April 19, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
Lobo Baseball: Lobos in Thick of Race
By Ken Sickenger, Journal Staff WriterA little disrespect, it seems, can go a long way.
The highly motivated University of New Mexico baseball team enhanced its Mountain West Conference title chances Saturday, scoring the final 11 runs in a 13-3 rout of Utah at Isotopes Park.
The Lobos improved to 26-14 overall, 10-4 in MWC play and are tied for second with San Diego State, half a game behind TCU. UNM can pull even with the Frogs by defeating Utah in today's series finale at Lobo Field.
Center fielder Adam Courcha was 2-for-3— both two-out RBI hits— to help pace New Mexico's 14-hit attack Saturday. He conceded the Lobos have a little extra incentive against MWC foes.
"These are live-or-die games," Courcha said. "We were extremely (ticked) off, so to speak, when the conference coaches ranked us fifth in the preseason. We always give 100 percent in these games."
Similar to Friday's 12-inning victory, UNM had some wobbly early innings to overcome. Starting pitcher Jacob Norton gave up three hits, a walk and hit two batters in the first two frames alone. Utah (13-19, 3-7) had the bases loaded with no outs in the first and reloaded them with one out in the second.
Thanks to some outstanding defense, each rally produced just one run. Lobo right fielder Brian Cavazos-Galvez threw out a runner at the plate for the first out in inning one. Shortstop Scott Gracey and second baseman Mike Brownstein then ended the rally with a nifty double play on a bouncer up the middle.
UNM first baseman Kevin Atkinson snared a line drive for the final out in the second inning with the Lobos trailing 2-1.
"Our kids want to win really bad and sometimes they overpitch," New Mexico coach Ray Birmingham said of his starters. "I just reminded (Norton) to reach for the (catcher's) mitt and keep the ball down, then things started to work out for him."
Courcha's RBI single tied the game at 2-2 in the second, but Utah regained a 3-2 lead on D.C. Legg's run-scoring hit in the top of the fourth.
The home team started taking control in the bottom of the fifth. Courcha and Brownstein walked in front of Ian Hollick's RBI double. Brownstein later managed to avoid a tag attempt and scored the go-ahead run on Matt Hibbitts' shallow sacrifice fly.
"It's really all about competing," Courcha said. "We're trying to win every single inning, and we all know we've got to pitch in some time."
Courcha's RBI triple to the right-field corner and Brownstein's run-scoring hit made the score 6-3 in the sixth, and UNM broke things open with a four-run seventh. Catcher Rafael Neda drove in two of those runs with a bases-loaded hit. Neda also capped the scoring with a three-run homer in the eighth.
Norton (5-2) ended up working 7 2/3 eventful innings, allowing just three runs on 12 Utah hits. Adam Skelton got the final four outs in order.
Atkinson finished with three hits and scored three times for UNM, while Cooper Blanc had three hits for Utah.
Today
Utah at New Mexico, noon, Lobo Field