Small-ball Spartans shut down UNM at Mountain West baseball tournament

Chalk up another one for small ball and the San Jose State Spartans.

For the second straight season, SJSU singled, scratched and clawed its way to victory in a first-round Mountain West tournament matchup against the University of New Mexico baseball team. The power-hitting Lobos could not generate enough big hits in a season-ending 6-3 defeat Wednesday at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona.

Third-seeded UNM (30-23) produced the game’s top highlights, a solo home run by Josh McAlister and a two-run shot by Ethan Ott. But two long balls were not enough.

Sixth-seeded San Jose State (27-28) parlayed nine hits — eight of them singles — into six runs with impressive execution when it mattered most. The Spartans brought runs home with ground-ball outs, a squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly, also capitalizing on a pair of walks during a pivotal four-run rally in the fourth inning.

The Lobos, meanwhile, simply couldn’t produce in key situations. They left 10 runners on base, including two apiece in the eighth and ninth innings, and were largely shut down in a first-round elimination game.

“We had our opportunities,” UNM coach Tod Brown said, “it just wasn’t our day. It was a good college baseball game, but in some of the biggest moments we couldn’t get the big hit or make a big play. In a tight game like that, those things make the difference.”

Wednesday’s loss was remarkably similar to San Jose State’s 8-5 win over UNM at last season’s Mountain West tournament. All five of the Lobos’ runs scored on home runs in that game, while the Spartans did not homer but found enough small-ball offense to win.

On Wednesday, things started well enough for the Lobos, who grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on McAlister’s opposite-field homer to right-center. It was his team-leading 17th home run of the season.

UNM had a chance to build its lead in the third, loading the bases with two outs on singles by Karsen Waslefsky and Khalil Walker and a base on balls to Jordy Oriach. But Ott was called out on strikes to end the inning, and the momentum changed for good in top of the fourth.

After coasting through the first three innings, Lobos starter Daxton Purser ran into trouble when UNM botched a potential double-play ball on an errant throw by third baseman Akili Carris. The Spartans proceeded to make the mistake hurt.

A walk loaded the bases, Jeriah Lewis’ sacrifice fly tied the score, and an ensuing ground out gave SJSU the lead. Neil Jansen followed with an RBI double, later scoring on a Jake Maroney single to make it 4-1. Purser was relieved after allowing four runs, all of them unearned.

“We had a double play that should have been turned,” Brown said. “It would have been two outs, bases empty. San Jose State really capitalized and we never really recovered. At home, with our offense, you can overcome things like that. In this case, we couldn’t get it done.”

SJSU added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to make up for Ott’s two-run blast to left field in the fifth. It was Ott’s 16th long ball of the season and UNM’s 93rd, matching the program’s single-season record set in 2003.

The Lobos had a final chance to rally in the ninth when Walker and Will Asby singled to put runners at the corners with one out. But back-to-back strikeouts ended the game, sending SJSU on to a Thursday game against Fresno State while UNM’s season concluded.

Asby, Waslefsky and Walker had two hits apiece for New Mexico, which matched San Jose State with nine hits. Maroney had two hits for the Spartans.