Pitching shines in UNM baseball's 7-0 win over NMSU

Tod Brown couldn’t have drawn it up much better than this.

Right-hander Dayne Pengelly and four UNM relievers combined on a two-hit shutout Tuesday night as the Lobo baseball team rolled to a 7-0 win over New Mexico State at Santa Ana Star Field.

Pengelly (1-0) worked five strong innings, allowing one hit, walking two and striking out four to help the Lobos (5-4) draw first blood in this season’s Rio Grande Rivalry. UNM and NMSU (5-3) will meet three more times in 2025, once in Albuquerque and twice in Las Cruces.

Tuesday’s result would have been tough for anyone to see coming, including Brown, the Lobos’ head coach. Not only did both New Mexico rivals come into the game ranked among the top 20 nationally in batting average and slugging percentage, but UNM’s beleaguered pitching staff was coming off a weekend of nothing but slow-pitch softball scores.

The Lobos allowed 42 runs in a four-game split against Northern Colorado.

“The weekend was ridiculous,” Brown said. “We had a few guys pitch well, but overall our pitching was unacceptable. You can win like that. We really needed our guys to come out tonight, throw strikes and compete and that’s what they did.”

Relievers Jack Messmore, Josh Barnhouse, Ty Cunningham and Daxton Purser worked one inning apiece in support of Pengelly. They combined to allow one hit and one walk while striking out five.

UNM’s offense, which racked up 51 runs in four games against Northern Colorado, was relatively quiet against four NMSU pitchers. The Lobos managed seven runs on nine hits, with most of the damage coming in a five-run second inning.

It proved more than enough. Jordy Oriach’s three-run homer and Will Asby’s two-run double highlighted the uprising against Aggies starter Matthew Yarc (0-1).

Oriach, who was named Mountain West Player of the Week on Monday, stayed hot by going 2-or-3 with a walk and three RBIs Tuesday. He smiled when asked if he knew his towering shot to right-center field would leave the yard.

“Oh yeah, 100 percent,” Oriach said. “I had a couple over the weekend that I wasn’t sure about — one that got out and one that didn’t. This one, I knew it was gone.”

Tuesday’s game was a needed bounce-back for Pengelly, who retired only four batters as UNM’s starting pitcher in a 16-15 loss to Northern Colorado on Friday. His quick exit helped to throw the Lobos’ bullpen into disarray for most of the series.

“Pengelly didn’t throw many pitches Friday, which was why he was available for this game,” Brown said. “If I knew what the difference was, I’d tell you. But it was night and day.”

Brodey Williams finished 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Lobos, who host Rhode Island for a four-game set beginning Friday at 2 p.m. Mitch Namie and Joey Craig recorded the only hits for NMSU, which returns home to open a four-game series against Oakland on Friday at 6 p.m.

Take a look at the Rio Grande Rivalry: UNM baseball blanks NMSU