before a two-run double by Ditzenberger into the corner in left field. An RBI-double off the bat of Reed Spenrath in the eighth made the score 7-1. “We had a great offense last year, but this year to keep tacking on is amazing,” said McBroom after earning his fourth-career save. “I had a lot more confidence going out there. I had to sit a long time between innings, and it was nice to be able to take a deep breath. Everyone did their job, and it was very much a team win today.”
The Beavers made some noise in the bottom of the eighth, when Micah McDowell led off with a double into the left-field corner. He came around to score on an RBI-double by Brady Kasper, but that was all the offense the Beavers could muster in the defeat. Ruben Cedillo was the lone Beaver with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 in the game, and OSU stranded seven runners on base. The Beavers used six pitchers in the defeat.
McBroom allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts and no walks, and matched the longest outing of his career. “Our thought was to go two innings and turn it over to our closer, but he was pitching so well and very efficiently,” Brown said on McBroom finishing the game. “You never take out a pitcher who is doing his job, and we just kept rolling with him. Brian is a fierce competitor who threw a lot of strikes with multiple pitches and competed.”
“I knew when I was going in, I was confident that I could go two or three innings,” said McBroom. “The 2-seam was working in and out, and my changeup was there when I needed it. The curveball was working as always. I knew even if things went south that I had confidence in the guys behind me. I knew that going into the last inning, I had a lot of confidence because of the fact that we had a five-run lead.”
“It makes me really happy, and last year in games that I started he was the next man up behind me,” Egloff said on McBroom finishing Friday’s game. “We have a good connection, and I love the kid. It is awesome to see him succeed and show what he’s got. Being able to use him for four innings and not burn through bullpen, gives this weekend a lot more help too.”
LOBO NOTES: UNM is now 5-17 overall against Oregon State and is 4-14 in neutral-site games between the teams…UNM snapped a nine-game losing streak in the head-to-head series…Ditzenberger finished his career at Kansas in 2022 with an active reached-base streak of 14 games, increasing that number to 15 with his leadoff single on Friday…Ashby extended his reached-base streak to seven games, after doing so in the final six of the 2022 season…Friday was the first three-hit game of Holland’s collegiate career…Oregon State ranked seventh in the NCAA in 2022 with a .982 fielding percentage, and committed three or more errors just four times in its 66 games a season ago.
NEXT UP: The Lobos are back in action on Saturday, with a 5 p.m. first pitch against UC Santa Barbara at Surprise Stadium.