Collins, Coffman Frustrate UNM

Different week, different ballpark and an entirely different type of Lobo-Aggie baseball game.

There was just one notable similarity.

“Same result,” New Mexico coach Ray Birmingham said, “a four-run loss.”

	Friday San Diego State at New Mexico, 6 p.m. SE Missouri State at New Mexico State, 6:05 p.m.

New Mexico State extended its winning streak over UNM to four games with a 6-2 triumph Tuesday night at Isotopes Park. The Aggies (12-8) won their third straight overall, while the Lobos (5-10) saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

It was nothing like the 16-12, 33-hit marathon NMSU won a week earlier in Las Cruces. Pitching and defense dominated Tuesday’s rematch.

NMSU pitchers Casey Collins and Scott Coffman got the better of six UNM pitchers, with Collins (2-2) working the first seven innings, and Coffman finishing up for his third save.

Collins worked in and out of trouble all night, allowing seven hits and seven walks. The right-hander also made the biggest pitch of the night – his 126th – with the Aggies leading 3-2, the bases loaded and UNM cleanup hitter Josh Melendez batting with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Collins got Melendez to ground into a 4-6-3 doubleplay.

“We were not necessarily in agreement in our dugout about leaving Casey in right there,” Aggies coach Rocky Ward said, indicating his own preference for a pitching change. “But he got the out, and that was a big deal for him and for our club.”

UNM’s pitching was largely outstanding for the first seven innings, as well. The one exception came in the second inning, when starter Jake McCasland appeared to lose focus after a lead-off error. He hit a batter, allowed two walks and a single and left trailing 3-1.

“Jake’s got to figure it out,” Birmingham said. “In that second inning I didn’t know who he was.”

UNM plated single runs in the first and third innings, one coming on D.J. Peterson’s RBI single and one on a double steal. But the Lobos missed several chances to add to their total, thanks largely to Aggie pitching and defense.

“Their pitchers located the ball really well,” UNM catcher Mitchell Garver said. “They kept us off balance and we didn’t go the opposite way when we should have.”

The Aggies did little against Lobo relievers Bobby Mares, Will Mathis and Alexis Garza, getting just one hit in six combined innings. But they broke through against Gabe Aguilar and Brandon Ward-Hersee, scoring two insurance runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.

Coffman, the senior Albuquerque Academy graduate, held UNM hitless for the final two innings to secure the win for NMSU.

“It’s always fun to come up and play the Lobos,” Coffman said. “Luckily, I’ve been able to have their number a little bit, but it’s a good rivalry.”

Garver smiled when asked about facing Coffman and the Aggies. The teams will square off two more times this season.

“Of course, we’d like to get them,” he said. “But (Coffman) is no fun to face. He can throw his slider for strikes whenever he wants. His fastball’s just for show.”
Collins, Coffman Frustrate UNM

NEW MEXICO STATE 6, NEW MEXICO 2
— This article appeared on page D2 of the Albuquerque Journal