March 21, 2005
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THIS WEEK IN LOBO BASEBALL
New Mexico at New Mexico State
TUESDAY, MARCH 22 — LAS CRUCES, N.M. — PRESLEY ASKEW FIELD (1,000)
MEDIA COVERAGE:
LIVE STATS: Live stats available at www.NMStateSports.com
SERIES INFORMATION: New Mexico leads the series, 139-68. The Lobos swept the Aggies in Albuquerque earlier this season Feb. 12-13 at Isotopes Park.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP:
Tuesday:UNM: #11 RH Sr. Karsten Gaarder (1-3, 5.93 ERA, 27.1 IP, 29 K)vs.NMSU: #3 LH Joseph Hampel (0-1, 13.14 ERA, 12.1 IP, 3 K)
UNLV at New Mexico
THURSDAY-SATURDAY, MARCH 24-26 — ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — ISOTOPES PARK (11,124)
MEDIA COVERAGE:
RADIO: All home games broadcast on KDEF 1150 AM and www.GoLobos.com with Henry Tafoya, Dan Rivera and Mike Foote calling the action.
LIVE STATS: Live stats of all games available at www.GoLobos.com
SERIES INFORMATION: UNLV leads the all-time series, 58-39. The Lobos won four of the seven meetings last season.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):
Thursday:UNLV: #27 RH Sr. Derek Rodriguez (1-3, 4.50 ERA, 40.0 IP, 25 K)vs.UNM: #28 RH Sr. Jason Fernandez (4-2, 6.85 ERA, 43.1 IP, 32 K)
Friday:UNLV: #20 LH So. Koji Popo (1-0, 1.85 ERA, 24.1 IP, 16 K)vs.UNM: #2 LH So. Danny Ray Herrera (2-1, 3.68 ERA, 22.0 IP, 17 K)
Saturday:UNM: #26 RH Jr. Matt Luca (2-4, 3.29 ERA, 41.0 IP, 27 K)vs.UNM: #21 RH Jr. Darren Coltrinari (3-2, 7.68 ERA, 34.0 IP, 22 K)
LOBOS PLAY MID-WEEK GAME AGAINST RIVAL NEW MEXICO STATE, HOST UNLV THURSDAY-SATURDAY: The New Mexico baseball team begins a busy four-game stretch in five days with a mid-week game against intrastate rival New Mexico State on Tuesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. in Las Cruces. Live stats of the game will be available at New Mexico State’s official athletic website, www.NMStateSports.com.
UNM returns home from Las Cruces to host UNLV for a key three-game series Thursday-Saturday (March 24-26) at Isotopes Park. Thursday’s game is set for 12 p.m. and Friday’s game will start at 6 p.m. Saturday’s game time will be decided later this week due to the Albuquerque Men’s Basketball Regional at The Pit.
The Lobos, who enter the week with an 11-11 (1-2 Mountain West) mark, played one of their best series of the year vs. BYU last weekend at Isotopes Park, but unfortunately came out on the losing end in two of the three games.
UNM rallied to win the first game of the series in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth for the 6-5 comeback victory. The Lobos led the second game 5-4 after seven innings, but the Cougars exploded for 15 runs in the final two frames, including 12 runs in the ninth, to post a 19-6 win. In the series finale, the Lobos once again led late, this time clinging to a 3-1 advantage after seven innings. The Cougars chipped away with a run in the eighth and a solo homer in the ninth to tie it at 3, and scored the game-winning run on a run-scoring triple in the 11th for the 4-3 triumph.
Senior catcher Jeff Grady leads the team with five homers. |
New Mexico State enters the contest with a 12-12 record after taking two of three from Cal State Northridge last weekend at Presley Askew Field.
The Lobos swept the Aggies earlier this season (Feb. 12-13) at Isotopes Park, the first time UNM has swept NMSU in a three-game series since 1987. New Mexico won the opening game of the series on Saturday, Feb. 12, 13-9. The teams played a doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 13 because rain had washed away Friday’s contest. The Lobos claimed both ends of the doubleheader, 8-3 and 14-12.
UNM returns to conference action Thursday-Saturday against UNLV. The Rebels, who play Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, enter the week with a 9-15 record. They are 3-0 in league play after sweeping Air Force at home last weekend.
HISTORY LESSON – LOBOS-AGGIES 101
New Mexico leads the all-time series, 139-68
The Lobos swept the Aggies in three games earlier this season atIsotopes Park
Coach Alday is 34-33 all-time vs. New Mexico State; 13-20 in Las Cruces
The Aggies topped UNM last season in Las Cruces, 16-9
The two teams meet again this season on March 29 and April 12 in Las Cruces
HISTORY LESSON – LOBOS-REBELS 101
UNLV leads the all-time series, 58-39
The Lobos won four of the seven meetings last season
Coach Alday is 29-37 all-time vs. UNLV; 14-11 in Albuquerque
The Lobos are 18-13 vs. UNLV in Albuquerque; 2-3 at Isotopes Park
The two teams meet again this season April 22-24 in Las Vegas
GET OUT THOSE BINOCULARS – LOBOS TO WATCH
Sophomore first baseman Daniel Stovall is looking to top his sensational freshman campaign that landed him spots on the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America and All-Mountain West teams. He is currently one of 55 players on the Wallace Watch Award list, which is given out to college baseball’s top player. He was also named Baseball America’s preseason Mountain West Player of the Year. Stovall hit .347 with 12 homers, 14 doubles and 34 RBI last year. Thus far, he’s living up to his preseason billing – he’s batting .398 with three homers, 26 RBI and 10 doubles.
