ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After walking South Dakota State off yesterday to even the series, New Mexico Baseball won both games of its doubleheader finale with two swings of the bat on Saturday, rallying to take Game One in the bottom of the ninth (9-8) with a game-winner from Will Asby before run-ruling the Jackrabbits in Game Two with a two-run homer from Gene Trujillo in the seventh inning for a 13-2 win.
After dropping the first matchup 11-5 on Thursday and trailing going into the bottom of the ninth on Friday, the Lobos conclude their Home Opening weekend at Santa Ana Star Field with a 3-1 series win, improving to 5-3 overall. Entering the weekend batting .219 as a team, the Lobos are now hitting at a .291 clip and have produced at least 12 hits in each of their last three.
“Tough-fought series — I was impressed w SDSU’s arms and lineup,” said UNM Head Coach Tod Brown. “We battled back all weekend and our guys showed a lot of toughness.
“We’re still playing a lot of different guys in the lineup and giving pitching opportunities to create competition at all positions — they’re locked in, and we hope to clean up some things and keep improving week to week.”
BY THE NUMBERS (GAME ONE)
Josh McAlister (1 R, 1 RBI), Konner Kinkade (1 R, 1 RBI) and Ethan Ott (1 RBI) all finished with two hits each to lead a 12-hit effort for UNM — Khalil Walker (1 R, 1 BB), Jake Holland (1 R), Reed Spenrath (3 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB), Tye Wood (1 RBI, 1 BB), Devon Dixon (1 R) and Will Asby (1 RBI) all added one each, with Asby’s game-winner coming in one at-bat as a pinch hitter for Dixon in the ninth.
RHP Ben Baker-Livingston struck out three without any walks over two innings in his second start, holding the Jackrabbits to two earned runs on three hits but exiting the game due to discomfort and being replaced by RHP Josh Barnhouse (3.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R/2ER, 3 K, 1 BB). LHP Daxton Purser calmed things down with 2 2/3 innings of relief, giving up two earned runs on two hits while striking out three and walking two but tossing a hitless eighth before LHP Justin Still closed things out with a scoreless ninth.
THE ACTION (GAME ONE)
A pair of RBI singles and a sac fly from the Jackrabbits put UNM in a 3-0 hole early, and the Lobos didn’t lead until the bottom of the ninth. After UNM tied things up with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fourth — including RBI’s on a triple from Spenrath and double from Wood — SDSU scored three in the top of the fifth and extended the lead to 8-3 with a two-run homer in the seventh, leaving the Lobos with just nine outs to produce at least five runs.
B4 | Lobos 3, Jackrabbits 3
Wood drives this double up the right field line to plate UNM’s third run this frame and tie things up! 4 hits for the Lobos this frame! pic.twitter.com/It4TDNbusg
— UNM Baseball (@UNMLoboBaseball) February 24, 2024
But they did just that, loading the bases with nobody out and pushing across three runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI grounder from Ott, a throwing error and a fielder’s choice knock from McAlister and getting within one after Purser stopped the bleeding with a hitless eighth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Kinkade.
After Still’s scoreless ninth kept SDSU off the board in back-to-back innings for the first time all game, the Lobos struck again, with a leadoff double from Ott and walks from Spenrath and Wood loading the bases with less than two outs for a third straight frame. Andrew Neil — entering the game as a ninth-inning pinch runner for the second game in a row — hurried across on a wild pitch to score the tying run, and Asby deposited a single in center field in the next at-bat on a 2-2 count to make it back-to-back ninth-inning rallies for the Lobos.
FINAL: Lobos 9, Jackrabbits 8
We heard you guys like walkoffs… So here’s another one! LOBOS WIN GAME ONE! pic.twitter.com/pLaPU3JNat
— UNM Baseball (@UNMLoboBaseball) February 24, 2024