MWC: Lobo Pitching Befuddles Aztecs... Again
By Jason Owens - May 25, 2007
Once again, New Mexico had San Diego State's number and once again pitching was the story as the Lobos live to see another day and send the Aztecs packing with a 4-1 victory behind a complete game from Jacob Norton.
This win comes on the heels of Bobby Lofromboise's gutsy complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win over the Aztecs on Wednesday. And as impressive as Lofromboise's victory was, this one might be even more so when you consider that Norton came into the game with a 6.37 ERA and 4-7 record. Norton finished the game with 127 pitches, six strikeouts, one earned run and just five hits allowed.
Nobody's likely more relieved with the win than senior Matt Foote, who was tossed in the first inning after arguing an out call he clearly did not agree with. If New Mexico had lost, his career would have finished on an ugly note.
The win sets up a New Mexico matchup with UNLV just 13 hours from now in another elimination game. The winner will get the loser of Friday afternoon's heavyweight matchup between top-seeded TCU and No. 2 seed BYU, which brings MWC pitcher of the year Jesse Craig to the mound in what promises to be a great game. The loser of tomorrow's morning game will be finished with the season.
For the Aztecs, they end the season with a bizarre MWC Championship experience in which they scored 13 runs in three games, but lost two of them. They scored 12 of those runs in two games; they just couldn't figure out the New Mexico pitching in two losses to the Lobos.
So that sets up a morning date for me and the New Mexico-UNLV game. And as much as I'd like to say I'm hitting up the Vegas strip tonight, it's just not going to happen. Not to worry though; I'll figured since I'm here anyway, I'll just stay a couple of days after the tournament is over. In the meantime, I'm signing off.
Posted by Jason Owens at 01:18 AM on May 25, 2007
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