March 24, 2016
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - A four-run fifth inning proved to be the difference as New Mexico defeated San Diego state, 5-3, Thursday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win kept the Lobos in first place in the Mountain West as they improve to 14-7 overall and 6-1 in conference play. The Aztecs, meanwhile, lost their fourth straight to fall to 4-15 (1-4 MW).
UNM jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a single by Jared Mang, sacrifice bunt by Reece Weber and two-out RBI single by Luis Gonzalez.
That run came against Aztec starting pitcher Dominic Purpura who would go three innings allowing the run on two hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts. Since his team never came back to tie the contest, Purpura suffered the loss to fall to 0-1 on the year.
San Diego had a golden opportunity to get that run back and maybe more in the bottom of the inning as singles by Jordan Verdon and Andrew Brown put runners at first and third with nobody out. But Gonzales, who was drawing double duty as the Lobo DH and starting pitcher, struck out the next three batters to preserve his team's slim lead.
New Mexico added to its lead in the top of the fifth, scoring four times on four this and three walks off SDSU reliever Cody Thompson. That would end the Lobos' scoring for the game, but it proved to be enough to claim the win.
The Aztecs got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of runs. Brown and CJ Saylor singled with one out before Justin Wylie's double to right brought home Brown with the first run of the frame. One batter later, David Hensley lifted a sacrifice fly to center to cut UNM's advantage to 5-2.
Following that second run, UNM's Gonzalez would retire eight of the next nine hitters he faced before the Aztecs struck for another run in their half of the seventh. Spencer Thornton singled and was later able to advance to third when the Lobo pitcher's pickoff attempt sailed wide of first. Dean Nevarez's ensuing sacrifice fly made it a 5-3 contest.
Gonzalez would leave the game after tossing 7.2 innings and surrendering SDSU's thee runs (two earned) on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He would get credit for the victory to improve to 2-0.
Aztec junior lefty Marcus Reyes went the final four frames and turned in an excellent outing as he surrendered only one hit, walked none and struck out four.
Brown and Saylor ended the evening with two singles apiece to account for half of their team's eight hits in the game.
New Mexico and San Diego State will continue their three-game series on Friday, March 25, with a contest scheduled to get underway at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.