Baseball: Lobos upset at home with 2-0 loss to Aggies

 

On March 21 the University of New Mexico baseball team faced rival New Mexico State University and lost 2-0. The Lobos will face the Aggies four times this season; the series will resume in Las Cruces in April.

Through March 20, the Lobos led the nation in batting average with a team average of .349, but had an uncharacteristic offensive performance Tuseday night despite being just a few hits away from stealing the game. Overall, the team had five hits: Kyle Smith led the team with two.

The Lobos had great pitching performances, though. Benjamin Baker-Livingston was the starting pitcher for the Lobos and went five innings, only giving up four hits and 1 run.

Darius Garcia was the starting pitcher for the Aggies and had a great outing, pitching for 5.2 innings in total. He gave up no runs and only two hits. Noah Estrella went 2.2 innings and gave up three hits. Matthew Maloney closed the game and earned a save.

The Aggies had three straight ground outs to end the top of the first inning. Dylan Ditzenberger earned a four-pitch walk, but the Lobos didn't score in the inning.

In the top of the second, Christian Perez was walked and Nick Gore singled to score a run. The Lobos were down 1-0 going into the bottom of the second and couldn't find a way to score.

Baker-Livingston didn't give up a hit to the Aggies in the third inning. Ditzenberger had a single in the bottom of the inning, but no other Lobo got on base. The Aggies didn't score in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Smith hit a single and stole second, but the fourth inning ended with the Lobos still down 1-0.

Baker-Livingston pitched the top of the fifth inning and didn't give up a hit. The Lobos were still not able to get the offense going in the bottom of the inning.

Brian McBroom took over as pitcher for the Lobos in the sixth inning after five steller innings from Baker-Livingston. The great pitching continued for the Lobos with McBroom, not giving up a hit in the top of the sixth. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Garcia was taken out of the game for the Aggies in favor of Estrella who got the last out of the inning.

McBroom gave up a single but didn't allow any runs in the top of the seventh. Deylan Pigford singled and stole second in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lobos still didn't score. UNM was still down 1-0 going into the eighth inning.

Justin Still was put in to pitch for the Lobos at the top of the eighth. Edwin Martinez-Pagani had a leadoff single to start the inning and Nolan Funke was walked but the inning ended  with a strikeout.

Pitcher Terrell Hudson closed out the game for the Lobos. Cal Villareal had a solo home run in the top of the ninth to add to the Aggies lead. Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Lobos were down 2-0.

Estrella pitched into the ninth. Reed Spenrath earned a walk and Smith hit a double which put runners on second and third base, and forced a pitching change. Maloney was put into pitch with just one out in the inning. The Lobos couldn't get on base and lost 2-0.

After the game, Smith talked about the tough loss, but felt the team still had a good performance.

"We just got to rely on the confidence that everybody has. We know we're a good hitting team. Tonight, we put a lot of balls in play (and played) hard as a team,” Smith said. “It's a thing we just got to power through. Yes, it is frustrating, but we still trust our own abilities and our ability to get it done.”

Pigford also commented about the team's ability and has no doubt the team's offense will bounce back next game.

"We got a good squad, and we're going to put things together,” Pigford said. “Tonight's not something that we are normally used to. As long as we keep swinging the bat (the way) we usually do, we'll be fine.”

The Lobos play next on Friday, March 24 against the University of Nevada Wolf Pack in Reno, Nevada.

Thomas Bulger is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @thomasbulger10

---