BYU baseball: Lobos hang on to defeat Cougars
Thanks to steady pitching, solid defense and timely hitting, the Lobos rallied to claim a 9-7 victory over BYU Thursday before a crowd of 385 on a chilly night at Miller Park.
The Cougars scored one run in each of the first three innings, including a home run by Sean McNaughton, and held the lead after four. But UNM came back from a 3-0 deficit, doing most of its damage on singles, exploding for eight runs over two innings. From there, the Lobos hung on for the win.
New Mexico tied the game in the fifth with three unearned runs after an error by BYU shortstop Dan Vargas. It was one of three costly errors committed by the Cougars. UNM did not commit an error on the night.
BYU regained the lead in the fifth frame as McNaughton drew a walk, Vargas singled and Kent Walton recorded an RBI groundout, scoring McNaughton. A Steve Parker single knocked home Vargas to make it 5-3 for the Cougars.
But the Lobos answered swiftly and emphatically with a five-spot in the sixth on five base hits. They added another run in the eighth.
Kasey Ko's RBI single in the bottom of the eighth scored Vargas and narrowed UNM's advantage to 9-7.
BYU starter Jake Wortham pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs (three unearned) and 11 hits. UNM starter Bobby Lafromboise also threw 5 1/3 innings, yielding six runs (one unearned) and eight hits.
With the win, the Lobos improved to 12-4 in MWC play (28-19 overall), with a two-game lead over TCU. The Cougars fell to 6-10 in the conference and 18-27 overall.
The two teams continue their three-game series tonight at 7.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com
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