Stadjuhar hits three homers, Lobos outslug Air Force
Derby Day of a different sort took place at Santa Ana Star Field on Saturday.
The University of New Mexico and visiting Air Force combined to launch 10 home runs on a windy day, but the Lobos came out on top in both the home-run derby and the game.
Carl Stajduhar hit three of UNM’s six homers in a 17-10 victory that washed away some of the bad taste from Friday night’s 18-14 loss. Jack Zoellner finished 5-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs for the Lobos (27-20-1, 17-4-1 Mountain West).
Oddly enough, Zoellner’s twoout, two-run single in the bottom
of the seventh felt like the game’s biggest hit. It came with UNM nursing a 12-9 lead after the Falcons (24-21, 11-14) erased a 12-5 deficit to win Friday.
“When you play Air Force you’ve got to keep hitting,” Zoellner said. “That lineup is outstanding one through nine, but so is ours. We just had to stay confident and keep grinding out (at-bats).”
Stajduhar finished 3-for-4 with three solo shots and a sacrifice fly. He leads the Lobos with 15 homers and had a chance to tie the program record of four homers in a game but struck out in his final at-bat.
Stajduhar injured his left shoulder on a check swing and left in the eighth inning, but said he expects to be in the lineup today.
In addition to Stajduhar’s fluke injury, Saturday’s game included a rare four-base error.
Air Force’s Nic Ready hit a high fly ball to left that landed in the glove of UNM’s Beau Capanna — then popped over the fence to score three runs.
“Weird stuff happens here when the wind blows,” Lobos coach Ray Birmingham said, “and the wind always seems to blow.”
Lobo starter Johnathon Tripp (5-1) got the win despite allowing nine runs (six earned) and three homers. Nathaniel Garley came on to get the final out of the seventh with UNM up 12-9 and allowed just a solo home run over the final 2⅓ to earn his first collegiate save.
The series finale is set for 1 p.m. today.
The teams have combined to score 146 runs in their first five meetings of the season.