The New Mexico Lobos dropped their Mountain West Conference season baseball opener on Friday, losing 9-7 to the Air Force Falcons in 10 innings at Santa Ana Star Field.
The Lobos (9-4) and the Falcons (5-9, 1-0) meet again Saturday in a game set for 6 p.m.
After Air Force had gone up 7-5 with two runs in the top of the ninth inning, Lobos first baseman Reed Spenrath’s two-run home sent the game to extra innings. UNM squandered a chance to win it in the ninth, getting the potential winning run to third. But shortstop Chase Weissenborn flied out to end the threat.
In the 10th, Air Force pushed two runs across against UNM reliever Wil Bannister (0-2). A flyout, a Jeffrey David single and a double play off the bat of Lenny Junior Ashby ended the game.
NMSU: In Phoenix, New Mexico State remained winless on the season, falling to Grand Canyon 6-1 in both teams’ Western Athletic Conference opener.
The Aggies (0-11) managed six hits of two Grand Canyon pitchers, averting a shutout in the eighth inning when Kevin Jimenez scored Christian Perez with a single to right. Jimenez went 3-for-4 on the night, lifting his season average to .342.
NMSU starter Treyjen Meza (0-3) took the loss but was effective, allowing two earned runs on six hits through six innings. Meza struck out six and walked two.
But the Antelopes (9-4) jumped on reliever Aaron Treloar for three runs in the seventh and touched Hayden Johns for a single run in the eighth.
SOFTBALL: In Lubbock, Texas, the Lobos took a pair of victories on Friday in the Texas Tech Invitational, first blanking Buffalo 6-0, then edging Manhatan 7-6 in extra innings.
The Lobos (11-13) will again face Buffalo at 9 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a game against the host Red Raiders at 4:30 p.m.
In Friday’s first game, Amber Linton shut down the Bulls on three hits, striking out nine.
The Lobos pounded out 10 hits, with Lauren Garcia going 2-for-3. Rachael Hathoot and Ashley Archuleta had doubles.
Against Manhattan, after Maddie Boldt’s solo home run in the seventh sent the game to extra innings, Peyton Robinson’s ninth-inning double scored Chloe Yeatts and gave UNM the lead. Linton (7-6) then set down the Jaspers 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.
The Lobos had 14 hits against Manhattan. Robinson went 3-for-5, with Boldt, Hathoot, Keyannah Chavez and Lauren Garcia each contributing two hits.
GOLF: In Mesa, Ariz., the University of New Mexico women’s golfers shot a 4-under-par team score of 284 on Friday, four shots behind leader Texas A&M after the first day of the 2023 14-team Clover Cup tournament at the Longbow Golf Club.
Lauren Lehigh led the Lobos with a round of 3-under 69, tied with five other golfers for the individual lead.
Myah McDonald is tied for eighth after a 1-under 71.
