SAN JOSE, Calif. — New Mexico dropped a tightly-contested pitchers’ duel Friday night at Excite Ballpark, falling to San Jose State 1-0 in 10 innings on a walk-off double.
The Lobos (12-6, 0-1 MW) and Spartans (6-11, 1-0 MW) played through nine scoreless innings before San Jose State broke through in the bottom of the 10th. With two outs, Alex Fernandes singled and Peyton Rowles followed with a double to left-center that drove in the game’s lone run.
New Mexico outhit San Jose State 9-6 but was unable to capitalize offensively, stranding 11 runners and going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Karsen Waslefsky led the Lobos at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance, while Anthony Diaz and Gene Trujillo each doubled, with Trujillo’s two-bagger being his 10th of the season. Damian Garcia, Lenny Junior Ashby, Khalil Walker and Luke Mansy all finished with a single apiece to make it a nine-hit effort.
The Lobos received another strong outing from RHP Cristian Mogen, who held the Spartans scoreless on just two hits over a career-high 6 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out three. The bullpen combination of RHP Luke Wiseman, LHP Cooper Corkrean, and RHP Ty Cunningham carried the game into extra innings before the Spartans’ two-out walk-off double in the 10th.
New Mexico had opportunities late, putting two runners on in the 10th inning thanks to base knocks from Waslefsky and Garcia, but a flyout ended the threat and set up the Spartans’ walk-off in the bottom half.
ON DECK
The Lobos (12-6, 0-1 MW) look to equalize and snap a six-game skid in tomorrow’s game two, set for a 3 p.m. MT first pitch. All of this weekend’s games will be streamed via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/Watch with live stats available via GoLobos.com/BSBStats. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on IG, X and Facebook for comprehensive coverage.