UNM BASEBALL: Lobo comeback falls short, can’t sweep SJSU
UNM catcher Brodey Williams rounds third base and celebrates with head coach and third base coach Tod Brown. Williams hit a solo home run in the fifth inning of UNM baseball’s 14-12 loss to SJSU on Sunday at Santa Ana Star Field. Photo courtesy of UNM Athletics
It was a survival Sunday for the Spartans.
San Jose State (21-23, 9-12 Mountain West) fended off several rallies from the Lobos at Santa Ana Star Field in the final game of a three-game weekend series.
The UNM baseball team (25-19, 12-9 MWC), despite having 19 hits, fell to SJSU 14-12.
“Twelve runs should be enough to win, but it wasn’t. (We lost on Sunday) because of two reasons: pitching and defense,” UNM head coach Tod Brown said.
UNM starter Presley Monteforte pitched two innings and gave up five earned runs on three hits.
He also walked three Spartans.
UNM relief pitchers couldn’t stop the bleeding as four Lobos made appearances out of the bullpen and gave up another 13 hits and 11 earned runs.
From the top of the second inning, UNM would play catch-up, as the Spartans would have four multi-run innings.
“If we improve our pitching, stop walking guys and turn double plays in the infield, we would’ve won the game,” Brown said.
Spartans Jeriah Lewis and Zach Chamizo each went 3-for-6 and had four RBIs.
Chamizo had two plate appearances in the fifth, where he doubled and singled, driving in Jake McCoy and Rocco Caballero.
In the Lobos' best inning of the day, they scored four runs to cut the Spartans' lead to 14-11 in the seventh.
“If we could’ve hung a zero in the middle of this game,” UNM outfielder Will Asby said. “Our offense is very dynamic, and you can see, it doesn’t matter if we’re down by five runs early or putting up nine runs, we’re going to keep hitting.”
UNM’s Jordy Oriach hit a solo shot in the ninth inning to cut the SJSU lead to two runs. It was Oriach’s 13th home run of the season. That leads the MWC and UNM.
The Lobos jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice line drive by second baseman Luke Mansy. Asby scored.
UNM had three more hits than SJSU. Six Lobos recorded multi-hit games and four drove in multiple runs.
“We couldn’t get any momentum back because as soon as we scored, they scored and that was the difference in the game,” Brown said.
OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUT
Despite the loss, UNM scored at will against SJSU over the weekend.
Against the Spartans, the Lobos scored 56 runs on 60 hits.
The Lobos run-ruled the Spartans on Friday (25-5) and Saturday (19-3). Both games ended in the seventh inning.
The Lobos have also been hard to beat at Santa Ana Star Field in 2025. UNM is 18-6 at Santa Ana Star Field this season.
Brown said the Lobos pitched well in the series' first two games before Sunday’s meltdown.
“That’s interesting about baseball,” Brown said. “We had two trash games. They have a really good starter (Nolan George), a guy who is their Sunday guy with the best numbers. (SJSU) had their two best bullpen arms and their closer available. So, we saw their best pitching today.”
UNM has won nine of its last 12 games, and up until Sunday, the Lobos had been victorious in a season-long four-game streak.
UNM is now tied for second place with Nevada. The Lobos don’t play a weekday game this week but will head for a pivotal weekend series with MWC foe San Diego State.
NEXT UP: New Mexico Lobos vs. San Diego State Aztecs
Time: Friday, 7 p.m.
Location: Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego, Calif.
Watch: Mountain West Network
