New Mexico’s bats sealed the deal for the squad again as a late eighth inning rally pushed UNM over San Jose State in the series opener.
The Lobos and Spartans (6-11, 2-4 MW) headed into the eighth inning locked up at 6-6, when a single and a double at the bottom half of the inning gave UNM the final three runs of the contest and a victory.
Head coach Ray Birmingham said the game wasn’t won in the eighth inning, or even the fifth when sophomore cleanup hitter went yard to take the lead in the fifth. No, Birmingham said the game was won on the mound in the final two innings played.
“The guy who won the game for us was Alex Estrella,” Birmingham said. “He was the hero, and Carl’s three-run home run was the big hit of the game until Bowers and Holley.”
SJSU jumped on UNM’s starter early plating four runs in the second inning against Carson Schneider. The lefty gave up all six runs on nine hits in his 6.1 innings of work.
The Lobos were able to cut the Spartan lead in half with two runs in the third after Chris DeVito knocked in Luis Gonzalez on a single, followed by a sac fly from Jack Zoellner which scored Jared Holley.
The Spartans would score one more run in the top of the fifth before Stajduhar hit a three-run bomb in a four run fifth inning, to take the lead for the first time in the contest.
SJSU scored once more before Dalton Bowers and Holley came up with the game’s deciding RBIs.
UNM (11-6, 3-1 MW) have now won five of their past six ball games, only dropping the final contest to Nevada on Sunday.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
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