D.J. Peterson slammed three more home runs and reached base all 11 times he went to the plate on Saturday, and yet that only was enough to help the New Mexico Lobos earn a baseball split with visiting Cal Riverside.

At Isotopes Park, Peterson homered twice and went 5-for-5 in game one, a 14-12 Highlanders victory. He homered and walked five times in the nightcap, a 10-7 Lobos victory.

Peterson, an All-America candidate and presumptive high draft pick, has eight homers for the 6-7 Lobos, and his OPS (on base percentage plus sligging percentage) is a whopping 1.727.

	Today Baseball: UC Riverside at UNM, 1 p.m., Isotopes Park

Neither game was one for pitchers to bookmark. In the opener, the Lobos had 16 hits; UCR had 14 and also walked nine times against eight UNM pitchers.

Lobo Kevin Baumgartner (0-2) bore the brunt of it; the lefty starter allowed seven runs, all earned, on eight hits in 1â…” innings.

Cal Riverside scored five runs in that second inning to take a 7-3 lead. UCR never trailed again, though twice the Lobos pulled to within a run.

Alex Real also homered and was one of four Lobos with two hits.

Joe Chavez was 4-for-5 with three runs for the Highlanders. Right-hander Jacob Smigelski (1-0) was rewarded with a win for persisting through five innings, allowing nine runs on 11 hits.

In the nightcap, the Lobos survived another Highlanders five-run rally.

As scorekeeping quirks go, Jonathan Cuellar earned the victory for the Lobos in the nightcap, allowing three runs in his one inning (the fourth) of work. Josh Walker, whose five scoreless innings to wrap it was easily the most impressive pitching performance of the day, earned his second save.

The Highlanders (8-7) try to salvage a split of the four-game series in today’s single-game finale.

UNM GOLF: In Las Vegas, Nev., Lobo sophomore Victor Perez improved eight strokes from Friday to Saturday, but his team couldn’t quite do the same to keep up with top-ranked California.

The fifth-ranked Lobo men shot a 2-over 290 on Saturday to retain fourth place after 36 holes of the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters. UNM’s 581 total score (291-290) left it 16 strokes behind the Bears, who shot an impressive 8 under for a two-day total of 565 (285-280) and a 11-stroke lead over No. 13 Stanford (286-290-576). None of the five Cal players is above par though 36 holes.

“If I hadn’t already seen California do that about 15 times this season, I’d be surprised,” UNM coach Glen Millican said. “They’re a great team.”

No. 3 Alabama is third at 1-over 577 (289-288) in the 15-team event.

The Lobos got off to a strong start and got as low as 4 under during the front nine, with sophomore Gavin Green shooting 2 under and senior James Erkenbeck 1 under after nine holes.

Erkenbeck shot an even-par 72 Saturday and is tied for second place individually with a 3-under 141. He trails leader Patrick Rodgers (66-73-139) of Stanford by two strokes.

Lobo senior Benjamin Bauch is tied for 28th at 4-over 148 (75-73). Green finished at 5-over 149 (76-73) and is in a group tied for 36th; that group includes UNM senior John Catlin (71-78). Perez is tied for 54th after his even-par 72 left him at 8 over for the tournament (80-72-152).

UNM SKIING: In Middlebury, Vt., Lobo sophomore Mats Rudin Resaland earned his second All-America honors and led the University of New Mexico with a sixth-place finish in the men’s 20K mass-start freestyle race Saturday, the final day of the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships. The Lobos finished sixth overall with 576 points. It’s UNM’s 30th-straight top-10 finish at nationals.

On the women’s side, sophomore Clara Chauvet again led the Lobos and finished 11th with a time of 39:52.6.

UNM’s 2013 All-Americans: Chris Acosta, first team, giant slalom (fourth place), second team, slalom (t-8th); Joonas Rasanen, first team, slalom (NCAA champion); Mateja Robnik, second team, slalom (ninth); Resaland, first team, 10K Classic (second); second team, 20K freestyle (sixth).

NMSU BASEBALL: In Las Cruces, the Aggies improved to 7-8 by sweeping La Salle 8-2 and 4-2. Senior pitchers Ryan Beck and Michael Ormseth each earned a win.

NMSU (7-8) outhit the Explorers 20-12 on the day. Senior Bobby Lecount and junior Tanner Rust each were 3-for-6 with three runs scored.

NMSU SOFTBALL: In Tempe, Ariz., at the Diamond Devil Invitational, the Aggies defeated UC Davis 4-2 on Saturday before dropping a 2-1 decision to Notre Dame.

Against UC Davis, sophomore Karysta Donisthorpe (5-1) worked six innings to earn the victory. Kelsey Dodd and Staci Rodriguez hit back-to-back solo homers.

Against Notre Dame, Lacey Rother’s solo homer was all the offense NMSU mustered.
— This article appeared on page D5 of the Albuquerque Journal