March 28, 2005
NEXT IN LOBO BASEBALL
New Mexico (12-14) at New Mexico State (13-12)
TUESDAY, MARCH 29 — 6 P.M. — 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, 139-69. The Lobos swept the Aggies in Albuquerque earlier this season Feb. 12-13 at Isotopes Park, while NMSU beat UNM in Las Cruces last week, 8-5.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP:
Tuesday:UNM: #27 RH Sr. Kevin Letz (0-0, 15.19 ERA, 5.1 IP, 4 K)vs.NMSU: #41 RH So. Jason Conner (4-2, 4.78 ERA, 37.2 IP, 32 K)
LOBOS AND AGGIES BATTLE AGAIN: New Mexico will meet New Mexico State for the fifth time this season on Tuesday, March 29 at 6 p.m. at Presley Askew Field in Las Cruces. The Lobos lead the season series, 3-1, after sweeping the Aggies Feb. 12-13 in Albuquerque. NMSU beat the Lobos last Tuesday, 8-5, in Las Cruces. Live stats of the game will be available at New Mexico State’s official athletic website, www.NMStateSports.com.
The Lobos (12-14) are coming off a series defeat to UNLV last weekend at Isotopes Park. UNM claimed the series opener on Thursday, 10-8, but fell on Friday, 12-6, and Saturday, 14-9. UNM has now lost its first two conference series of the season and stands at 2-4 in Mountain West action.
New Mexico State enters the contest with a 13-12 record after taking the weekend off.
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 Friday-Sunday against Utah. The Utes are 1-5 in the MWC after losing two of three at San Diego State and getting swept at BYU last weekend.
HISTORY LESSON – LOBOS-AGGIES 101
New Mexico leads the all-time series, 139-69
The Lobos swept the Aggies in three games earlier this season at Isotopes Park
New Mexico State beat UNM last Tuesday in Las Cruces, 8-5
Coach Alday is 34-34 all-time vs. New Mexico State; 13-21 in Las Cruces
The two teams meet again this season on Tuesday, April 12 in Las Cruces
ONE MORE WEEK – LOBOS VS. ISOTOPES SET FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 5 AT 6 P.M. – ALL TICKETS ONLY $5
The Albuquerque Isotopes and University of New Mexico Lobos will meet for the first time in an exhibition game on Tuesday, April 5 at Isotopes Park, with first pitch at 6:05 PM. All tickets for the event are $5 general admission seats, with all net proceeds benefiting UNM athletics scholarships. The UNM Athletic Department is also pleased to announce that Comcast, Real Turf and Univision Radio are proud sponsors of the Lobos-Isotopes game.
The Isotopes also announced a plan to support the Tsunami disaster relief efforts in Asia. The club will donate an amount equal to 10% of the ticket revenue from the exhibition game to the Red Cross.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the community to see the coming together of two Albuquerque institutions on the baseball field and to help support the disaster victims in Southeast Asia,” said Isotopes General Manager John Traub. “We look forward to launching our season against the Lobos and getting prepared for the Pacific Coast League.”
“This is an excellent opportunity for our team to be able to compete against a high-caliber professional ballclub,” New Mexico head baseball coach Rich Alday said. “Our players are real excited about playing against the Isotopes in front of a big crowd. More importantly, it’s great exposure for our program and a great way to benefit the University of New Mexico Athletic Department. We’re looking forward to the game, and it should be a fun event.”
While this is the first meeting between the Lobos and Isotopes, the Lobos squared off against the Albuquerque Dukes 22 times, dating back to 1942. The Dukes owned a 19-3 advantage in the all-time series, including a 3-2 victory in the last meeting on April 8, 1986. The Lobos won 8-5 on April 11, 1978 and twice in 1942.
Following the exhibition game, the Isotopes open up the 2005 season on April 7 vs. Iowa at Isotopes Park. Season Tickets and Mini Plans are now on sale at Isotopes Park. Call 924-2255 for more information. UNM opens the 2005 campaign Feb. 4-6 at Arizona and hosts New Mexico State Feb. 11-13 at Isotopes Park. For Lobo baseball ticket information, please call 925-LOBO or visit www.GoLobos.com.
