April 29, 2017
SAN DIEGO - After being shut out Friday evening, New Mexico scored 11 runs over the first three innings and went on to an 11-6 victory over San Diego State Saturday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win for the Lobos evened the weekend series at one game apiece.
UNM opened the contest by scoring seven times in the opening frame against Aztec senior starter Dominic Purpura. Those runs came on eight hits and a pair of SDSU errors as only three of the seven were of the earned variety.
Purpura would pitch into the second inning, but was charged with two more runs (one earned) in that frame as he ended his day with 1.1 innings pitched after surrendering nine runs (four earned). With the loss his record dropped to 6-2 on the year.
Trailing 11-0 after three, the Aztecs got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run home to left off the bat of David Hensley. It was the first of two hits on the afternoon for the SDSU third baseman, who finished with two RBI and two runs scored as well.
The home side added a single run one inning later on a one-out walk to Alan Trejo and run-scoring double to right center by Danny Sheehan. The SDSU shortstop had a pair of doubles in the contest as he extended his hitting streak to nine games.
UNM starter Johnathan Tripp, who tossed the first six innings allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts, would be credited with the win to improve to 4-1.
The Aztecs would tack on three runs in their final at bat against Lobo reliever Drew Gillespie, who would record his first save of the season. Those runs came on an RBI single by Jacob Maekawa and two-run double to left by Trejo. It was the second hit of the game for the Aztec second baseman who had scored earlier in the contest.
San Diego State and New Mexico will play the rubber game of their three-game weekend series on Sunday, April 30, starting at 1:00 p.m. PT at Tony Gwynn Stadium.