Fresno State baseball: Bulldogs strand tying run in ninth in loss

Fresno State left-handed hitter Austin Guibor already had two hits on the night against left-handed pitching when he stepped to the plate in the ninth Friday night in Albuquerque, N.M., with the tying run at second.

But when faced with a fresh armed left-handed reliever in the clutch, Guibor couldn’t connect a third time.

New Mexico closer Alex Estrella caught Guibor looking for the final out as Fresno State stranded the tying run at second in a 2-1 loss to kick off a three-game Mountain West Conference series at Santa Ana Star Field.

Tied atop the conference standings with New Mexico (21-9, 10-3) entering Friday, Fresno State (21-10, 9-4) lost ground much to the credit of Lobos left-handed ace Carson Schneider.

It wasn’t until the the ninth, with Schneider still in, that the Bulldogs finally scored, as leadoff hitter Scott Silva came home from second on Brody Russell’s single up the middle.

That prompted Schneider’s removal, with right-handed cleanup hitter Aaron Arruda stepping to the plate.

New Mexico brought in right-hander Victor Sanchez, who struck out Arruda swinging.

Then came Estrella, who finished off Guibor for his fourth save.

Fresno State has lost seven one-run games this season.

Schneider allowed one run on five hits and three walks in 8 1/3 innings. He struck out six.

Bulldogs starter Ricky Thomas went the distance, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits. He walked none and struck out four.

New Mexico broke up a scoreless game in the fourth when Chris DeVito scored from second on Jared Mang’s RBI single. DeVito started the inning by reaching base via a throwing error.

A Bulldogs error in the eighth set up the Lobos to move ahead 2-0, with Thomas surrendering an RBI single to Carl Stajduhar.

The series continues at 1 p.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 8:39 PM with the headline "Fresno State baseball: Bulldogs strand tying run in ninth in loss."