Lobos Knock Off Arizona State on the Road, 6-4

PHOENIX, Ariz. – New Mexico Baseball continued its torrid stretch with a 6-4 road win over Pac-12 foe Arizona State in midweek action Tuesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, getting a pair of timely multi-run homers from Reed Spenrath and Devon Dixon to score six unanswered behind a shutdown outing from UNM’s bullpen.

After homering for the first time this season in the Lobos’ Sunday finale with UNLV, Spenrath mashed his second to spark a three-run fourth that tied things up after UNM fell behind by three early. Dixon followed with his first of the year in the sixth – a three-run bomb to left center – that gave the Lobos a three-run lead they’d hold onto the rest of the way behind stellar performances on the mound from Pengelly (4.1 IP, 0 R) and four other relievers that combined to allow one unearned run.

After walking six Sun Devils in the first two frames, Lobo pitchers only issued one free pass the rest of the game as they kept ASU off the board for six straight innings. Similarly, after the first six Lobo batters were retired in order to start the game, UNM got a runner in scoring position in each of the next seven frames.

“The guys really hung in there after a slow beginning,” said UNM Head Coach Tod Brown. “Our at bats improved as the game progressed and we got some really clutch hits from Spenrath and Dixon.

“Pitching staff did a great job settling down and pitching out of innings when we made some mistakes — they’ve really come along down the stretch.”

The Lobos are now winners of four straight for the first time this season heading into their first conference road series March 15-17 at Nevada. It’s the first time the Lobos have won back-to-back games against the Sun Devils since 1977 and their first road win at ASU since 2014. 

UNM Head Coach Tod Brown is now one win away from 400 in his head coaching career – he now holds a 399-414 career record (North Dakota State 2008-2021, New Mexico 2022-present). He improves to 2-1 all-time against Arizona State.

BY THE NUMBERS
Khalil Walker and Reed Spenrath both finished two hits to lead a seven-hit night for the Lobos, with Spenrath scoring two runs and driving in two more with his fourth-inning blast. Devon Dixon racked up four RBI on a three-run homer and a grounder that tied things up at 3-all and Sean Stephens and Chase Weissenborn both added a hit each. Tye Wood scored two runs on two walks and Kyle Smith scored another to round things out.

Pengelly held the Sun Devils scoreless over 4 ⅓ innings on the mound after taking over with two outs on the board in the first and the Lobos trailing 3-0 – he struck out a career-high five while holding ASU to just five hits in that span, retiring 10 of the last 12 he faced to get his second win in as many appearances (2-1). Three pitchers kept the momentum going the rest of the way – Arthur Steinkamp (1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K), Justin Still (1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB), Josh Barnhouse (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K) – before Brian McBroom struck out two in a hitless ninth inning to get his third save of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Dixon matched a pair of career-highs with four RBIs and seven assists — he’d only done so once each in the 2023 season. He’s now driven in a run in four straight games after driving in two total through his first 13.
• Pengelly matched career-highs of 4.1 IP and five strikeouts — both set in his last appearance vs. Hofstra on March 3.
• Weissenborn connected on his third double of the season and the Lobos’ only two-bagger of the game, extending UNM’s streak of games with at least one double to 15 and bringing them up to 47 on the season. The Lobos’ series opener with UNLV on March 9 was his first action since 2/19 after returning from a hamstring.
• Today was the first game for UNM without multiple doubles since Feb. 19 against CSUB. The Lobos averaged 3.4 doubles per game over their 12-game homestand since then.
• UNM has now held opponents to seven or fewer runs in five of its last seven games.
• After batting .588 in UNM’s four games last week, Khalil Walker extended his streak of multi-hit games to five and his hit streak to 10 games. He connected on five hits against UNLV in Saturday’s Game Two — the most in a single game by a Lobo this year.
• Spenrath finished with two hits as well — his seventh multi-hit game in his last 12. He still has an active 20-game on-base streak.

THE ACTION
Neil produced the first two outs in the first but allowed three runs to cross on a grounder and a pair of wild pitches before Pengelly took over to produce the final out – he did so with just once pitch, generating an inning-ending flyout that kept things moving.

Pengelly opened the second with back-to-back punchouts, walking the bases loaded in the next three at-bats but inducing a grounder to end a hitless frame.

Dixon drew a leadoff walk in the next inning to snap UNM’s streak of six batters retired, reaching third on UNM’s first hit of the day –a two-out single from Walker – but Stephens became the sixth Lobo to strike out in the first three innings to halt the advance.

Pengelly worked around a pair of leadoff base knocks to complete another scoreless frame in the third, inducing a double play ball before Spenrath collected a popup in the next at-bat to end the inning.

After another leadoff walk – this time from Smith – it was Spenrath who finally made the Sun Devils pay in the top of the fourth, crushing his second homer of the year and second in as many games to get UNM back within one. Wood drew a walk to get the tying run aboard with one out and promptly stole second, getting all the way to third on a passed ball before Dixon brought him in with an RBI grounder on a full count to tie things up.

A 1-2-3 inning from Pengelly that included his third punchout of the day kept things knotted and the Lobos threatened again with more small ball in the fifth. Walker singled a second time and stole second in a failed pickoff attempt to put the go-ahead in scoring position, but Asby flew out to keep the score unchanged.

Pengelly made it six straight retired with his fourth punchout of the game in the bottom of the frame, allowing a single but ending his fourth scoreless frame with a fifth strikeout.

E5 | UNM 3, ASU 3

Pengelly closes his fourth scoreless frame with his fifth K of the day! Still all knotted up heading into the sixth. pic.twitter.com/ac081qh1eg

— UNM Baseball (@UNMLoboBaseball) March 13, 2024

Spenrath got aboard in the top of the sixth with a single to third base, and Wood pushed him to scoring position after wearing a hit-by-pitch to make it four straight innings with a runner in scoring position. It was another homer that made good on the threat – this time, the first of the year from Dixon, who blasted the ball out of left center to put the Lobos up 6-3.

T6 | UNM 6, ASU 3

𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗔 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘! The first homer of the year from @dj01dixon puts the Lobos up 3! pic.twitter.com/ZjY7ah3GLD

— UNM Baseball (@UNMLoboBaseball) March 13, 2024

Taking over for Pengelly in the sixth, Steinkamp kept things calm with another 1-2-3 inning, opening with a strikeout before generating two shallow grounders to keep the Sun Devils off the bases yet again.

After a grounder from Spenrath stranded Stephens on third in the top of the seventh, Steinkamp allowed two on via a single and a walk to cue Still’s entry into the game in relief. He induced the double play UNM needed in his first at-bat, with Dixon, Weissenborn and Spenrath all connecting on the play to keep ASU off the board for a sixth straight inning.

Still and Barnhouse – who took the mound with one out on the board and two on – kept the damage to one run on a grounder, with Spenrath making the play and the putout at first to bring up the bats one last time with a two-run lead still in hand.

After UNM’s bats failed to provide any more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, McBroom came in for the save, closing with back-to-back strikeouts to seal the midweek game emphatically.

UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
New Mexico stays on the road this weekend for a Mountain West weekend series with Nevada (6-8, 2-1 MW) in Reno March 15-17. Streaming will be unavailable for the weekend series but fans can listen to the game via The Varsity Network with live stats available via GoLobos.com/BSBStats. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on IG, X and Facebook for gameday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.