Freshman Jordan Pacheco, who led Albuquerque’s La Cueva High School to back-to-back state championships, is making a nice transition to Division I collegiate baseball. The second baseman leads the Mountain West in batting (.452), hits (38), total bases (62), slugging (.738) and triples (four). He also ranks among the Mountain West leaders in on-base percentage (.472) and runs (22). Pacheco has hit safely in his last 18 games.
Sophomore outfielder Chris Carlson leads the Mountain West with 31 RBI and 26 runs scored. He’s also batting .375 with four homers, 10 doubles and three triples.
Senior outfielder Garrick Haymore ranks among the Mountain West leaders in several offensive categories. In addition to batting .359, he’s fifth in on-base percentage (.451), second in runs (22) and third in doubles (nine).
THE ESSENTIALS: CLIFF NOTES FROM THE FIRST NEW MEXICO STATE SERIES
New Mexico swept past New Mexico State (13-9, 8-3, 14-12) Feb. 12-13 at Isotopes Park. It marked the first time UNM has swept the Aggies in a three-game series since 1987.
The Lobos slugged out 42 hits and 35 runs in the series…UNM hit .378 in the series.
First baseman Daniel Stovall hit .538 in the series (7-for-13) with a homer, three doubles, four runs and eight RBI to earn Mountain West Player of the Week honors.
Sophomore DH Chris Carlson, the Lobos’ third batter in the lineup, broke out offensively, producing four hits, including three doubles, with five RBI and seven runs scored.
UNM hit six triples in the series, including three in Saturday’s game.
In Saturday’s series opener, UNM earned its first win of the season with a 13-9 victory…UNM broke the game open with a nine-run fifth inning that gave the Lobos a 13-4 lead…Jason Fernandez fired six innings in getting the victory, allowing four runs, three earned, with two strikeouts…Daniel Stovall hit a solo homer and went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.
In game one of Sunday’s doubleheader, senior Karsten Gaarder struck out eight batters in 7.1 innings and only allowed five hits and two runs in UNM’s 8-3 triumph…for his effort, he was named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Week…the Lobos built an 8-0 advantage through five innings…Carlson hit two doubles and drove in two runs in the game.
In game two of the doubleheader, the Lobos ran out to a 14-5 lead through five innings en route to scoring a 14-12 victory…Jordan Pacheco hit an inside-the-park homer in the third inning and went 2-for-4 in the game…Garrick Haymore collected three hits, including a triple, with two runs and two RBI…Stovall delivered two more hits and three RBI…Darren Coltrinari picked up his first win of the season after pitching five innings and striking out five…Kevin Letz earned his first career save with two strikeouts in closing the ninth.
THE ESSENTIALS: CLIFF NOTES FROM THE BYU SERIES
BYU took two of three games from UNM last weekend (March 18-19) at Isotopes Park
Down 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth in the first game of the series, UNM rallied for four runs to win 6-5…Matt Foote hit a game-winning, bases-loaded RBI single to right field to win the game…Garrick Haymore went 4-for-5, including a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth…Jordan Pacheco went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored.
Darren Coltrinari threw a career-best nine innings vs. BYU last Saturday. |
The Lobos led 5-4 after seven innings in the second game, but BYU scored three runs in the eighth and 12 in the ninth for the 19-6 victory…BYU hit seven doubles in the ninth inning, one shy from tying an NCAA record…Daniel Stovall went 3-for-5 with an RBI…Haymore went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer in the seventh…Pacheco collected three hits and scored three times.
UNM couldn’t hold onto a 3-1 lead after seven innings in the series finale as BYU scored once in the eighth and once in the ninth on a Ryan Chambers solo homer to tie the game at 3…Casey Cloward hit a run-scoring triple in the 11th to propel BYU to the 4-3 triumph…UNM starter Darren Coltrinari pitched a career-best nine innings and struck out five in a no-decision…Jeff Grady went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and hit his team-leading fifth homer of the year.
Jordan Pacheco hit .500 (7-for-14) in the series with five runs, two doubles, a homer and two RBI
INJURY BUG
The Lobos have lost two players for the season due to injury.
Junior catcher A.J. Spitaleri, a preseason All-Mountain West selection, will miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. Spitaleri only appeared in six games, but was batting .438 with a homer and four RBI. Spitaleri hit .339 as a freshman and .361 as a sophomore.
Redshirt freshman Chad Itokazu suffered an ankle injury in practice last week and will also be unavailable for the rest of the year. Itokazu, who saw action in 12 games at right field, second base and shortstop, was batting .292 with two homers and five RBI.
DON’T LEAVE FOR THE BALLPARK WITHOUT THEM – CAN’T MISS NOTES
The Lobos claimed their 1400th win in program history with their 11-6 win March 4 vs. Northern Colorado. UNM is 1406-1287-14 (.522) all-time in its history.
The Lobos are 11-5 at home this season at Isotopes Park.
UNM tied an NCAA record with 11 consecutive hits in the second inning of the March 11 game against Savannah State, a 20-7 win…16 consecutive Lobos reached base to start the inning, four shy of tying another NCAA mark…all in all, the Lobos scored 15 runs and collected 13 hits in the inning.
Get out the brooms – the Lobos already have three series sweeps this season, all at home (New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Savannah State).