BOXSCORE: NM 13, NC 5
BOXSCORE: NM 23, NC 3

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The New Mexico bats were extremely effective against the Northern Colorado pitchers on Saturday afternoon as the Lobos won a pair of games against the Bears, 13-5 and 23-3. Northern Colorado moves to 4-3 on the season, while New Mexico improves to 7-2.

Northern Colorado scored five runs on 12 hits with one error, while New Mexico scored 13 on 16 hits with one error during game one. Senior Erik Hegstad went 3-for-4, while senior Kevin Sandberg went 2-for-5 with two RBI and junior Hunter Nolen went 2-for-4 for the team's players with multiple hits.

In the first game, the Bears continued their trend of giving up runs early and having to work from behind. The Lobos scored one in the bottom of the first, but with the bases loaded Sciba struck out the DH, Justin Howard, to end the frame. Nolen and Hegstad hit back-to-back singles to start the top of the second, but Dirk came back to strike out the next three to leave the pair stranded.

The Lobos scored two more in the bottom half with no outs and on an attempted double steal, Nolen and Hilker combined to throw out Brownstein at home to prevent the fourth run of the afternoon.

In the third frame, Sandberg hit a two-run shot after a Mees walk to bring the Bears within one, 3-2. It was the 25^th home run of his career, tying him for eighth all time at Northern Colorado with Jeff Knabenshue (1987-89).

Howard answered with a two-run home run of his own and then Cavazos-Galvez tacked on another tally leaving the yard the very next batter and Willman came in on the hill for the Bears. He retired two, then New Mexico hit four straight singles for two more runs and Howard had his second big hit of the inning with a bases-clearing triple to blow the score open at 11-2.

In the top of the fourth, Hegstad and Berge led off with back-to-back singles and Hilker was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs, Raudenbush doubled to score two runs and cut the Lobos lead to seven, 11-4. The Bears held New Mexico scoreless in the bottom half of the frame.

Sandberg singled to start the fifth and moved to second on a wild pitch. Nolen was hit and Hegstad singled to load the bases with no outs. The Lobos coaching staff had seen enough and made a pitching change, bringing in Aguilar. Crudo pinch hit for the Bears and grounded into a double play, but scored Sandberg for the 11-5 tally on the scoreboard. Willman kept the Lobos off the scoreboard in the fifth and sixth innings. He pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits.

New Mexico added one run each in the seventh and eighth innings for the 13-5 final. Forbes Scott pitched the final 1.2 frames, giving up one earned run on two hits.

In the second game, New Mexico scored 23 runs on 21 hits with one error, while the Bears scored three runs on nine hits and committed a season-high five errors. Bobby Moore gets the win for the Lobos on the hill, while Brian Sizemore is credited with the loss.

Sizemore threw 3.1 innings, allowing nine runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out one. The Bears used four more hurlers in the contest as Eric Skufca threw 0.2 innings, Nate Steimetz pitched two, Tony Crudo pitched one and Ty Jacobs threw the final one.

Sandberg led the team, going 2-for-3 from the plate and Mees had another multiple hit game, going 2-for-4.

The Bears took a different approach to game two and got on the scoreboard first. Berggren singled to lead off the game and was sacrificed to second by Raudenbush. Mees hit a deep fly ball to left center, just past the hill in the outfield for a double and Berggren crossed the plate. Nolen was hit by a pitch and then Hegstad singled to left field to score Mees for the early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, New Mexico evened the score on a throwing error by Hilker and then took the lead on a sacrifice fly to center for the 3-2 score. The Lobos offense again had some big innings, scoring two in the third and six in the fourth to pull ahead 11-2.

Mees led off the fifth with a seeing-eye single up the middle and Sandberg followed with a single of his own. Nolen advanced both runners and two batters later Hansen singled between second and third to score Mees for one more Bears' run, making the score 11-3.

New Mexico continued to score at will on the Bears over the next two innings, scoring four in the sixth and six in the seventh to gain a 21-3 advantage. They tacked on two more in the eighth for a 20-point win, 23-3.

The two teams play the fourth and final game of the series tomorrow at Isotopes Park. First pitch is scheduled for noon.