Marathon pain: Fresno State nips UNM baseball extra-inning battle

UNM’s Akili Carris rounds third base to score a run against Fresno State on Friday at Santa Ana Star Field.

Jon Austria / Journal

Ken Sickenger Ken Sickenger Ken Sickenger Journal Staff Writer

Published May 16, 2025 - 7:06 p.m. Modified May 16, 2025 - 11:29 p.m.

Saturday

Fresno State at New Mexico, noon, themw.com (streaming). Free admission

Friday afternoon’s marathon at Santa Ana Star Field had all the drama a college baseball fan could want.

The UNM Lobos and Fresno State Bulldogs traded big blows and clutch plays for 11 innings over 4 hours and 13 minutes in a wild Mountain West battle. The game featured 21 runs, 29 hits, five homers, 13 pitchers and six video reviews.

In the end, all the twists and turns made it extra painful for New Mexico, which saw its hopes for a first-round MWC tournament bye slip away in a 12-11 defeat.

For a second straight day, the Lobos (29-22, 16-13) were in position to win but could not hold onto a lead. UNM was up 6-4 after seven innings and later held a 7-6 advantage with two outs in the top of the ninth.

It wasn’t enough. Fresno State (28-26, 18-11) plated two runs in the eighth, one in the ninth and scored twice in each of the extra frames to finally walk away with a win. The Bulldogs clinched a top-two seed and a bye at next week’s conference tournament in Mesa, Arizona, while the Lobos will be the No. 3 seed and play a first-round, single-elimination game on Wednesday.

UNM did not go down without a fight Friday. Ethan Ott smacked a tying two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to keep the game going. Josh McAlister later blasted a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the 11th, pulling the Lobos to within a single run.

New Mexico nearly tied things again when Caleb Herd launched a long drive down the left-field line, but the ball drifted foul and FSU finally held on for a wild win.

“You’ve got to give both teams credit,” UNM coach Tod Brown said. “They never gave up and kept battling back. Fresno State just made one more play, had one more big swing or made one more pitch.”

The game’s biggest hit arguably came with two outs in the ninth when FSU freshman Owen Faust punched a run-scoring single to center field off UNM closer Ty Cunningham. It was the first at-bat of the season for Faust, a freshman who came up when the Lobos intentionally walked Bobby Blandford. Blandford homered in each of the first two games of the series.

A two-out infield hit that trickled away from Lobo second baseman Cooper Brass later brought home FSU’s final two runs in the 11th.

“We gave up seven runs in the last four innings,” Brown said. “That’s no way to close a game out. It comes down to making the plays that are there to make. We didn’t make quite enough of them.”

McAlister finished 4-for-6 to pace the Lobos, who outhit the Bulldogs 15-14. Tye Wood and Khalil Walker had three hits apiece, and Jordy Oriach drilled his 16th homer of the season. Eddie Saldivar went 3-for-5 with four RBIs for FSU.

The teams will conclude the series and the regular season Saturday with a Senior Game contest at noon.

“It’s Senior Day and we have a chance to get our 30th win, which is a big deal,” Brown said. “This was a tough one, but we need to shake it off and get a win.”