Bats go silent as Nevada tops UNM baseball
May 11—From 16 to 0 in less than a day.
The University of New Mexico baseball team came up empty Saturday afternoon against Nevada, falling 2-0 in a rare pitchers' duel at Santa Ana Star Field.
The Lobos, who rolled to a 16-0 victory over the Wolf Pack on Friday night, could not come up with a big hit when they needed one Saturday. Starting pitchers Brett Russell of UNM and Casey Burfield of Nevada each worked seven strong innings, and each allowed just five hits, but one unlucky bounce ended up costing Russell and the Lobos (26-22, 15-11 Mountain West).
That came in the top of the fifth inning of a scoreless game with two outs and no one on base for the Wolf Pack (22-24, 14-12). Russell struck out Justin Acal swinging on an outside pitch in the dirt that bounced to the backstop and allowed Acal to reach. Josh Catacutan and Derek Tenney followed with singles and Nevada took a 1-0 lead.
It stayed 1-0 until the ninth when Michael Ball tripled and later scored on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth.
Two runs proved enough for the Wolf Pack as the Lobos left seven runners on base and failed to cash in on their few quality scoring chances. UNM stranded runners at third base in the fourth and sixth innings, and put two runners aboard in the ninth before pinch hitter Gene Trujillo grounded out to end the game.
Will Asby and Jake Holland had two hits apiece for the Lobos, but Khalil Walker went 0-for-3 and his 18-game hitting streak came to an end. Russell allowed just one run on five hits and struck out three but was tagged for the hard-luck loss.
UNM slipped into second place with the loss, a game behind Fresno State which defeated UNLV 4-3 on Saturday. The Lobos will host Nevada for the series finale Sunday at noon. It will be Senior Day and the regular-season home finale for UNM.