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 .369 with four homers, 30 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 team in batting (.412), hits (42), total bases (73) and triples (four). He also ranks among the Mountain West leaders in on-base percentage (.445) and runs (27). Pacheco had his 19-game hitting streak snapped last Thursday against UNLV.
Sophomore outfielder Chris Carlson ranks among the top five in the Mountain West in several offensive categories, including RBI (36), runs (30), doubles (12) and slugging (.734). He’s also batting .383 with five homers and three triples.
Garrick Haymore is third on the team with a .376 batting average. |
Senior outfielder Garrick Haymore is third on the team with a .376 batting average. Currently on a 10-game hitting streak, Haymore leads the team with a .477 on-base percentage while slugging nine doubles, three triples and driving in 11 runs.
Catcher Jeff Grady leads the team with six homers, including a monster grand slam that hit the top of the scoreboard in left-center field at Isotopes Park during Friday’s game. Grady has hit the scoreboard twice this season and has also hit two grand slams. He’s batting .280 with 23 RBI.
LAST TIME AGAINST NEW MEXICO STATE – AGGIES 8, LOBOS 5 (3/22/05)
The New Mexico baseball team’s four-game winning streak over New Mexico State came to an end Tuesday, March 22 as the Aggies defeated the Lobos, 8-5, at Presley Askew Field.
The Aggies (13-12) jumped on the Lobos early with a run in the first inning and scored another run in the second to make it 2-0.
UNM got on the board in the third on a Daniel Stovall RBI single that brought home Jordan Pacheco. Pacheco doubled to lead off the inning, extending his hitting streak to 19 games.
The Lobos tied the game at 2 in the top of the fifth as Stovall drove in his second run of the game, this time on a sacrifice fly that plated Garrick Haymore.
New Mexico State bounced back with five runs in the bottom half of the fifth to take a 7-2 lead.
New Mexico trimmed the lead to 7-5 with three runs in the seventh, all on Aggie errors.
NMSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth for the victory. Mark Aranda went 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Vince Rodden went 3-for-5 for the Aggies.
Lobo starter Karsten Gaarder (1-4) tossed four innings and gave up five runs on seven hits in the loss.
THE ESSENTIALS: CLIFF NOTES FROM THE UNLV SERIES
UNLV took two of three games from UNM March 24-26 at Isotopes Park
The Lobos scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 10-3 lead in game one…UNLV bounced back with five in the top of the ninth, but it was too late as the Lobos held on for the 10-8 victory…Chris Carlson went 3-for-4 with four RBI and a three-run homer…Danny Ray Herrera nearly pitched his first career complete game, tossing 8.2 innings while allowing nine hits and eight runs and fanning five.
Jordan Pacheco hit two homers on Saturday vs. UNLV. |
New Mexico plated six runs in the bottom of the third in game two to go up 6-3, but it couldn’t score another run after the big inning in losing 12-6…Jeff Grady hit a grand slam off the top of the scoreboard in the third, his sixth blast of the year…the Rebels closed the game to 6-5 with two runs in the fifth and took the lead with five runs in the sixth…Jason Fernandez (4-3) gave up seven runs and eight hits in 5.2 innings in the loss.
Battling cold temperatures in the high-30’s, a powerful wind, and snow showers, UNLV rallied from a 7-3 deficit to defeat the New Mexico baseball team, 14-9, in the series finale on Saturday..the Lobos led 7-6 after seven innings, but after UNM walked the first two batters in the top of the eighth, the game was delayed for 54 minutes due to snow…when the teams came back on the field, the Rebels (11-17, 5-1 MWC) took control of the game, scoring five runs in the eighth and three in the ninth…Pacheco went 3-for-5 with two homers, including a leadoff shot in the first…Garrick Haymore and Chris Dabbs also tallied three hits apiece.
DOCTOR, DOCTOR
The Lobos have lost three players for the season due to injury and starting shortstop Ryan Barba will be sidelined for at least a week after dislocating a finger on his throwing hand in Thursday’s win over UNLV. With Barba out, Jordan Pacheco moves over to shortstop and Jay Russell will start at second.
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 in early March 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.
Freshman pitcher Brandon Hewett, who was coming off shoulder surgery last spring, reaggravated his right arm and will not throw the rest of the season.