After being routed in New Mexico’s first day in California on Tuesday night, the Lobos bounced back with a 12-3 blowout over San Francisco on Wednesday.
UNM had a quick start to the contest, as they plated four runs in the first inning followed by another four-spot in the top of the second.
Grant Goodman had a very brief day for the Dons, only lasting one-third of an inning while allowing four runs, three of which were earned.
Centerfielder Luis Gonzalez started things off on the right foot for New Mexico's offense, sending a shot over the right field wall on a 3-2 count in the game’s first at-bat.
UNM would then score nine more unanswered runs to take a commanding 10-0 lead in the fourth inning. At that point, right-hander James Harrington had plenty of run support in the bottom of the fourth.
However, Harrington (6-1) ran into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the fourth and the fifth but was still able to garner the victory in just 4.2 innings of work, allowing three runs on eight hits and four walks. The righty picked up three strikeouts on the day, but threw a total of 92 pitches to get there.
“Harrington did a nice job,” head coach Ray Birmingham said in a UNM release. “For four innings he was excellent. He needs to figure out how to keep sharp command for six innings for us to be successful.”
The bullpen closed the door on the Dons for the remainder of the contest, throwing 5.1 shutout innings. Right-hander Christian Tripp replaced Harrington in the bottom of the fifth and would work quite efficiently in his middle-relief outing.
Tripp only needed 29 pitches to record his seven outs as he allowed two hits and a walk on the day.
Alex Estrella and Victor Sanchez finished the final two innings right where Tripp left off. The two worked efficiently, not allowing a run or a hit in the eighth and ninth.
Chris DeVito’s bat has not cooled down, and the Dons were quite aware. SFU pitching stayed away from the junior slugger allowing three walks.
The Dons were only able to retire DeVito one time on the day as he collected two hits in three at-bats, reaching base five of his six trips to the plate.
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New Mexico (24-10, 12-3 MW) will return back to league-play on Friday night as their California road trip ensues. San Jose State and UNM will face off for a three-game stand.
The 10-22 Spartans have not found their spark in conference play with a league-worst 3-12 record.
SJSU will need to make some adjustments to its pitching if the team wants a shot at taking down the Lobos. UNM has scored the most runs from the other Mountain West schools, one of the reasons New Mexico sits at the top of the league.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
