Sophomore right fielder Joe Salas knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the UNM baseball team a dramatic 9-8 victory against the Air Force Academy Sunday afternoon at Lobo Field.
The Lobos have won seven of their last eight games and took two of three from the Falcons this weekend. The win boosts UNM's record to 5-1 in the Mountain West Conference, good enough for first place, and 15-13 overall. Air Force dropped to 2-4 in the conference and 14-12 overall.
After Falcon pitcher Paul Pratt walked the bases loaded, Salas came up to bat with one out and the score tied at eight. He hit a liner to the shortstop, but his hustle prevented a potential double play, and Cory Lizarraga scored the game-winning run for the Lobos.
"I was just thinking about hitting the ball," Salas said. "They had been throwing me sliders all day and I was missing them, so I was waiting for that and trying to fight off the fastball; it worked."
The Falcons struck first with two runs in the first inning. Brian Labasco led off with a walk and Tony Shockley followed with a single. After a sacrifice fly that advanced the runners, Labasco scored on a wild pitch and Shockley came home on a base hit by Derick Kasel to give Air Force an early 2-0 lead.
UNM came back in the bottom of the first with some firepower of its own. With one out, shortstop Dusty Young reached base on an error by Falcons' second baseman Larasco. The Lobos' second baseman Troy Cairns followed with line drive over the shortstops' head and Chris Alexander walked to load the bases. Designated-hitter Anthony Lovato came up and hit the second pitch he saw over the right field fence for a grand slam and a 4-2 UNM lead.
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"I was just trying to get a base hit man," Lovato said. "It helps when your team is locked in; I just hit it good."
Lovato was the hitting star for UNM, going two-for-four with four RBI's.
The Lobos scored another run in the second to make it 5-2.
Air Force would not give up, though. In the third inning, Shockley lead off with a triple and outfielder Josh Phifer drove him home with a double. Phifer advanced to third on a balk by UNM pitcher Jeremy DeYapp. Phifer scored on a fielder's choice to cut the Lobo lead to one.
DeYapp kept the Lobos in the game with some gutsy pitching. In the fourth inning, he struck out Kasel, who had been called back to the plate, after an apparent walk, for purposely leaning into a pitch with the bases loaded. DeYapp pumped his fist in satisfaction after the strike out.
"I just got a little excited because they were leaning in and it was frustrating," DeYapp said. "Once he called him back and I struck him out, it felt good."
In the sixth, the Falcons struck again. With two outs, Shockley continued his impressive offensive day with a solo homer to deep left center field to tie the game. Phifer then followed with a single up the middle and Kasel walked to put runners on first and second. Bowie Frost cleared the bases with a double over Young's head to give Air Force a two run lead. DeYapp was relieved by Dan Reardon and the Falcon's Price Poramore added an RBI single to give Air Force an 8-5 lead.
The Lobos came back in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, left fielder Donny Sevieri laced a single to center field. Salas kept the rally going, reaching base after being hit by a pitch. Freshman catcher Todd Stroud came to the plate and tied the game with a clutch three-run homer that got caught up in the wind and sailed over the center field wall.
In the top of the ninth, Air Force nearly regained the lead. With runners on third and first bases, Derek McCready relieved Reardon. The Falcons attempted a suicide squeeze, but the play was botched when Dan Petro popped up a bunt to Stroud, who consequently tagged out the runner for a dramatic inning-ending double play. Relief pitcher Dereck McCready (2-2) earned the win, despite pitching to only one batter.
The Lobos stay at home for a one game versus New Mexico State University Tuesday, then they hit the road for a three-game series against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas next weekend.
