ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Baseball put together a last-gasp rally in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t overcome an early 3-0 deficit as the Lobos dropped their series opener with Nevada 3-2 Friday night at Lobo Field.
UNM kept the Wolf Pack (20-14, 9-4 MW) off the board for six innings in a row after they went up 3-0 in the top of the third but couldn’t scratch a run in response until the bottom of the seventh. The Lobos cut the deficit to 2-3 with an RBI single from Lenny Junior Ashby in the bottom of the ninth and loaded the bases with two outs on the board before the tying run was stranded on third when Damian Garcia struck out to end the game.
The Lobos (22-14-1, 8-4-1 MW) will get a chance to even the weekend series in tomorrow’s Game Two, set for a 2 p.m. MT first pitch.
RHP Cristian Mogen (5 IP, 7 H, 3 R / 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) worked around early trouble and minimized the damage from the Mountain West’s top hitting team in five innings of work but was tagged with his first loss of the season to drop to 1-1. RHP Josh Barnhouse (3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K) followed with three scoreless frames to keep things going before RHP Seth Lee (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K) put up another zero in the top of the ninth to give UNM a chance to respond.
UNM managed to keep pace with an 11-hit outing from the Wolf Pack despite finishing with only five hits in total – Akili Carris led the way with a pair of doubles while Khalil Walker, Anthony Diaz and Lenny Ashby all added a single apiece. Karsen Waslefsky drew a pair of walks and drove in UNM’s first run on a sac fly RBI, while Ashby brought home the second with a clutch two-out base knock in the ninth.
ON DECK
Saturday’s Game Two is set for a 2 p.m. MT first pitch, with RHP Ryan Castillo set to toe the bump for UNM against Wolf Pack starter Ryan Oakes. All of this weekend's series will be available to stream via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/Watch, with live stats available at GoLobos.com/BSBStats. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on IG, X and Facebook for comprehensive coverage.