Lobos Downed in Weekend Finale, 7-1

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Baseball couldn’t get its bats going in Sunday’s weekend finale with Air Force on Sunday at Santa Ana Star Field, with the Falcons winning 7-1 to salvage a game after the Lobos (15-12, 6-3 MW) clinched the series yesterday.

The loss snaps a nine-game win streak at home for UNM as well as a three-game overall win streak. Winners of seven of their last 10, the Lobos remain in at least a tie for first place in the MW conference standings after their 3-1 week at home.

The Falcons (10-18, 3-6 MW) got to Lobos starter Dayne Pengelly early, scoring five runs on six hits in the first three innings. The Lobos kept them off the board for five of the next six innings and only surrendered five more hits through the rest of the game but finished without an RBI on four hits.

After hitting four homers and four doubles across the first two games of the series, UNM finished with only one extra-base knock on Sunday – a two-out double from Khalil Walker. He finished with two hits, with Tye Wood and Brodey Williams adding a single each.

Pengelly (3.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K) was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-1 on the season, with LHP Presley Monteforte (3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) calming things down with a career-high three scoreless frames of relief before RHP Luke Wiseman (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K), LHP Matt Romero (0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K), and RHP Jack Messmore (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K) closed things out.

ON DECK
The Lobos (15-12, 6-3 MW) hit the road for a midweek rivalry matchup at New Mexico St. in Las Cruces on Tuesday (6 p.m. MT, ESPN+) before beginning another Mountain West weekend series at preseason favorite and 2024 NCAA Regional qualifier Fresno State on April 4-6 (MW Network).

Tuesday’s nonconference matchup in Las Cruces will be available to stream via paid subscription to ESPN+, with live stats, streaming options and more available via GoLobos.com/BSBGameDay. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on IG, X and Facebook for comprehensive coverage, promotional updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

KEY MOMENTS

• Tye Wood broke up the no-hitter with a base knock in the bottom of the third, but the Lobos didn’t get on the board until the seventh, when a bases-loaded double play gave time for Williams to cross without an RBI.
• Monteforte provided three scoreless innings of relief – a new career-high – to calm things down after Pengelly’s exit, striking out three in that span.
• The Lobos got four baserunners aboard in the seventh but could only push across one run thanks to a 5-4-3 double play with the bases loaded and a frame-ending strikeout from Oriach with runners at the corners that kept the damage minimal.
• After the Falcons went back up by five with an RBI single in the top of the eighth, RHP Jack Messmore took over, allowing another run to cross on an RBI double but keeping the Falcons off the board the rest of the way – he ended the eighth with his first strikeout of the day and struck out another in the top of the ninth to put another zero on the board.
• But UNM went down in order in the final frame, with Andrew Neil and Gene Trujillo both flying out back-to-back to end the game.