Holland, Lobos bounce back to beat Spartans

UNM catcher smacks three home runs in doubleheader sweep

The prospect of a second straight ninth-inning nightmare was staring the UNM baseball tean in the face Saturday afternoon.

Visiting San Jose State had bitten the Lobos with four runs in the top of the ninth inning of Friday night’s series opener to steal a 16-13 win. Trailing 7-5 on Saturday, the Spartans loaded the bases with two outs.

Not this time.

UNM lefty Jaren Jackson struck SJSU’s Nick Trapani out swinging for the final out and the Lobos held on for a 7-5 win. They left nothing to chance in Saturday night’s finale, rolling to a 17-4 victory to win the three-game series.

The teams agreed to play the final two games as a Saturday doubleheader to avoid rain showers forecast for Sunday.

Jake Holland put together a big day and a monster series at the plate to pace the Lobos. Holland had five hits Saturday, three of them homers and drove in nine runs. In the three-game set, Holland was 8-for-11 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

Asked how UNM managed to effectively shake off Friday’s frustrating finish, Holland shook his head.

“I don’t know that we did completely,” he said. “That one hurt. Today we pitched better and got some big hits when we needed them. This felt much better.”

San Jose State (8-16, 4-8 Mountain West) rocked UNM’s pitching staff for 22 hits Friday, but had limited success against Lobo left-handers Daxton Purser and Jackson in Saturday’s opener. The duo combined to get through nine innings and got just enough key outs to help the Lobos even the series.

Purser departed after five innings with the score even at 2-2. Will Asby’s solo homer to right-center put UNM back in front 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, but Trapani’s solo homer and Dalton Bowling’s RBI double gave the Spartans a 4-3 edge in the top of the seventh.

UNM answered with three in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to Holland’s long solo homer, an RBI single by Akili Carris and a bases-loaded walk, and the Lobos were able to hold on.

SJSU grabbed an early 3-0 lead in game two, but the Lobos took over from there. Holland belted three-run homers in the second and fourth innings to help build a 12-4 lead. Gene Trujillo and Josh McAlister also went deep for UNM.

Reliever Ryan Castillo (1-0) shut down the Spartans over the final five innings, allowing just two hits, no runs and striking out seven for the win.

UNM next travels to San Diego State for a threegame series beginning Friday.