April 30, 2017
New Mexico scored five unanswered runs in the top of the seventh inning as it came behind for the third time in the game to defeat San Diego State, 12-10, Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
With the victory, UNM improved to 26-18-1 overall and 16-3-1 in the Mountain West. In the process, the Lobos opened up a four-game lead in the loss column on the second-place Aztecs with nine conference games remaining.
San Diego State, meanwhile, saw its record drop to 20-15 and 14-7 in league action. The Aztecs in turn have a three-game advantage on third-place Fresno State with fourth place turning into a battle among the other four MW teams. Only the top four finishers advance to the Mountain West Tournament in late May.
In Sunday's game, San Diego State forged a 4-2 lead after four innings on a two-run homer by David Hensley and RBI double by Andrew Martinez in the second along with a solo homer by Dean Nevarez in the bottom of the fourth.
The Lobos would tie the game in the top of the fifth on a two-run homer run by Jared Mang to make it a 4-4 contest. Those runs came against SDSU reliever Jorge Fernandez, who had come on to begin the inning in place of starter Cody Thompson.
The deadlock was short-lived, however, as SDSU added three to its total in the bottom of the same frame to go up 7-4. Those runs came on a bases-loaded wild pitch plus a two-run double by Tyler Adkison.
The visitors responded with three of their own in the next inning to tie the contest once again, this time at 7-7. Those runs came on three hits, a hit batter and a passed ball against a pair of Aztec relievers.
San Diego State went ahead for the third time in the contest in the bottom of the sixth as a single and walk put two men on before Danny Sheehan launched a ball over the left field fence to give the Aztecs a 10-7 lead.
But New Mexico would have the final say as it rallied for five in the top of the seventh. With Alan Trejo on the mound in relief, the Lobos used a walk and three consecutive singles to score twice and end Trejo's stay on the mound in favor of CJ Saylor. The Aztec closer retired the first man he faced for the second out before Mang connected for his second home of the afternoon, a three-run shot that put UNM in front 12-10.
Trejo, who was charged with the first four runs in the inning, would suffer the loss to fall to 1-2 on the year. The Lobos' Carson Schneider was the beneficiary of the five-run outburst as he picked up the win to improve to 4-0.
UNM closer Christian Tripp would pitch the final three innings surrendering only a pair of single as he recorded his sixth save.
Hensley (HR, 2 RBI, run scored), Nevarez (HR, RBI, 2 runs scored) and freshman Julian Escobedo all ended the day with two hits apiece for the Aztecs.
San Diego State will now take a quick break from conference play as it travels to Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 2, to face UCLA at 6:00 p.m. at the Bruins' Jackie Robinson Stadium.