The University of New Mexico Lobo baseball team kicked off Mountain West Conference play with a double-header on Saturday afternoon at the newly renovated Santa Ana Star Field.
A sold-out crowd of 600 fans in limited seating was treated to updated seats, a beautiful sunny day of late winter Albuquerque weather, and a pair of victories for the home Lobos.
After falling behind 3-0 in the top of the second inning in game one, the Lobos posted nine runs combined in innings two and three, including a seven-run third inning that included a pair of home runs by right fielder Harry Fullerton and designated hitter Jack Silverman.
The Lobos racked up a total of 16 hits en route to an 11-7 victory, including a four-for-five performance from shortstop Mack Chambers.
The Falcons put together a last inning rally in the top of the ninth inning off of UNM reliever Riley Egloff, but their efforts came up short, and the Lobos notched their second win of the season.
Justin Armbruester took the mound for head coach Ray Birmingham in game two of the double-header, with John Byrnes taking the bump for the Falcons.
The two starters combined for an impressive 15 strikeouts in what proved to be a much lower-scoring game than game one.
Armbruester, a 6-4, 235-pound senior from Sammamish, Washington, pitched seven strong innings to earn the 5-2 win for UNM, with eight strikeouts and just two hits allowed.
Bobby Meza pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.
Left fielder Kyler Castillo and first baseman Jared Martin each logged two hits to lead the Lobos in game two, and Harry Fullerton added another RBI to finish the day win five runs batted in.
The two teams will face off in game three of the series on Sunday at Noon. You can hear all of the exciting action live in crystal clear FM stereo, online at www.1017theteam.com, and on the TEAM App.