Lobos swept by Aztecs

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – San Diego State scored 14 runs over the final two innings on Sunday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field, dealing the New Mexico baseball team a 19-7 defeat in eight innings to cap a Mountain West Conference series sweep.

The Lobos led the game 7-5 at the end of the sixth inning, but the Aztecs scored 10 runs in the seventh to blow the game open and run away with the win. New Mexico fell to 15-11 on the season and is now 5-6 in conference play with the defeat, while San Diego State improved to 10-13 overall and 7-3 in league play with the win.

Five different Aztecs had at least three hits in the game, including Brady Lavoie who was 3-for-4 with three legs of the cycle despite entering the game as a pinch hitter. Shaun Montoya went 4-for-6 with three runs scored, while leadoff man TJ Fondtain was 3-for-5 with four RBIs. After a cast of five pitchers allowed seven runs on 10 hits to the Lobos, Eldridge Armstrong iced the game with three shutout frames to earn his second victory of the season.

New Mexico starter Isaac Gallegos took the no decision on Sunday, allowing five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Five Lobo relievers combined to pitch the rest of the game. Making their first starts of the season, Justin Olson and Sean Stephens carried the Lobos offensively, combining to go 4-for-7 at the plate. Olson hit a three-run home run and delivered an RBI-single, while Stephens reached base in 3 of 4 plate appearances on the day. Braydon Runion finished the game 3-for-4, as the Lobos totaled a dozen hits while leaving 11 men on base.

Catcher Jake Holland saved the Lobos a run in the top of the first inning, scooping a nasty breaking ball in the dirt and then pouncing on it quickly enough to keep Montoya from advancing to second base. An ensuing hit off the bat of Tino Bethancourt was deep enough to score a would-be runner from second, making Holland’s stellar defensive play crucial in keeping the game scoreless.

The Aztecs jumped ahead in the top of the second inning, rallying for a pair of hits and a pair of runs to take a 2-0 advantage. The Lobos put a pair of runners on in the third, and it took a leaping snag by Fondtain in left field to haul in a hard fly ball off the bat of Lenny Junior Ashby to save a pair of runs from scoring.

After legging out an infield single in the third, Stephens put his Class A speed on display in center field in the fourth as he raced into the gap to snag a deep drive off the bat of Martinez. Fortune favored the Aztecs however, as a towering pop up into shallow left field landed untouched and a deep fly ball by Montoya bounced in and out of Ashby’s glove as he collided with the wall on a full sprint. Both plays could have ended the inning, but instead SDSU turned it into a two-out, three-run rally to make the score 5-0.

Olson’s second home run of the season came perhaps when the Lobos needed it most, as Holland and Runion set the table for him with a single and a double, respectively, in the fourth. The first baseman then drove a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left-center, cutting the spread down to 5-3.

Gallegos finished his outing by getting out of a jam in the top of the fifth, as the Aztecs put a pair of runners on base with one out. The right hander dug deep, striking out consecutive hitters to strand two aboard and avoid the threat.

Olson delivered again in the bottom of the fifth, punching an RBI-single into right field to plate Holland and bring the Lobos within a run down 5-4. Reliever Arthur Steinkamp got out of trouble in the sixth, as he faced runners on second and third with just one out. The veteran left-hander used a strikeout and a routine pop up to center to end the inning.

A single by Devon Dixon followed by three straight walks to start the sixth inning tied the score at 5-5, as Konner Kinkade drew a patient, run-scoring free pass on a 3-2 pitch. An ensuing defensive miscue and a wild pitch with the bases loaded gave UNM a 7-5 lead, but the advantage was short lived.

The game-changing seventh inning featured 14 hitters, eight hits, an error, and a walk to push SDSU ahead 15-7. Dixon doubled for UNM in the seventh but was stranded on base, and the Aztecs plated four more runs in the eighth to set up the run-rule victory.

LOBO NOTES: UNM is now 84-129 all-time against SDSU and is 43-49 in home games against the Aztecs…Olson first had four RBIs in a game on March 23, 2022 against Arizona…Olson’s home run was the 13th of his collegiate career and was his sixth as a Lobo.

COMING UP: The Lobos play at rival New Mexico State on Tuesday night, before resuming conference play at home next weekend with a three-game series against San Jose State.