ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico Lobos will face a major test as the team they share first place with, the Fresno State Bulldogs, come to town for a three-game series, starting on Friday night at 6 p.m. The series will continue with games on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and noon. For Friday’s game, fans wearing red will receive $3 tickets.
The game will be broadcast on uPublic 26 as well as on GoLobos.com. Fans can listen to the game via ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM, and the audio will stream live at www.1017theteam.com.
Against Fresno State: The Lobos and the Bulldogs have played 33 times previously, and UNM leads the all-time series 20-13. Among those wins, the Lobos are a near perfect 11-1 against the Bulldogs. Last season, the Lobos went 4-3 against Fresno State, with the two teams alternating wins and losses. UNM went 2-1 against Fresno State in Albuquerque and 1-2 in Fresno. UNM won the lone neutral game, a 9-1 victory in the Mountain West Tournament.
Fresno State Series Record: 20-13
Home: 11-1; Away: 8-10; Neutral: 1-2
Up Next: The Lobos travel to Northern California to take on Santa Clara on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and to San Francisco on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE … Well this should be fun and entertaining. The Fresno state Bulldogs are 21-9 overall, and just like UNM, they are 9-3 in conference play. If you want to talk about common opponents (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?), Fresno State and UNM have both gone 2-1 against UNLV and San Diego State. New Mexico went 3-0 vs. San Jose State while Fresno State went 2-1. The Bulldogs also are 1-0 against Sacramento State while UNM is 2-0 against the Hornets.
The Bulldogs are led by senior Bordy Russell, who is leading the team with a .396 average and 28 runs batted in. Jake Stone has a team-leading 10 doubles and a .324 average
as seven players are hitting over .300 for the season. While Fresno State’s offense is solid, their pitching has been impeccable. Friday starter Ricky Tyler Thomas has a 4-2
record with a 1.94 ERA, Saturday starter Jimmy Lambert is 6-0 with a 1.61 ERA, and Sunday starter Edgar Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 2.32 ERA.
For grins and giggles, those guys can hand off leads to closer Tim Borst, he of the 1-1 record, six saves and a 1.29 ERA.
LAST TIME OUT FOR UNM … Chris DeVito singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh, and Alex Estrella earned the save with two perfect innings as the New
Mexico Lobos downed the New Mexico State Aggies 3-2 in a game played in Roswell, New Mexico at New Mexico Military Institute.
DeVito’s single, which came with two outs and both first and second base open, made a winner out of James Harrington, who pitched the seventh inning in relief of starter Luis
Gonzalez. Gonzo was stellar, allowing just one run and four hits over six innings.
Austin Bell had another nice night going 2-for-3, including a two-run single in the fourth inning. For Estrella, he earned his third save by facing six batters and striking out three.
YOU GIVE HIM A PITCH TO HIT … Chris DeVito picked up his fifth game winning RBI of the season in UNM’s 3-2 win over New Mexico State, getting a two-out hit to drive in
a runner from third in the bottom of the seventh, amazingly enough with first and second base open. He is currently batting .418 on the season, ranking him 24th. He is one
of the nation’s leading run producers with 41 RBI, ranking fifth in the NCAA. With a .761 slugging percentage, he leads his team and is ranked 12th. He is ranked among the top 50 nationally in batting average, hits, doubles, doubles per game, home runs, home runs per game, RBI, RBI per game, slugging and total bases.
At DeVito’s current pace, his numbers were last matched by DJ Peterson, who was a three-time All-American, two-time Mountain West Player of the Year and the program’s highest ever draft pick.
HOW MANY HALL OF FAMES CAN ONE GUY GET INTO? … Apparently if you are Ray Birmingham, the answer is three. After the UNLV series on Sunday night, New Mexico’s all-time leader in collegiate coaching wins was inducted into the New Mexico Athletics Hall of Fame. It’s the third hall of fame he has been inducted into, along with the Lea County Hall of Fame and National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
WINNING 1-0 … The Lobos’ 1-0 win over Sacramento State last week was the first 1-0 win for Ray Birmingham as head coach of New Mexico and the program’s first since defeating
San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament on May 23, 2007. The last regular season win by a score of 1-0 came in 2004.
STARTING WITH A ‘W’ … The Lobos earned a 15-3 series opening win last Friday against UNLV, making them 4-0 on the season when starting a Mountain West Conference series. In fact, UNM has started off all four Mountain West series by winning the opening two games. However, the Lobos are just 1-3 in series concluders.
PITCHING…IT’S KINDA IMPORTANT … UNM’s starting pitchers this season have turned in quality starts (at least 6 innings and 3 or fewer runs) in 16 of the 29 games so far this season. Overall, UNM’s pitchers are averaging 6.1 innings per start, and 3.3 runs per start. Overall, UNM’s starters have a combined ERA in those starts of 3.91, while its opponents are at 8.02 per start.
CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE … At 9-3, the Lobos tied for first place 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.
WINNING ON THE ROAD … New Mexico is currently on a run of 12 wins in 15 games, with nine of the those games played away from Santa Ana Star Field. Prior to the team’s backto- back wins over Grand Canyon, the Lobos held an RPI of 189. The Lobos recent success has bumped them up 125 spots to 64th.
Fresno State has the league’s best RPI at 48. UNM ranks second, ahead of Air Force at 95. Air Force is followed by Nevada at 149, UNLV at 154, San Jose State at 161 and San Diego State at 208.
IF YOU WOULD HAVE GUESSED HARTFORD AND GONZAGA, WE’D HAVE PAID YOU IN FUDDRUCKERS COUPONS … New Mexico has 11 road wins in 2016, which is easily more than the seven UNM had last when going 7-14 on the road. This season UNM is 11-4 on the road, but more to the point, those 11 wins are tied for the third-most true road wins in the NCAA this season. The only two teams with more road wins are Hartford (RPI 37) with 15 (they are 15-5 and have played just five home games) and Gonzaga (RPI 33)