Lively, Lobos roll past Air Force
Mar. 1—Home cooking remained tasty indeed for the University of New Mexico baseball team Sunday as it completed a weekend sweep of Air Force with an 11-4 victory at Santa Ana Star Field.
Junior Tristin Lively set the pace for the Lobos (4-3, 3-0 Mountain West), pitching six strong innings to earn the win. The right-hander from Las Cruces allowed one run on four hits, walking two and striking out seven.
"Lively was really good," UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. "His fastball got to 96 (mph) and he was throwing a lot of them. It takes the pressure off the offense when your starter is pitching like that."
The Lobos provided Lively with plenty of early support, plating two runs in the first inning and three more in the second. Jared Martin and Kyler Castillo, who both had productive days at the plate, hit RBI doubles to help UNM grab a 5-0 lead.
Martin finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs, while Castillo was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Chase Weissenborn and Jarrett Gonzales also had two hits for UNM.
Sunday's game drew an announced crowd of 734 as the Lobos completed their first home series in more than 11 months. A recent change to New Mexico's public health order allowed UNM to play at home with fans at 25% of capacity.
"I'm elated with the way this weekend went," Birmingham said. "Anytime you can sweep a conference opponent, it's great. Doing it in front of our fans is even better."
Christian Gambale's solo home run and Alexander Pup's two-run shot accounted for most of the Falcons' offense. Both players collected two hits.
Relievers Nathaniel Garley and Cody Dye finished things off for UNM. The Lobos outhit Air Force (1-5, 0-3) by a 13-10 count.
UNM next travels to UNLV for a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m.
