ALBUQUERQUE — Texico baseball coach Richard Luscombe admitted he was concerned when his team left the bases loaded in each the first two innings of Monday’s Class 1A-2A state first-round game against Pecos at Albuquerque High.

Of course, the Wolverines were already leading 4-0, and as it turned out Luscombe needn’t have worried. Texico erupted for 10 runs in the third and cruised to a 22-1 victory over the Panthers.

The win advances the Wolverines (15-3-1), seeded fourth in the 16-team meet, into a 2 p.m. quarterfinal game today against 12th-seeded McCurdy (9-12-1), which upended No. 5 Mesilla Valley 7-6 on Monday.

Winning pitcher Seth Bailey, Jose Posada and Brett Anderson all went 4-for-5 for the Wolverines, who pounded out 22 hits

Luscombe had just finished watching the McCurdy-Mesilla Valley game, and didn’t want to see his team fool around.

“We had a chance to break it open early,” he said. “The kids did a good job of getting on base (early); we just didn’t get them in.”

Sophomore catcher T.J. Serna highlighted the third-inniing eruption with a two-run homer, and the Wolverines added eight more in the bottom of the fourth.

Pecos (9-12-1), which came in with a six-game winning streak, did not break through until Bradley Lopez hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth.

The game was one of five blowouts on the first day. Aside from McCurdy’s win, close games saw No. 14 Floyd lose to third-seeded Santa Rosa 5-3 while 11th-seeded Lordsburg upended Gallup Catholic 3-2.

Texico, which won a state title in 2005 and finished second the following year, meets McCurdy (11-5) at 2 p.m. today at the University of New Mexico’s baseball facility. Semifinal games are on tap Friday at La Cueva High School, with the championship set for 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Isotopes Park.