Big 6th sparks Spartans past Lobos
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A momentum-swinging five-run sixth inning by the San Jose State baseball team on Friday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field was enough to back eight strong innings from starter Micky Thompson as New Mexico was defeated 8-3 in the middle game of a Mountain West series.
Thompson limited UNM’s offense to three runs – two earned – on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks in his first-career outing that lasted into the ninth inning. Darren Jansen recorded the final three outs with a strikeout, as Thompson passed the ball to him with Lobos on the corners and no outs in the ninth.
New Mexico led the game 3-1 after the fifth inning, before the visitors turned the tables and never looked back. SJSU improved to 14-11 on the season and 7-4 in conference play, while UNM slipped to 16-12 overall and 6-7 in league play.
Konner Kinkade hit his first collegiate home run – a solo shot in the fifth – but it proved to be the final run the Lobos managed to score against the tough Spartan left-hander. Jake Holland was the lone Lobo with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. UNM totaled seven knocks in the game, while striking out seven times and leaving seven runners aboard.
For the Spartans Jack Colette and Theo Hardy were each 3-for-5 with an RBI while Matt Spear and Jeriah Lewis each drove in two runs. The Spartans totaled 14 hits, while drawing seven walks and leaving 10 men on base.
On a day where it turned a season-high four double plays, New Mexico got starter Tristin Lively out of a jam in the top of the first going around the horn for its first of the day.
San Jose State took advantage of a wild pitch on a third strike to extend the second inning, and Lewis came through with a two-out, RBI-single to put the visitors ahead 1-0.
Kinkade displayed more good glovework in the top of the third, starting another 5-4-3 double play before ending the inning by handling a high bounce to strand a runner at third base.
The Lobos’ breakthrough came on a botched defensive play in the bottom of the fourth, with two errors by the Spartans allowing two runs to score including Kyle Smith who touched all four bases amid the chaos on his ground ball. Kinkade’s first collegiate long ball followed in the bottom of the fifth, increasing UNM’s advantage to 3-1.
Momentum shifted in the top of the sixth inning, when the first six Spartans reached base. Spear had a two-run single, Theo Hardy and James Shimashita drove in runs with hits, and Robert Hamchuk completed a five-run rally with an RBI-ground out as SJSU pulled ahead 6-3. Lively finished the frame with his third strikeout, but it was the end of the line for the righty as he allowed six runs on 10 hits with three walks in his six innings of work.
The big frame was enough to boost Thompson, who retired six of seven hitters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings to keep the lead in his team’s hands.
Hardy led off the eighth with a double, and ensuing hits from Lewis and Jack Colette upped the visitors’ lead to 8-3. Holland led off the ninth with his second hit of the day and Smith beat out an infield single to give the Lobos a chance at a late rally, but Jansen relieved the stress by getting the next three hitters to end the ballgame.
Benjamin Baker-Livingston allowed two runs on three hits with two walks in 1 1/3 innings of relief, before Terrell Hudson finished the game on the mound for UNM with 1 2/3 scoreless frames allowing one hit and two walks.
LOBO NOTES: UNM is now 27-18-1 all-time against the Spartans and is 18-5 in home games…Lively’s three walks were a season high, as he entered the day ranked No. 58 in the NCAA in walks-per-nine innings at 1.71.
COMING UP: The series concludes on Saturday with a noon first pitch in the rubber match.