ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico erupted for 12 runs on 15 hits and held off a late push from San Diego State to complete a three-game sweep with a 12-8 victory in Sunday’s series finale at Lobo Baseball Field, vaulting the Lobos into sole possession of first place in the conference standings heading into next week.
The Lobos (22-12-1, 8-3-1 MW) secured their first Mountain West sweep of the season and extended their winning streak over the Aztecs to nine games in their final regular-season meeting as conference foes, finishing the weekend with 28 runs across three games. San Diego State fell to 19-18 (7-5 MW) with the loss after entering this weekend in sole possession of first place.
After falling behind 1-0 early, New Mexico answered immediately and steadily built its lead with multi-run innings in the fifth, seventh and eighth. Damian Garcia drove in a pair with two doubles in his first two plate appearances and finished 4-for-4 with four RBIs, while Akili Carris (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Lenny Ashby (2-for-3, 2 RBI, BB) added key production in the middle of the order.
The Lobos broke the game open in the seventh, plating three runs with help from two San Diego State errors and a two-run single from Carris that came with two outs and the bases loaded, before Gene Trujillo delivered the decisive blow an inning later with a three-run homer to right that pushed the lead to 12-8.
GENO MOOOOOON SHOT‼️
— UNM Baseball (@UNMLoboBaseball) April 12, 2026
His second HR in as many games!
B8 | Lobos 12, SDSU 8 pic.twitter.com/5xXLBY9mRy
On the mound, New Mexico got a solid start from RHP Diego Alvarez (5 IP, 7 H, 3 R / 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), who set the tone with a 1-2-3 opening frame and surrendered just three earned runs over five frames of work. RHP Josh Barnhouse (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K) worked the Lobos out of a jam in the seventh and earned the win in relief to improve to 2-3 on the season, with RHP Ty Cunningham and RHP Talor Grubbs (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) combining to close it out. Grubbs recorded the final six outs in succession for his third save of the season, striking out four in the process.
ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM improves to 94-134 against San Diego State all-time and 68-76 against the Aztecs in Mountain West games, with nine wins in a row over them. Head Coach Tod Brown is now 10-11 against SDSU in his tenure in Albuquerque, losing the first nine meetings before winning 10 of the next 12. The Lobos are 49-49 at home against SDSU and 37-27 in Mountain West matchups at home.