Jeremy DeYapp pitched a complete game shutout and shortstop Dusty Young went four-of-four at the plate as the UNM baseball team completed a three-game sweep of the Air Force Academy with a 6-0 win Sunday.
DeYapp allowed five hits and struck out six in his fifth start of the season to shut out the Falcons for the first time this year. It was the first home shutout for the Lobos since 1993.
The Falcons’ only real scoring threat came in the top of the second inning when right fielder Tony Shockley doubled with two outs, then advanced to third on a throwing error by UNM center fielder Mark Okano. But left fielder Mike Rose hit into an easy out to end the inning.
After that, no Falcon advanced beyond second base, and DeYapp’s six strikeouts came in the fourth through ninth innings. DeYapp was also aided by a strong defensive effort.
“It being our last home game, I really wanted to give a good performance for my team and give us a chance to win,” DeYapp said. “As long as I throw ground balls and pop flies, I’m very confident that my teammates will back me up. I give them a lot of credit for being behind me and playing good defense.”
UNM got on the board in the first inning when first baseman Matt Alexander singled to bring in designated hitter Anthony Lovato. The Lobos scored two more in the second after Young began the inning with a single into right field. Third baseman Chris Collins followed with a single of his own, and Lovato’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Young.
Then, Alexander ripped a double up the middle to score Collins and give UNM a 3-0 lead. Young scored again in the fifth, and his eighth inning two-RBI single scored left fielder Donny Sevieri and catcher Scott Tajima for UNM’s final runs of the day.
“I was seeing the ball well and getting good pitches to hit,” Young said. “It was big to get these three wins, especially coming off of our last two series where we lost six.”
Friday night, the Lobos led 5-0 in the sixth inning before rain forced the game to be postponed. UNM picked up three more runs when play resumed Saturday and went on to beat the Falcons 8-2 for its first win of the weekend. UNM pitcher Chris Cooper pitched six innings while allowing five hits and no runs.
On Saturday, a Mountain West Conference-record 5,430 fans witnessed the Lobos’ 17-3 blowout of the Falcons. Alexander hit a three-run home run over the right field fence, and Collins added a three-run blast of his own in guiding the Lobos to 18 total hits. UNM starting pitcher James Vermilyea stayed perfect on the year (4-0) in allowing three runs on nine hits to the Falcons in seven innings.
With the weekend wins, the Lobos improve to 11-13 in the Mountain West and 21-29 overall. They are now in a three-way tie for third place in the conference with the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and the University of Utah, who also have 11-13 conference records.
UNM head coach Rich Alday said he felt good about the team’s offensive output and effective pitching this weekend.
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“The one thing we’ve been trying to tell our pitchers is that you’ve got to have two or three pitches working for you to be successful,” Alday said. “Jeremy had his stuff working today and he was throwing strikes. Plus, all weekend we did a good job of getting key base hits and playing good defense.”
Alday said the sweep of the Falcons will help the team gear up for the Mountain West Conference Tournament, which is May 16-19 in San Diego, Calif.
“Right now we’re just playing for seed, and we’re also preparing ourselves for the tournament,” Alday said. “We weren’t swinging the bats well earlier, so hopefully we’ll keep it up. The team worked very hard this week, and I think our youngsters are starting to get it.”
The Lobos face the University of Nevada at Las Vegas for three games May 4-6 in Las Vegas before ending the season May 11-13 at the University of Utah.
