Spenrath hits 3 HR in 30-1 rout of Northern Colorado
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Reed Spenrath hit three home runs in the first four innings on Friday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field, as the New Mexico baseball team blasted Northern Colorado 30-1 in the 2023 home opener.
The Lobos (4-1) used an eight-run second and a 10-run third inning to blow the game open right away, and never looked back on the way to tying the second-highest run total in program history.
Spenrath went 3-for-4 with six RBIs and three runs scored, and was the first Lobo to hit three homers in a game since Braydon Runion achieved the feat on April 15, 2022 against San Diego State. Jeffrey David had a career-high six RBIs and matched his career high with five hits, delivering a double and a triple.
Leadoff man Dylan Ditzenberger extended his reached base streak to 19 games, going 3-for-3 with a career-high four runs while adding three RBIs and stealing a base. Devon Dixon was 3-for-5 with a career-high four runs while hitting his first home run in a Lobo uniform and driving in three runs. Jake Holland also hit his first home run as a Lobo, as UNM tallied a season-high five long balls on the day.
Reigning Mountain West Pitcher of the Week Riley Egloff was magnificent again on the mound, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out eight in five shutout innings of work to earn his second win of the season. Egloff needed just 62 pitches to get through his efficient start, and he was one strikeout off his career high while earning his ninth-career victory.
Benjamin Baker-Livingston allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks in three innings of relief, and Adolfo Iturralde struck out a pair in a scoreless ninth inning to finish the game.
Northern Colorado starter Ely Ruiz allowed 13 runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts and three walks in his 2 1/3 innings of work. Four relievers slogged through the Lobo lineup in a forgettable day of pitching for the visitors. No Bear had more than one hit in the game, as Northern Colorado managed just one run on five knocks while striking out 12 times. The Bears fell to 2-2 on the season with the lopsided loss.
New Mexico was one run away from tying the school record of 31, set on April 17, 2004 against Air Force. UNM also missed tying the single-game RBI record of 28 (which has been achieved three times) by one. The Lobos’ 28 hits in the game were tied for sixth-most in single-game history, and UNM racked up 51 total bases on Friday.
Fifteen different New Mexico players had a hit, 13 scored at least one run, and a dozen drove in at least one run. Freshmen Caleb Herd and Akili Carris each recorded their first-career hits in the game, and freshman Dominic Felix also made his collegiate debut while picking up his first RBI.
In addition to the headline day at the plate, New Mexico was perfect defensively for the fifth consecutive game and has made zero errors in the first 47 defensive innings of the 2023 season.
David was the first Lobo since Sean Stephens on May 7, 2022 to collect five hits in a game, and he and Spenrath were the first Lobos to total six RBIs in a game since Kyle Smith did it on April 24, 2022. The last time the Lobos had five home runs in a game was on May 20, 2022 against Air Force, and the last time they totaled 25 or more hits was on March 22, 2017 against Grand Canyon when they had 25. It was also the first time the team had 20 or more RBIs since March 31, 2017 against Fresno State (21) and 40 or more total bases since March 24, 2017 against UNLV (42). The third inning was UNM’s first 10-run inning since March 22, 2017 against Grand Canyon.
LOBO NOTES: UNM is now 28-10 overall against Northern Colorado and is 28-9 in home games against the Bears…the Lobos continued to build upon their best start since 2017, when the team also went 4-1 in its first five games.
NEXT UP: The series resumes Saturday with a noon doubleheader at Santa Ana Star Field.