The UNM baseball team could not generate enough timely hits and struggled to score runs against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, losing 11-4 Sunday afternoon at Lobo Field.
The Lobos lost two of three games versus the Rebels in a weekend series that matched up the two worst teams in the Mountain West Conference. UNM won the first game of the series 11-7 Friday, but lost Saturday 23-13. The Lobos, who are in last place in the conference, have lost 15 of its last 18 games to drop their record to 7-14 in the conference, 18-28 overall.
"I think a lot of the guys spirits are down and it shouldn't be," second baseman Troy Cairns said. "You should always keep your head high; we try to tell each other that. It gets to a point where a lot of the guys stop believing and it's frustrating."
The Lobos' exasperation began early in Sunday's game, falling behind 4-0 after three innings of play. UNM pitcher Aaron Smith opened the second by allowing two straight walks. After a sacrifice bunt and a fielder's choice scored a run, Rebel catcher Robert Van Kirk hit a two-run home run over the right center field fence to make the score 3-0. UNLV (24-23, 9-12) added a run in the third with two extra base hits.
The Lobos answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth with three runs to close the gap. Designated hitter Anthony Lovato led off with a single and Cairns followed with a double to left field, scoring Lovato.
Two outs later, UNM strung together three straight hits to score two runs. Catcher Jeff Grady singled to left, centerfielder Matt Young singled to center and shortstop Dusty Young finished the rally with a double off the wall in centerfield to score two runs.
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But it was one of the few times that the Lobos came through in the clutch. UNM stranded 12 runners in scoring position during the game, while the Rebels scored at will. The Lobos recorded 14 hits to UNLV's 13.
"It was one of those games where we out-hit them, but we just couldn't find the execution where we have guys on base and we can't score them," Cairns said. "It was our hitting that lost it for us."
UNM did not score another run until the ninth inning, thanks in large part to its lack of clutch hitting and a stellar performance from Rebels relief pitcher Jared Bonnell (4-3). He pitched four-and-one-third scoreless innings, allowing only two hits.
And while Bonnell helped keep the Lobos down, UNM head coach Rich Alday said his team also was not assertive enough at the plate.
Bonnell also allowed UNLV, which took five-of six-games this season from the Lobos, to pad the lead and turn the game into a rout. The Rebels scored four runs on four hits in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 8-3. The inning began with an error by Smith, who dropped the ball trying to cover first base, and UNLV capitalized on the mistake. Smith (1-4) took the loss, allowing eight runs, but only four earned, in four-and-two-thirds innings pitched.
Matt Young, Dusty Young and Cairns led the Lobos at the plate, each going three-for-five with one run batted in and one run scored.
The Rebels added three runs in the top of the ninth to end the scoring. VanKirk finished two-for-five with four RBIs to lead UNLV.
While it has been a frustrating season for the Lobos, Cairns said they still have time to salvage the season.
"We have the caliber to be a good team, it's just not shown yet," he said. "It will come together one way or another. We still got the conference championship."
UNM will try to regroup next weekend when it hits the road for a three-game series against the University of Utah.
