May 26, 2005

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The New Mexico baseball team was ousted from the Mountain West Tournament after falling to San Diego State, 7-5, Thursday night at Franklin Covey Field. The Lobos went 1-2 in the tournament and finished the 2005 campaign with a 26-32 record.

Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year Bruce Billings (6-5) proved his worth on Thursday, striking out 10 batters and scattering just six hits on five runs, three earned, in eight innings of work. Jared Suwyn closed the ninth for his first save of the year.

Danny Ray Herrera (8-5) took the loss for the Lobos, surrendering seven runs, six earned, on 14 hits and five strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

The top four spots in the order collected all six hits for the Lobos. Jordan Pacheco and Chris Carlson each went 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Ryan Barba and Garrick Haymore both collected hits.

Pacheco finishes his outstanding freshman season with a .408 batting average, 15 homers and 52 RBI. Carlson also mashed 15 homers and drove in 79 runs to go along with a .395 batting average.

San Diego State (25-34) built an early 5-0 lead after three innings, courtesy of two Curt Mendoza home runs. Mendoza hit a two-run shot in the second inning and a three-run dinger in the third.

The Lobos got their first hit off Billings in the fourth inning as Carlson roped a triple to left-center. He scored on a Haymore run-scoring single up the middle to make it 5-1.

UNM cut the margin to 5-3 in the sixth inning. After back-to-back singles by Pacheco and Barba, Carlson came up with another big hit, slugging a double to right-center to plate two runs.

The Lobos took advantage of two Aztecs errors and tied it at 5 in the seventh. Pacheco nailed a clutch two-out double down the right-field line, scoring Chris Dabbs and Jeff Grady, who both reached base on back-to-back errors by SDSU third baseman Lance Zawadski.

San Diego State reclaimed the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 7-5. James Guerrero started the rally with a one-out triple to right and scored as Jake McLintock hit a single through the right side. A walk placed runners on first and second, and McLintock scored on a Tim O'Brien single to left.

The Aztecs advance to play Utah Friday at 11 a.m. No. 1 seed UNLV will play No. 2 seed BYU at 3 p.m.