David J. Olender / Photo Editor

The San Diego State baseball team and New Mexico looked like two completely different teams in the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon. With the game tied at five, both teams loaded the bases with less than two outs, but it was the Lobos (30-11, 10-5 in Mountain West Conference play) who ultimately executed and won the game 6-5 in Albuquerque.

“We just missed opportunities at the end of the game,” head coach Tony Gwynn said. “I can’t overemphasize that enough.”

In the top of the last frame, No. 15 SDSU (26-15, 9-6) loaded the bases with no outs on a hit batsman and back-to-back singles. But two infield pop ups and a weak groundball got New Mexico out of the inning.

“The hitters need to feel like they’re the ones in control,” Gwynn said of his offense. “There’s no reason to be anxious because it’s the pitcher who’s in trouble with the bases loaded. The hitter doesn’t have to swing at the first pitch or even the second pitch.”

It was a totally different story for the Lobos, who were patient enough to walk three times in a row in the ninth inning before catcher Rafael Neda hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score the decisive sixth run in walk-off fashion.

“I thought they (executed) offensively for the last two games now,” Gwynn said.
Freshman first baseman Brandon Meredith went 3-for-4 on the day, and junior third baseman Erik Castro, sophomore outfielder Cory Vaughn and freshman catcher Chris Wilson all had two hits.

Junior starter Tyler Lavigne pitched another solid day for the Aztecs, throwing five shutout innings to start the game.

“I was able to work my sinker and fastball in and out and on the corners,” Lavigne said. “I got a lot of groundballs and pop ups early.”

Lavigne ran into trouble in the sixth and did not finish the inning after surrendering three runs on four hits.

“I probably had top-three stuff today,” Lavigne said, comparing Sunday’s start to his previous seven. “Every pitch was fine, they were getting sawed off and jammed and putting it in the outfield.”

SDSU will continue its season with a non-conference game against Long Beach State at 6 p.m. today at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs defeated the “Dirtbags” two weeks ago in Long Beach in a 4-3 thriller. Meredith singled in junior center fielder Pat Colwell to score the winning run in the top of the ninth inning.

With the series loss to New Mexico, Gwynn knows his team has some catching up to do in the standings. SDSU sits one game back of TCU, BYU and New Mexico, which are all tied for first.

“The tiebreakers are not in our favor,” Gwynn said. “We just need to go out there and win as many games as we can the rest of the way.”