MWC Baseball Tournament: Stevens tosses gem as Lobos beat Wolfpack 7-2

Tyler Stevens pitched a complete game to lead the Lobos to a 7-2 victory over Nevada in the opening round of the 2017 Mountain West Conference baseball tournament.

Stevens allowed two earned runs on seven hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts against a Nevada team that scored a combined 35 runs against the Lobos in a three-game series last weekend.

Jared Mang and Matt Villalobos led New Mexico with two hits each, and third baseman Carl Stajduhar added a huge two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh inning to put the game out of reach for the Lobos.

The Wolfpack would jump out early to a quick two-run lead on a first inning two-run home run by right fielder Mike Echavia, silencing a large home crowd of Lobo fans at Santa Ana Star Field.

But those would be the only runs scored by Nevada on the evening, as Stevens settled in by scattering just five hits in the remaining eight frames.

The win for the Lobos comes on the same day that UNM manager Ray Birmingham was named Mountain West Conference coach of the year, and injured first baseman Jack Zoellner was named Tony Gwynn co-player of the year along with San Diego State shortstop Danny Sheehan.

The Lobos will continue tournament play on Friday against No. 2 seed San Diego State. The Aztecs defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 18-10 in a slugfest in the afternoon game at Santa Ana Star Field on Thursday.

Robert Portnoy will call all of the exciting action live and in crystal-clear FM on ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM.