PHOENIX, Ariz. – New Mexico Baseball was on the brink of suffering its first sweep at the hands of a conference opponent this season before storming back with 11 runs in the fourth and fifth innings, salvaging its Mountain West finale with an 11-9 win that clinched a spot in the conference tournament.
With a 12-11-1 record in conference play, the Lobos have guaranteed that they’ll qualify for their third straight Mountain West Tournament May 21-24 at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. With another weekend of conference games left to play for some teams, they'll be at minimum a No. 5 seed in the tournament with a chance to climb to the No. 4 seed depending on next weekend's results.
𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 ✔️
— UNM Baseball (@UNMLoboBaseball) May 10, 2026
With today's win, the Lobos have secured their third-straight @MountainWest Baseball Championship appearance!#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/ed6MhB9PLv
After a second-frame five-spot from the Lopes that saw them put up five hits, the Lobos finally found a response with three runs on five hits of their own in the top of the fourth after only getting one runner in scoring position over the first three innings. Brodey Williams and Karsen Waslefsky both drove in a run each after Luke Mansy led off with a single and Gene Trujillo followed with his 20th double of the year, with Diaz bringing in the third with a sac fly.
RHP Ethin Woltz kept the momentum with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning after taking over in relief and the Lobos got back to work in the fifth, loading the bases with nobody out and exploding for eight runs on just four hits to turn the game on its head. Williams drove in a run with a single for the second inning in a row and Akili Carris extended the lead to 10-5 with a two-run double before an RBI grounder from Luke Mansy extended the lead yet again.
With 3 ⅔ innings of relief in which struck out two and walked two while being tagged for three runs on four hits, Woltz earned the win to improve to 3-2 on the season.
The Lopes found a response with four more runs on an RBI single and a three-run homer, but RHP Ty Cunningham (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K) kept GCU off the board for the final two innings to earn his third save of the season and 13th of his career. Cunningham now moves up to No. 4 on the UNM All-Time Career Saves List, trailing only Victor Sanchez (20, 2013-16), Christian Tripp (18, 2016-18) and Gera Sanchez Gera Sanchez (15, 2010-12).
In total, UNM finished with 11 hits, led by a 3-for-5 outing from Brodey Williams (2 R, 2 RBI, 2B) as well as multi-hit performances from Khalil Walker (2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI) and Akili Carris (2 H, 1 R, 2 RBI) to go with a knock apiece from Luke Mansy (2 R, 1 RBI), Gene Trujillo (2B, 2 R, BB), Karsen Waslefsky (1 R, 1 RBI, BB) and Shane Miller (1 R, 1 RBI).
Lenny Junior Ashby got on base twice without a hit, churning out the tying run in the fifth inning on a hit-by-pitch.
ON DECK
The Lobos (27-22-1, 12-11-1 MW) host in-state rival New Mexico State on Tuesday for their regular-season finale before a bye weekend leading up to first-round action at the MW Baseball Championships (May 21) in Mesa, Ariz. All of UNM’s remaining games will be free 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.