Lively’s gem leads Lobos past Gauchos 3-1

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Tristin Lively struck out seven hitters in six shutout innings of work Saturday evening at Surprise Stadium, pitching the New Mexico baseball team to a 3-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara at the Sanderson Ford College Classic.

Lively was remarkably efficient in his debut outing of the 2023 season, needing just 74 pitches to get through his six frames of work. The right-hander earned his seventh-career victory, scattering four hits and issuing just one walk. “Baseball is all dictated by the starting pitcher, and after the first hitter he was really good,” said UNM head coach Tod Brown. “He settled in and threw a lot of strikes, and the defense made all the plays they were supposed to.”

After issuing a walk – his only free pass of the afternoon – to the leadoff hitter, Lively settled into a groove and was lights out. “We have a great team, and I had confidence in the defense behind us and the pitches being called,” said Lively, a fifth-year Lobo senior. “I went out there and tried to attack the zone, and make as many quality pitches as I could.”

Wil Bannister earned a six-out save in his first outing as a Lobo, allowing just one baserunner to seal UNM’s second straight victory to start the season.

The Gauchos (1-1) received an equally impressive outing from starter Matt Ager, who finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts in six innings of work. Alex Schrier and Nick Welch combined to keep the Lobos quiet over the final three innings, but the big third inning proved to be enough to lift UNM to the win. “Their starter was really good,” said Brown. “We had some tough at-bats, then made some adjustments and got a rally there. At that time we didn’t know it would be enough to win, but our guys competed at high level and our bullpen did a nice job as well. I’m very happy for the guys, and the message to them was to stay hungry and stay humble.”

Dylan Ditzenberger stayed red hot atop the lineup, picking up two more hits to push his total to 6-for-9 through the first two games of the year. Lenny Junior Ashby was 2-for-3 and had the game-winning hit in the third inning, but no other Lobo had more than one hit in the quiet offensive game. “Having a guy like Ditz both in the box and at third is huge for us,” Lively said on the Lobo newcomer. “I know anything hit his way he’s going to make the play and the great effort. Having plays like that amps you up and keeps you in the game.”

The Lobos (2-0) dodged a bullet in the bottom of the first inning, when an apparent 2-run home run off the bat of Christian Kirtley was overruled and called a foul ball. Ditzenberger then then took away what would have been an RBI-single with a leaping snag of a line drive, and Lively finished the inning with a punch out to keep the game scoreless. “Coach (Michael) Lopez talks to us about not being emotional on the mound,” said LIvely. “I shook off the first batter and the weird home run call, and went back to work. I tried to stay on the attack, and keep my head up.”

Ager continued to cruise early, striking out the side in the top of the second on just 10 pitches.

Ditzenberger set the defensive tone in the first inning, and took away another hit in the second with a sliding back-hand stop on a sharp ground ball off the bat of Nick Oakley. After his third strikeout of the day, Lively got a boost from his battery mate as Kyle Smith mowed down Oakley trying to steal second to end the inning.

After a one-out walk drawn by Chase Weissenborn in the top of the third, Ditzenberger legged out an infield single to second base and Jeffrey David drew a walk to load the bases for Ashby. Last year’s team leader in RBIs got his first two of the season with a two-run single to left-center, putting the Lobos ahead 2-0. An ensuing wild pitch brought home David from third as UNM established the early advantage.

A two-out double off the bat of LeTrey McCollum interrupted a string of three straight strikeouts by Lively, but the right hander stranded the runner in scoring position thanks to a good play by Weissenborn on a sharp ground ball to his back hand.

Smith’s first hit of the season was a leadoff triple in the fourth that hit off the top of the wall in center field, but the Gauchos used a double play on a bunt attempt to end the threat and keep the deficit at 3-0.

After a clean fourth inning by Lively, the Gauchos made some noise with a pair of two-out singles in the fifth. Lively kept his composure however, and Braydon Runion chased down a deep fly ball in right field to end the inning. The senior followed by retiring the side in order in a quick bottom of the sixth, finishing his season debut with four hits scattered across six innings with seven strikeouts and one walk.

A two-out single by Deylan Pigford followed Justin Olson’s first hit of the year and put runners on the corners against Schrier in the top of the seventh. The righty dug deep and beat Ditzenberger with a strike in a 3-2 count to strand a pair and keep his team within three.

Broc Mortensen sent the first pitch of the night from Lobo reliever Terrell Hudson over the fence in straightaway center field, with his first home run of the season getting UCSB on the board and making the score 3-1. The junior right-hander shook off the blow immediately, striking out the next three hitters to get momentum back on UNM’s side.

Defensive replacement Sean Stephens made a pair of catches in a clean eighth inning, and Bannister worked around a leadoff single by Zander Darby in the ninth to record the final three outs. “It was fun watching them pitch, and both were lights out,” Lively said on his successors. “I had all the confidence in the world in Terrell and Wil. Both are tremendous workers, and it was great to see all their hard work pay off in the game.”

UNM managed to win despite totaling just seven hits, as the Lobos played another stellar game defensively with no miscues to go along with the shutdown pitching. UCSB struggled offensively as well with just six hits in the game. Each team left five runners on base, and the two sides combined to strike out 24 times.

Lively’s effort came on the heels of Riley Egloff and Brian McBroom combining to allow two runs in UNM’s 7-2 victory over No. 23 Oregon State on Friday. “It was awesome to see Riley do his thing, and awesome to see McBroom go out there and do his thing,” Lively said on watching his fellow pitchers compete Friday. “He’s been out every day in early work, and it is amazing to see those two be competitors and the pitchers I know they can be.”

LOBO NOTES: UNM is now 2-5 all-time against UCSB and is 1-2 in neutral-site meetings between the teams…Ditzenberger extended his reached base streak to 16 games, dating back to his final season at Kansas in 2022…the triple was the fifth of Smith’s career…it was the sixth time in Lively’s career that he allowed zero runs in an outing of at least two innings.

UP NEXT: The Lobos have a rematch against No. 23 Oregon State, after stunning the Beavers 7-2 in the opening game of the season on Friday. First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for noon at Surprise Stadium.