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Devon Dixon homered and was stellar with the glove once again in the Lobos 16-6 win over St. Bonaventure on Sunday.

Gallegos shines, offense delivers in finale win over St. Bonaventure

by Evan O'Kelly

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A stellar start by Isaac Gallegos was backed by another stalwart offensive performance as New Mexico’s baseball team scored early and often in a 16-6 run-rule victory over St. Bonaventure on Sunday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field.

The Lobos (9-2) were up 15-0 after the third inning, plating 11 runs in the third inning to leave no doubt in the series finale between the teams. St. Bonaventure slipped to 1-7 on the season with the defeat, and the Lobos claimed the four-game set 3-1.



Gallegos earned his second win in a Lobo uniform with a rock-solid 64-pitch outing that covered five innings of work. The right-hander scattered three hits in his shutout performance, while striking out five and walking none.

Gallegos found his groove from the start, striking out a pair of hitters in the top of the first inning. Jeffrey David blasted a one-out double into the left-field corner in the bottom of the inning, and Braydon Runion put the Lobos ahead 1-0 with his fifth consecutive hit.



The Lobos played solid defense in the top of the second, with Chase Weissenborn making a head’s up play to catch the lead runner at third base on a routine ground ball. Deylan Pigford then chased down a deep drive in left-center, negotiating with the sun to secure his first catch of the game.

After a one-out walk to Pigford in the bottom of the second, Devon Dixon delivered his second home run of the season with a no-doubt shot to left field to put the Lobos ahead 3-0. David kept his hot bat alive, following Dixon’s homer with an RBI-triple after Weissenborn legged out an infield single.

Dixon had the defensive play of the day in the top of the third, handling a tricky hop on a sharp ground ball that took him into center field before gunning down Jayce Tharnish by half a step.



Runion led off the big third inning with a double, and Kyle Smith drove his first home run of the season deep over the fence in center to make the score 7-0. Smith’s homer drove SBU starter Andrew Ayers from the game, after allowing seven runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Dylan Ditzenberger extended his reached base streak to 25 games with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot over the fence in right that made the score 10-0. Reed Spenrath added a two-run double, Pigford delivered a two-run triple, and Dixon ended the 11-run frame by just missing his second home run with an RBI-double off the top of the wall to make the score 15-0.

Lenny Junior Ashby punched a double into left center with one out in the fourth, giving every Lobo starter at least one hit and one run scored in the blowout victory.
Benjamin Baker-Livingston, Brett Russell, and Terrell Hudson combined to throw the final two innings for UNM, with the Bonnies making a little bit of noise and plating three runs in the top of the sixth and seventh.

Justin Olson ended the game in the bottom of the seventh, ripping an RBI-single into right field to bring Ashby across the plate and restore the Lobos’ 10-run advantage.

LOBO NOTES: New Mexico is now 3-1 all-time against St. Bonaventure…Dixon’s home run was the eighth of his collegiate career…Smith’s home run was the eighth of his collegiate career and his fourth as a Lobo…Ditzenberger’s home run was the fifth of his collegiate career…Gallegos’s win was the 17th of his collegiate career…the third inning marked the third time this year the Lobos have scored 10 or more in a single frame…UNM scored 10 runs in the third inning against Northern Colorado on Feb. 24 and 11 runs in the first inning on Saturday against the Bonnies.

COMING UP: The Lobos square off against No. 24 Texas Tech in a mid-week game on Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas. It will be UNM’s final non-conference game before starting Mountain West action next weekend at home against Air Force.