Baseball: Despite loss, Lobos have opportunity at elimination game

It came down to a full count for late-season Lobo hero Matt Villalobos and his team, being down only one run in the bottom of the ninth inning — and then a strikeout ended it.

But great pitching from San Diego State’s CJ Saylor sealed the deal for the second-seeded Aztecs, as they won the game Friday evening, 9-8, over the regular season Mountain West title holder Lobos. Even with the loss in the conference tournament, though, the Lobos will have the opportunity to face third-seeded Fresno State in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon.

The game was a back-and-forth affair that saw the two high-caliber Mountain West teams tie the game on two separate occasions. Later, the Lobos even took control of the score in the early to middle innings, before San Diego State finished out strong.

UNM (30-26-1) managed to grab the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, when the team scored five runs in the frame on a Carl Stajduhar grand slam to center field and Villalobos hit a solo shot over the left field wall. That inning put the Lobos up 5-4 over the Aztecs with that lead holding true for one inning — the fourth when neither team scored — before the Aztecs tied the game up at five runs apiece on an RBI single in the top of the fifth.

Johnathon Tripp made the start for UNM during Friday's 7 p.m. first pitch. The senior right hander made a decent appearance, as he allowed five runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings on the mound, before he left the game due to an undisclosed injury. From there, the Lobos made their way through two relief pitchers, Nathaniel Garley and Justin Slaten. Freshman right hander Slaten ultimately picked up the loss, as he pitched the last three innings for the Lobos, giving up three runs on three hits.

The Lobos’ offensive production mirrored yesterday's game against fourth-seeded Nevada, though the Lobos picked up three more hits (12) and one more run (8) against the Aztecs. UNM’s main source of offensive production came from the likes of Hayden Schilling who went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. But the Lobos also saw a fair amount of production from Andre Vigil who went 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI and Villalobos who went 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs.

What ultimately cost the Lobos the game was a three-run San Diego State eighth inning that put them up 9-6. The Lobos managed to squeeze two runs in the bottom of the frame to shorten the Aztecs’ lead to one run, on an RBI double from Schilling and a sacrifice fly from Vigil that scored Austin Bell. But UNM — after holding San Diego State scoreless in the top of the ninth — failed to get a hit in the do-or-die situation, as Jared Mang, Stajduhar and Villalobos all struck out to end the Lobos’ hope of an undefeated Mountain West Championship run.

The Lobos, luckily, are able to play in an elimination game on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Fresno State to decide who gets to face San Diego State in the finale of the tournament. However, that luck might need to be more-than-apparent in the Lobos’ next game, as they have struggled with the Bulldogs in conference play, being swept on the road in California and dropping a game at Santa Ana Star Field early in conference play.

Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers baseball and women's basketball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz.