Complete New Mexico Baseball Mountain West Championship Guide in PDF Format
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May 23, 2005
NEXT IN LOBO BASEBALL
No. 4 New Mexico (25-30, 15-15 MWC) at Mountain West Championship
WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY, MAY 25-28 — SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — FRANKLIN COVEY FIELD
TOURNAMENT SEEDS (RECORD, MWC RECORD):
No. 1 UNLV (29-26, 23-7)No. 2 BYU (37-17-1, 21-9)No. 3 San Diego St. (23-33, 17-13)No. 4 New Mexico (25-30, 15-15)No. 5 Utah (18-34, 10-20)No. 6 Air Force (9-42, 4-26)
Tournament Bracket in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS:
Wednesday, May 25 -No. 3 San Diego State vs. No. 6 Air Force, 11 a.m.No. 4 New Mexico vs. No. 5 Utah, 3 p.m.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The tournament is double elimination and the first two seeds (UNLV and BYU) receive a first-round bye. The No. 1 seed will play the lowest seed remaining in the winner’s bracket on Thursday, while the No. 2 seed will play the highest remaining team in the winner’s bracket. The championship game will be on Saturday. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
MEDIA COVERAGE:
Official Tournament Website – Gametracker of All Games
RADIO: All Lobo games will be broadcast on KDEF 1150 AM and GoLobos.com with Dan Rivera and Mike Foote calling the action.
Click here for Radio Broadcasts
LIVE STATS: Gametracker of all tournament games available at the Mountain West website at www.TheMWC.com. All Lobo games also at www.GoLobos.com.
PROJECTED FIRST-ROUND PITCHING MATCHUP:
Wednesday:UT: #11 RH Jr. Josh Cooper (3-1, 4.08 ERA, 75.0 IP, 68 K)vs.UNM: #11 RH Sr. Karsten Gaarder (3-7, 6.48 ERA, 75.0 IP, 70 K)
STORYLINE
The New Mexico baseball team will be the No. 4 seed in the 2005 Mountain West Championship this week (May 25-28) in Salt Lake City. The Lobos closed out the regular season with a 25-30 record, 15-15 in the Mountain West, after taking two of three games last weekend at Air Force. UNM will face fifth-seeded Utah in the first round on Wednesday, May 25 at 3 p.m. The two teams split the regular season series – UNM swept Utah in Salt Lake City April 1-3, and the Utes returned the favor with a sweep of their own April 29-May 1 in Albuquerque.
Chris Carlson leads the Mountain West in slugging, walks and runs. |
The Lobos will be looking for their first Mountain West Tournament championship in Salt Lake City this week. UNM has a 5-10 record in its previous five appearances at the MWC Tournament, and the Lobos have never reached the championship game. New Mexico has reached the semifinals twice (2001, 2004). The Lobos’ lone NCAA Tournament appearance came in 1962.
QUICK LOOK AT THE LOBOS (25-30, 15-15 MWC)
New Mexico enters the tournament winning six of its last eight conference games…UNM is 6-4 in its last 10 games…the Lobos are one of the top offensive clubs in the nation. As a team, UNM is batting .331 with 477 runs (8.7 per game), 37 triples, 79 homers and a .546 slugging percentage…Freshman second baseman Jordan Pacheco leads the team in batting with a .414 average…sophomore Chris Carlson leads the team with 75 RBI…senior catcher Jeff Grady paces the team with 15 homers.
QUICK LOOK AT THE UTES (18-34, 10-20 MWC)
The Utes enter the tournament on a five-game losing streak…they were swept last weekend at UNLV…Wednesday’s probable starter, right-hander Josh Cooper, is one of the top pitchers in the Mountain West. In his lone start against the Lobos, he struck out eight, scattered five hits and only allowed one earned run in seven innings in Utah’s 5-2 win April 29 at Isotopes Park.
LOBOS IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP:
All-time record: 5-10 (.333)
2000 (Las Vegas, Nev.)No. 1 New Mexico 17, Air Force 3No. 4 Utah 6, No. 1 New Mexico 4No. 3 BYU 6, No. 1 New Mexico 3
2001 (San Diego, Calif.)No. 4 New Mexico 7, No. 3 Utah 4No. 4 New Mexico 5, No. 5 UNLV 2No. 1 BYU 12, No. 4 New Mexico 7No. 2 San Diego State 12, No. 4 New Mexico 5
2002 (Provo, Utah)No. 1 San Diego State 8, No. 6 New Mexico 2No. 2 Utah 9, No. 6 New Mexico 8
2003 (Albuquerque, N.M.)No. 2 BYU 7, No. 4 New Mexico 6No. 1 UNLV 12, No. 4 New Mexico 5
2004 (Las Vegas, Nev.)No. 3 UNLV 15, No. 2 New Mexico 9No. 2 New Mexico 23, No. 6 Air Force 2No. 2 New Mexico 9, No. 5 Utah 8No. 1 San Diego State 24, No. 2 New Mexico 8
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES MOUNTAIN):
Wednesday, May 25Game 1: No. 3 San Diego State vs. No. 6 Air Force, 11 a.m.Game 2: No. 4 New Mexico vs. No. 5 Utah, 3 p.m.Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 26Game 4: No. 2 BYU vs. Highest seed to advance from Wednesday, 11 a.m.Game 5: No. 1 UNLV vs. Lowest seed to advance from Wednesday, 3 p.m.Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Friday, May 27Games 7-9: (Game times 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.)
Saturday, May 28Championship, 3 p.m. (7 p.m. if necessary)
A GLANCE AT THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON
UNLV (23-7 league record) claimed its second regular season MWC crown in three years by sweeping Utah at home last weekend, besting second-place BYU (21-9) by two games. San Diego State lost two of three to BYU at home last weekend, but still earned the No. 3 seed with a 17-13 mark. New Mexico finished fourth (15-15), Utah fifth (10-20) and Air Force sixth (4-26).
Here’s a look at the final regular season conference standings:
MOUNTAIN WEST FINAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. UNLV (23-7)2. BYU (21-9)3. San Diego St. (17-13)4. New Mexico (15-15)5. Utah (10-20)6. Air Force (4-26)
HISTORY LESSON – LOBOS VS. UTES 101
New Mexico leads the all-time series, 69-42
The Lobos swept the Utes in Salt Lake City April 1-3 behind three consecutive complete games by Jason Fernandez, Danny Ray Herrera and Darren Coltrinari…the Lobos won by the scores of 5-2, 7-3 and 12-3.
Utah returned the favor by sweeping New Mexico for the first time in school history April 29-May 1 at Isotopes Park…the Utes won by the scores of 5-2, 8-4 and 20-13.
Coach Alday is 52-28 vs. Utah
The Lobos are 2-2 vs. Utah in the MWC Championship, including a dramatic two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth in a 9-8 victory in last year’s tournament.
LOBOS VS. UTAH THIS SEASON
Chris Carlson was the most successful Lobo against Utah pitching this year, batting .542 (13-for-24) with three homers, eight RBI and 12 runs scored…Ian Hollick went 9-for-23 (.391) with a homer, eight RBI and two triples…the Lobos hit .276 as a team against Utah and averaged 7.2 runs a game.
LOBOS IN THE NCAA STATS
The NCAA released its sixth statistics report of the season May 17, and the Lobos were well represented. Here’s a look at the report:
As a team, New Mexico is second in the nation in triples with 0.73 per game (37 total). Garrick Haymore is third in the nation with nine triples (0.20 pg).
The Lobos also rank among the top 15 in four more categories: slugging (6th – .539), homers (7th – 1.35 pg), scoring (9th – 8.5 pg) and batting average (11th – .330).
Chris Carlson ranks among the top 50 in five categories: RBI (9th – 1.36 pg), slugging (11th – .737), runs (32nd – 1.2 pg), doubles (45th – 0.38) and batting (61st – .389).
Jordan Pacheco ranks among the top 50 in four categories: hits (T-3rd – 91), batting (19th – .416), slugging (18th – .726) and runs (22nd – 1.27 pg).
GET OUT THOSE BINOCULARS – LOBOS TO WATCH
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 hits (91) and batting (.414). He also ranks among the Mountain West leaders in runs (62), total bases (159), slugging (.723), on-base percentage (.456), homers (14), doubles (16) and triples (five). Pacheco had a 19-game hitting streak earlier this season.
Pacheco is one of 64 players on the Dick Hower College Baseball Player of the Year watch list, as announced by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He is one of only two freshmen on the watch list. Pacheco, who did not play in the Air Force series last week because he got hit in the face with a pitch at Texas Tech May 16, is expected to be healthy for the Mountain West Tournament.
Sophomore first baseman Daniel Stovall, who landed spots on the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America and All-Mountain West teams last year, is currently one of 132 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. Stovall is certainly avoiding the sophomore jinx – he’s batting .353 with eight homers, 56 RBI and 21 doubles.
Daniel Stovall hit .600 in last year’s Mountain West Tournament. |
Sophomore DH/outfielder Chris Carlson is one of the top sluggers in the Mountain West. He leads the Mountain West in runs (63), slugging (.736) and walks (38). He also ranks among the MWC leaders in doubles (22), on-base percentage (.477), RBI (75), batting (.389) and homers (14). Carlson got it done in conference play as well, leading the team in league games with 42 RBI and a .412 batting average. Earlier this month, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VI team.
Senior outfielder Garrick Haymore is third on the team with a .378 batting average and is second on the team with a .407 average in conference games. Haymore, who hit three triples in the first Air Force series, is third in the nation with nine triples.
Catcher Jeff Grady leads the team and is third in the Mountain West with 15 homers, including a monster grand slam that hit the top of the scoreboard in left-center field at Isotopes Park March 25 vs. UNLV. Grady hit the scoreboard twice this season and has also hit two grand slams. He collected his third multi-homer game of the season May 20 vs. Air Force. Grady has 34 career homers, which ranks fifth best in New Mexico history.
WEEKEND RECAP
The Lobos won the first two games of the Air Force series last week in convincing fashion, 15-9 and 20-14, but saw their 18-game winning streak against the Falcons come to an end as Air Force won the series finale, 5-4.
In the first game, UNM and Air Force were tied at 4 after seven innings, but the Lobos exploded for five homers and 11 runs in the final two frames for the 15-9 victory. Garrick Haymore, Chris Carlson and Daniel Stovall hit back-to-back-to-back solo homers to lead off the eighth, and two batters later, Chris Dabbs hit a two-run homer for the fourth dinger of the inning. Karsten Gaarder struck out 12 batters in seven innings to pick up the win.
The Lobos smashed 22 hits and tied a season high in runs as it pounded Air Force, 20-14, in game two. Jeff Grady went 4-for-6 with two homers, four runs and four RBI, while Haymore went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI.
In the series finale, with the scored tied at 4 in the bottom of the ninth, Austin Ferreria delivered a pinch-hit, game-winning single for Air Force to plate the fifth and decisive run.
TOP PERFORMANCES OF THE WEEK (MAY 19-21 VS. AF)
For the third straight week, junior shortstop Ryan Barba led the Lobos with a .625 average (5-for-8) with five runs in two games. He sat out Saturday’s game with a hyper-extended elbow, but will be back for the tournament.
Junior right fielder Chris Dabbs is starting to heat up at the plate at the right time. Dabbs hit .444 (4-for-9) with two homers and seven RBI vs. the Falcons. The past two weeks, Dabbs is batting 12-for-24 with four homers and 12 RBI.
Jeff Grady hit three homers, drove in nine runs and hit .429 (6-for-14) against Air Force. He went 4-for-6 with with two homers, four runs and four RBI in Friday’s win.
DOCTOR, DOCTOR
The Lobos have suffered from the injury bug all season, and several players have missed games during the latter portion of the season.
Freshman Jordan Pacheco did not play last week at Air Force after getting hit by a pitch in the face May 16 at Texas Tech. Ryan Barba missed the last game of the Air Force series with a hyper-extended elbow. Both are scheduled to return for the tournament.
The Lobo have also lost four players for the season due to injury.
Senior right-hander Jason Fernandez, the Lobos No. 1 conference starter the past two seasons, is out for the season with a knee injury. He was scratched just minutes before the April 29 game against Utah. Fernandez was 6-5 with a 7.24 ERA in 73.1 innings of action this season.
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 this spring and will not throw the rest of the season.
AROUND THE HORN –
AT THE PLATE… New Mexico leads the Mountain West with 37 triples and is tied for first in slugging with a .546 percentage. The Lobos are second to BYU in batting (.331), hits (673), RBI (432), homers (79) and total bases (1111).
ON THE MOUND… The Lobo pitching staff is fifth in the league with an 8.19 ERA and tied for second with 377 strikeouts.
IN THE FIELD… The Lobos are first in the conference with a .965 fielding percentage.