Lobos in hunt
Strong relief pitching, tight defense propel Lobos past Binghamton
UNM visits Fresno State today, still in contention for a conference title
The University of New Mexico baseball team didn’t bring its best hitting shoes to Friday night’s season-opener. Didn’t need them. Effective pitching and flawless defense carried the night for the Lobos in an 8-4 victory over Binghamton at Santa Ana Star Field. Senior transfer Johnathon Tripp pitched the final four innings to earn the win in his UNM debut, allowing just one single and striking out six.
The Bearcats outhit the Lobos 8-7 overall but paid dearly for their numerous mistakes. Binghamton committed four errors, walked seven batters and hit two more with pitches.
UNM pitchers did not allow a walk, struck out 12, and the Lobos’ defense played error-free baseball with a couple of highlight plays by shortstop Hayden Schilling.
“I wanted to see pitching and defense,” Lobo coach Ray Birmingham said, “and we had them both. We had some jitters and nerves out there but we played through it and beat a pretty good team. We’ll take it.”
One player battling nerves was Tripp, who sat out last season after transferring from Texas Tech. The right-hander hardly looked nervous, taking over in the top of the sixth with the score 4-4 and shutting down the Bearcats the rest of the way.
“That was the most anxious I’ve ever been in baseball,” Tripp said. “I hadn’t pitched since 2015 and I came out of the bullpen
with adrenaline rushing. I’m just glad I got to pitch on opening night and get all that behind me.”
Tripp was dazzling in relief of Tyler Stevens, who battled his command to get through five innings. Stevens struck out six but allowed four runs on seven hits, leaving several pitches up in the zone.
“Tyler wasn’t his usual excellent self, but he battled,” Birmingham said.
The same description could apply to UNM’s offense, which did just enough on a chilly Friday evening. Luis Gonzalez and Danny Collier had two hits apiece for the Lobos, combining to drive in three runs.
Collier, who was not expected to play because of an abdominal strain, lined an RBI triple to rightcenter in his first at-bat. He later scored on Jack Zoellner’s single to tie the score at 2-2 after an inning.
Collier was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Carl Stajduhar followed with a walk to give UNM a 4-2 lead in the second. Justin Yurchak’s RBI double and run-scoring ground out pulled Binghamton even at 4-4 in the third.
But the Bearcats managed just two singles the rest of the game, and UNM broke the deadlock with a three-run rally in the sixth.
Daniel Herrera singled to lead off the inning, Gonzalez later doubled to right-center, and Justin Watari walked to load the bases. A pair of infield errors allowed all three runners to score.
“Our hitters are capable of more, but we put the ball in play when we had to,” Birmingham said. “We also hit three of four bullets right at people, so I’m not concerned with the offense.”
Like Birmingham, Tripp was more than happy to walk away with a win over a Binghamton team that qualified for NCAA Regionals last season.
“Sometimes I tend to get too serious out there,” Tripp said, “so I reminded myself to have fun tonight. I had fun, we got a victory. What more can you ask?”
Paul Rufo finished 3-for-4 to pace the Bearcats and collected the lone hit against Tripp. The threegame series resumes today with a 2 p.m. start.