No. 24 New Mexico knew it would have its hands full with Dallas Baptist coming into town.
The Lobos’ offense has been outstanding, giving the team’s starting pitching plenty of cushion to work with. However, in the opener of a three game weekend stand against the Patriots (6-3), the bats fell quiet against DBU’s starter, Collin Poche, en route to a 5-2 defeat.
“DBU pitching is renowned, and you saw it tonight,” head coach Ray Birmingham said in a release. “They have big arms. They’ll zip in there and then throw a slow breaking ball to change speeds for strikes.”
Lefty Carson Schneider was tabbed with his first loss of the season, throwing 7.1 innings while allowing four runs, three of which were earned.
“Poche is really, really good,” Birmingham said in the release. “And the guy that came behind him did too… The biggest thing is, I was really impressed with DBU’s pitching. That’s the best one-two punch, pitching wise, I’ve seen on this field in a really long time.”
As good as DBU’s pitching was, junior DH Chris DeVito managed to go yard against Poche in the fourth inning, hitting a shot off the right field light post.
Third baseman Carl Stajduhar contributed two hits from the hot corner, as did Luis Gonzalez, but it wasn’t enough as the Lobos couldn’t muster any more than two runs while leaving six runners on base.
Game Two will start on Saturday at 2 p.m. as the Lobos (6-2) look even up the series.
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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