Fornea's Russ-ty Outing

New Mexico’s Will Kerr held Texas Tech to just two runs and scattered seven hits over 7 2/3 innings to lead the Lobos to a 7-2 win over the Red Raiders on Wednesday afternoon at Dan Law Field.

The win by New Mexico means that this season series will end in a 2-2 tie.  Texas Tech drops to 17-16 while New Mexico improved to 21-12.

The Lobos got all the runs they needed in the top of the third as they took advantage of a wild inning by Tech starter Russ Fornea.  Fornea allowed a two-run double in the frame while walking in two runs on two walks and hitting a batter for the third.  He was replaced with two outs in the inning by Sam Janca who then gave up an RBI single to Mike Brownstein but Roger Kieschnick held back further damage as he threw out Adam Courcha who tried to score from second.

Tech finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when Willie Rueda scored on a balk by Lobo starter Will Kerr.  Rueda led off the inning with a double to right center and then moved to third on a single by Joey Kenworthy.

A costly fielding error by Tech catcher Juan Rodriguez led to the Lobos final run of the fifth inning and he was replaced soon after by Jeremy Mayo who caught the final four innings.

The Red Raiders got one more run in the bottom of the eighth when Roger Kieschnick scored Kenworthy on a double that bounced off the right field wall.  Kenworthy was able to score all the way from first after reaching on a single down the right field line.

Russ Fornea (3-3) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs on four hits while walking four over 2 2/3 innings.  Will Kerr (2-1) earned the win for New Mexico after holding Tech to just two runs on seven hits over 7 2/3 innings.