Carson Schneider garnered his second win of the season, but it was UNM’s offensive firepower that stole the show in a 17-7 rout over Wichita State Friday night at Santa Ana Star Field.
Schneider (2-0) had plenty of offense to back up his two-run, six inning night. Designated hitter Chris DeVito led the way for UNM’s dominant outing at the plate.
The DH went 5-for-5, including a no-doubt grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to put the game well out of reach from the Shockers (2-3).
"It wasn’t just me. The whole team chipped in,” DeVito said. “We had 17 hits. It was a good team win today.”
The Lobos were already winning 8-2 before DeVito plated all three base runners with his shot to right. Each of the three runners that filled the bases reached their bases via walks, before DeVito made the Shockers pay for their lack of control.
UNM has been making opposing pitchers work on the hill, which head coach Ray Birmingham attributed to having patience at the plate and waiting on the right pitch to get deep enough in the zone.
“Coach Birmingham preaches a lot about plate discipline,” DeVito said. “We’re letting the ball get deep and we’re definitely not swinging at bad pitches.”
The Lobos were able to draw 12 walks total by staying patient at the plate.
On the other side, the Lobos didn’t allow a single walk until there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. It seemed like RHP Taylor Duree, pitching with a 17-2 lead at the time, couldn’t find the zone.
With one on and two outs, Duree was all over the place, including a passed ball, before allowing a two run, base-clearing double by infielder Luke Ritter. Duree would allow two more hits before being plunked with five runs on 0.2 innings pitched.
“I’m upset about the ninth for many reasons, but that’s ok,” Birmingham said.
Though Schneider gave up a lot of singles in the contest, he only gave up two earned runs on 113 pitches while allowing 10 hits. The southpaw also struck out six while hitting one batter with an errant pitch.
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“Schneider pitched really well again, against a good offensive team,” Birmingham said. “Kept them in check and I’m very impressed with that.”
Birmingham said the Lobos will have plenty of firepower in Saturday’s contest and he doesn’t worry about the offense getting worn out after a monster game like Friday’s.
"There wasn’t a true scouting report on anybody, so they went hard inside and soft away most of the time,” the head coach said after Friday night’s game. “Now tomorrow they’ll probably go hard away soft away, so we better hit some balls the other way.”
While Birmingham is pleased to have garnered the opening game in the series, he said that New Mexico (4-1) has not come close to winning against a good team, he said.
“We’ve got to play them two more times, so I’m not jumping up and down,” Birmingham said. “I’m happy, but I’m not jumping up and down.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
