Senior starting pitcher Colton Thomson earned his first win of the season after giving up three unearned runs on three hits in six innings. He struck out eight batters and walked three.
“I thought I was a little wild today. I picked it up later in the innings,” Thomson said. “I didn’t get ahead of batters; it was an average outing. It’s something to build off and keep working for.”
The second inning was the only one in which Thomson found himself in trouble. After a strike out and picking off a runner at first, a routine grounder by the Wolverines’ Greyson Bogden turned into an error when UNM freshman third baseman Carl Stajduhar mishandled the ball.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Thomson allowed a three-run triple by UVU’s Kade Andrus to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead. Thomson got the next batter to ground out to end the inning.
“There’s not much you could do; my infield has been good behind me all year,” Thomson said. “They hit my one mistake, and you got to live with it. We won that game, that’s all that matters.”
UNM (7-2) didn’t answer until the fourth inning, when sophomore left fielder Danny Collier hit a two RBI double down the right field line to tie the game at three. Sophomore first baseman Jack Zoellner smacked a one-run single earlier in the inning.
In the sixth inning, the Lobos took the lead for good with an RBI triple by senior center fielder Aaron Siple for a 4-3 edge.
The Lobos added five more runs across the seventh and eighth innings for the 9-3 victory. Utah Valley (2-8) never threatened to retake the lead during the final three frames.
Junior shortstop Dalton Bowers broke out of his season-long hitting slump that saw his batting average dip to .077. Bowers went 2-4 for his first multiple-hit game of the year.
“Coach (Birmingham) just said I was really close and it was a matter of time that they started to fall where they needed to,” Bowers said. “It was just a matter of time that I started to come through when I needed to.”
Utah Valley starting pitcher Patrick Wolfe went just four innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits. Reliever Jake Mayer was the most effective pitcher against UNM, giving up one earned run on two hits in two innings.
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UNM Relief pitchers freshman Tyler Stevens, junior Alex Estrella and freshman Hayden Schilling combined to permit three hits in three innings of work.
On Saturday UNM defeated San Francisco 4-3 by overcoming a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth.
The Lobo Invite was originally supposed to hold six games over three days, but two of those contests were cancelled due to winter conditions.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
