Lobo Baseball: at Rip Griffin Park, Lubbock, Texas
When: Tuesday – 1 p.m. (MT)
Who: #23 Texas Tech Raed Raiders
Radio: 101.7 The Team / www.1017theteam.com
Live Stream: www.texastech.com (Fee)
Live Stats: GameTracker
Mountain West Standings
| Place | School | MW record | Overall record |
| 1 | New Mexico | 5-1 | 13-6 |
| 2 | Air Force | 4-1 | 10-4 |
| 3 | Fresno State | 4-2 | 13-7 |
| 4 | UNLV | 3-3 | 8-10 |
| 5 | San José State | 2-6 | 6-13 |
| 6 | San Diego State | 1-3 | 4-13 |
| 7 | Nevada | 1-4 | 7-12 |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Lobos took care of business and ran their winning streak to five straight with a weekend sweep of San Jose State. The Lobos won by scores of 9-6, 3-2, and 11-1, getting great starting pitching over the weekend.
Against Texas Tech: The Lobos swept both games against Texas Tech last year, with UNM winning 7-6 in Lubbock, and then a week later UNM won 6-5 in Albuquerque. In fact, the Lobos have won the last three in the series, all by one run as they won the last meeting of the 2014 season in Albuquerque 4-3.
Series Record: 44-66-1
Home: 24-21-1; Away: 20-44; Neutral: 0-1
Up Next: The Lobos will travel to San Diego State for the three game series that will run from Thursday, March 24 through Saturday March 26.
SCOUTING TEXAS TECH … The Texas Tech Red Raiders are 12-7 and ranked 23rd in the Perfect Game Top 25 Poll. The Red Raiders have won four of their last five games, including taking two of three in a Big 12 series at Baylor, winning 5-0 in game one, losing 4-3 in game two and winning 6-5 in game three.
Tanner Gardner, who is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, leads with a robust .467 average. Three other regulars are hitting over .300 in Stephen Smith (.338), Eric Gutierrez (.329) and Michael Davis (.313).
UNM will most likely see lefty Ty Damron, who has four starts with a 4.50 ERA and a 1-1 record. Robert Dugger leads the team with 10 appearances, three saves and a 0.90 ERA.
WHAT FIVE STRAIGHT ROAD WINS GET YOU … New Mexico went 5-0 last week, including two wins over Grand Canyon, who are in the RPI Top 100. Those two wins helped jump the Lobos’ RPI 93 spots from 189 to 96. That jump of 85 places was easily the largest jump by any team in the NCAA.
Fresno State has the league’s best RPI at 69, followed by Air Force at 88, UNM at 96, UNM 168, Nevada 200, San Jose State 208, and San Diego State 229.
FOLLOW MY LEAD … The Lobos have had their leadoff man reach in 79 of 167 innings, good for an inning-starting OBP of .473.
ATTENDANCE UPDATE … Through six home games the Lobos are averaging 960 fans, which is 73rd in the country.
DUREE-ABLE… Taylor Duree pitched the final inning against San Jose State on Sunday, and that was his 69th career appearance, which moved him into second place all alone on the UNM career appearances list.
He is now one spot ahead of David Steinberg (not the Canadian comedian, but that would have been amazing) with 69 appearances (Steinberg played from 1979-82). He is now six appearances away from tying Joe Coleman for first on the UNM career list. Here is the top 10:
APPEARANCES (Career)
75 Joe Coleman, 1985-88
69 Taylor Duree, 2013-present
68 David Steinberg, 1979-82
66 Gabe Aguilar, 2009-10, ’12-13
66 Kevin Letz, 2002-05
66 Joe Salas, 2001-04
65 Rudy Jaramillo, 2009-12
63 Kris Gross, 2000-03
62 Josh Walker, 2012-14
62 Gera Sanchez, 2010-12
60 Victor Sanchez, 2013-present
SHOTGUN WEDDING … Victor “Shotgun” Sanchez (that’s his Twitter handle anyways) picked up his fifth save of the season on Saturday when he entered in a 3-2 game and retired the only two men he faced.
His five saves are halfway to his single-season career high, that save was his 17th of his career, meaning he is now just extending his UNM career lead in saves.
Below is the top 10:
SAVES (Career)
17 Victor Sanchez, 2013-present
15 Gera Sanchez, 2010-12
13 Ed Bartholomew, 1983-85
11 Joe Salas, 2001-04
10 David Meng, 1994-95
9 Joe Abell, 1997-00
9 Clinton Cox, 2008-09
8 Josh Walker, 2012-14
8 David Waites, 1996-97
7 Jake Cole, 2014-15
7 Jeff Perez, 2000-01
SAVES (Season)
11 Ed Bartholomew, 1985
10 Victor Sanchez, 2014
9 David Meng, 1994
7 Josh Walker, 2013
7 Gera Sanchez, 2011
7 Jeff Perez, 2001
6 Joe Abell, 2000
6 J.C. Ortiz, 1999
5 Victor Sanchez, 2016
5 Bobby Mares, 2012
5 Gera Sanchez, 2010
5 Clinton Cox, 2009
5 Joe Salas, 2004
5 David Waites, 1996
BULLPEN DOMINANCE … The UNM bullpen has been outstanding at protecting leads during the last several seasons. If UNM is leading after eight innings? Forget it. The Lobos haven’t lost when leading after eight in 93 straight games, a streak that dates back to March 24, 2013.
PLEASE, COME BACK SOON … UNM’s sweep of San Jose State was the first home conference sweep of an opponent since last May, when UNM sept…San Jose State.