Long balls not enough as UNM baseball drops MWC tournament opener
May 23—The University of New Mexico baseball team won the long-ball battle Thursday. San Jose State won the war.
The Lobos hit three home runs accounting for five runs at San Diego State's Tony Gwynn Stadium in a Mountain West tournament first-round game. The Spartans did not homer, but they banged out 15 hits and rode strong relief pitching to an 8-5 victory.
Lefty Jesse Gutierrez pitched the final seven innings for SJSU (27-31), allowing just one run on three hits and striking out eight for the win. UNM (28-25) had eight hits overall but trailed from the first inning to the final out.
As a result, the Lobos face a tough climb if they are to win the four-team, double-elimination tournament. UNM will face Fresno State in an elimination game Friday at 2:30 p.m. Air Force beat Fresno State 3-2 on Thursday.
Should they survive that game, the Lobos would have to win twice on Saturday to force an if-necessary game on Sunday. The tournament champion earns the MWC's automatic NCAA Regional berth.
Konner Kinkade, Jake Holland and Josh McAlister homered to account for New Mexico's scoring. Kinkade's three-run blast in the second inning was his first home run of the season.
But San Jose State did more damage with singles, doubles and walks. The Spartans knocked out UNM starter Dayne Pengelly in the third inning, tagging him for five runs on seven hits.
The Lobos answered against SJSU starter Keaton Chase. Trailing 4-0, UNM pulled to within a run when Kinkade hammered his three-run shot to left field.
Matt Spear's RBI single off Arthur Steinkamp gave SJSU a 5-3 edge in the top of the third, but Holland responded with a long solo homer to center in the bottom of the inning. It was the 17th homer and 60th RBI of the year for Holland, who earlier in the day was named MWC Co-Player of the Year,
But Gutierrez relieved Chase after Holland's homer and effectively shut the Lobos down. McAlister's solo homer in the ninth was the only run Gutierrez allowed.
Dalton Bowling and Theo Hardy had three hits each for SJSU. Holland and Khalil Walker had two hits apiece for UNM.
ALL-MWC HONORS: Holland, UNM's starting catcher, shared Tony Gwynn MWC Player of the Year honors with Air Force's Jay Thomason. Both were joined on the All-MWC First Team by UNM first baseman Reed Spenrath and outfielder Will Asby. Walker was named All-MWC Second Team.
UNM, Air Force and San Jose State led the way with three first-team selections apiece. All-MWC teams are selected by a vote of league coaches.
