Courtesy of New Mexico Athletics

LUBBOCK, Texas – New Mexico Baseball controlled from the onset of its midweek matchup with Texas Tech (29-14, 12-9 Big 12) on the road at Rip Griffin Park on Tuesday, racking up 21 hits and slamming four homers en route to a 17-3 win that makes it three straight seasons in which the Lobos (20-19, 9-9 MW) split the season series with the Red Raiders.

It’s the second win against a Power 5 team on the road this season for the Lobos, who also downed Arizona State 6-4 in Phoenix on March 12 in midweek action earlier this season. They’ve now won four of six since snapping their longest losing streak of the season at eight games last Sunday, with three of those wins against teams that rank in the Top 150 in the nation by RPI.

Will Asby connected on his ninth and tenth homers of the year – with the second being his third grand slam this season – and Chase Weissenborn and Khalil Walker both hit their first big flies of the season back-to-back to power a day that saw six different Lobos pick up at least one RBI. UNM scored the final 10 runs of the game – including six in the top of the ninth – while a quartet of relievers kept the Red Raiders from getting back on the board over the final five frames.

Asby hadn’t hit a homer in his last 13 games prior to UNM’s second game against Air Force last Sunday – he’s now hit three in his last three games. With his third grand slam of the season, Asby has now matched a single-season program record set in 1995 by Mark Wulfert and is up to five games this season with four or more RBI.

In his first game back since March 23, Weissenborn finished with a team-high four RBI with four hits to go with a walk and a HBP – his eighth-frame homer was only the second big fly of his four-year career at UNM (138 GP).

Walker went 3-for-5 for his 12th multi-hit game this season, connecting on a double in the ninth after his solo shot in the eighth while scoring three runs. Konner Kinkade also finished with three knocks – two singles and a double – in the leadoff spot while scoring two more.

In total, eight Lobos finished with multiple hits, with Josh McAlister, Kyle Smith (2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB), Reed Spenrath (1 R, 1 RBI) and Jake Holland (2 R, 1 BB) all adding two each. Tye Wood finished with 3 RBI on just one hit, driving in two with a bases-loaded single and another on a sacrifice fly.

RHP Josh Barnhouse set the tone for a dominant day for UNM on the bump with 3 ⅓ solid innings of work in his third start of the season, allowing one across in the first but retiring eight of his next nine before back-to-back homers cued his departure from the game. He struck out three in that span and walked two while being tagged for four hits. Taking the mound next, LHP Arthur Steinkamp (2 BB, 1 K) got UNM out of the inning without any further damage and kept Tech off the board for the next two frames despite five hits in that span and RHP Brian McBroom (1 H, 0 BB, 0 K), LHP Jaren Jackson (0 H, 1 BB, 1 K) and RHP Wil Bannister (0 H, 0 BB, 2 K) all pitched a scoreless frame each to keep the Red Raiders from cutting into the lead even as it ballooned to 14 in the ninth.

Bannister kept his recent hot streak going with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the ninth, opening with two strikeouts before inducing a game-ending flyout that Walker corralled to end the game without much anxiety. 

UNM improves to 7-0 in games in which they hold opponents to three runs or fewer — three of those have come in the Lobos’ last six games since snapping an eight-game skid with their series finale win over Fresno State (6-2) last Sunday.