ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico baseball team will look to win its second series of the year against San Diego State, beginning a three-game home slate on Friday at 6 p.m. at Santa Ana Star Field.
The Lobos enter the weekend coming off their biggest nonconference win of the season, a 6-5 10th inning victory over No. 7 Texas Tech Wednesday. The win came over a team that was in the national top-10 in the polls and the NCAA’s RPI rankings. New Mexico currently stands at 27-12 overall, and 14-4 in the Mountain West Conference.
On the weekend, the Lobos will be looking to reach 30 wins on the season and would need a sweep to do so. In the long term view, head coach Ray Birmingham will be looking for his 300th career victory with the Lobos, currently sitting at 299. His overall win count stands at 1,117.
Games 40-42 • Santa Ana Star Field • Albuquerque, N.M.
Friday, April 22 • 6 p.m. (MT)
Saturday, April 23 • 2 p.m. (MT)
Sunday, April 24 • 1 p.m. (MT)
Broadcast info for San Diego State:
• Live stats: www.lobostats.com or www.statbroadcast.com
• Live video streams: http://www.golobos.com/sports/2015/11/9/TheMWNetwork.aspx?master=watch
• Live radio: ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM
• Live audio streams: http://www.1017theteam.com
• Live TV: uPUBLIC TV on Comcast channel 26 in Albuquerque
Series Record: 73-109
Home: 38-35; Away: 31-64; Neutral: 4-10
Up Next: The Lobos will stay at home for their final nonconference home game Tuesday against New Mexico State in the Rio Grande Rivalry. The game will be available on radio at ESPN Radio 101.7 at The TEAM and online at www.1017theteam.com. It will also be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE … The Aztecs enter the weekend with an 11-23 record overall and a 4-8 record in the Mountain West. Despite the record, they have skewed closer to .500 as of late, with a 5-5 record in their last 10 games.
San Diego State is led by Alan Trejo, who holds a team-best .333 batting average with 48 hits. Along with Justin Wylie, he leads the Aztecs with 20 RBI while scoring 22 runs. Wylie holds the team lead in runs scored at 23.
Harrison Pyatt is expected to start this weekend, and despite going 0-3 on the year, holds an ERA of 3.69. He has struck out 34 batters on the season to only 17 walks. Chris Collins and Cody Thompson are also expected to start, with a 3.18 ERA and 6.34 ERA, respectively.
THE SERIES WITH SAN DIEGO STATE … In a series that dates back to April 15, 1960, the Aztecs lead the series 73-109, with this weekend’s games marking the fourth, fifth and sixth times the teams will meet this year. While New Mexico trails overall, UNM leads the series in Albuquerque 38-35. In fact, the Lobos have not lost a three-game series against San Diego State since 2004. Since their last series loss, the Lobos have gone 18-6 against the Aztecs in Albuquerque.
NEW MEXICO KIDS WIN IT …Three New Mexico kids were the heroes in UNM’s walk off victory over #7 Texas Tech. Andre Vigil and Dalton Bowers graduated from Volcano Vista HS and Mike Eaton is from Sandia Prep.
SCHNEIDER IS ONLY ALLOWED TO FACE CONFERENCE OPPONENTS NOT NAMED SAN JOSE STATE … Carson Schneider has been awesome all season long, going 6-1 with a 3.76 ERA was 33 strikeouts and just eight walks in 64.2 innings with two complete games.
His conference stats are just as solid with a 4-0 record and a 3.88 ERA, but look at these odd splits:
Opponent St Rec IP ERA
vs. SJSU 2 0-0 12.0 9.75 ERA
Rest of MW 4 4-0 34.1 1.82 ERA
CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE … At 14-4, the Lobos are in first place by two games (with the tiebreaker over second-place Fresno State) and are in line to compete for another conference championship. That is to be expected of Birmingham’s Lobos. Since Birmingham took over the program in 2008, New Mexico has been the champions or runners up in either the regular season or conference tournament. That includes five regular season or tournament titles during a four year span from 2011-2014.
RPI NOTES … The Lobos are the top team in the Mountain West, and have a shot at an at-large berth as UNM’s RPI continues to climb. Here are the RPIs for the league’s seven teams, as of Monda:y
New Mexico 50
Fresno State 60
Nevada 144
Air Force 156
UNLV 172
San Diego St. 177
San Jose State 184