March 1, 2007
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THE GAME
The Lobos participate in their second tournament of the season this weekend, playing four games at the Domino’s Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic, hosted by Texas A&M. New Mexico opens action on Friday at 12:30 p.m. CT/11:30 a.m. MT with Saint Louis. Left-handed junior Bobby LaFromboise (2-0, 3.00 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday afternoon against the Billikens right-handed Dave Sever (0-1, 2.53 ERA).
Saturday, New Mexico faces defending national champions and ninth-ranked Oregon State at 12:30 p.m. CT/11:30 a.m. MT. Right-handed junior Stephen Smith (1-2, 8.57 ERA) is slated to take the mound that day against OSU’s left-handed Joe Paterson (2-0, 1.93 ERA).
Sunday, the Lobos take the field against tournament-host Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. MT. New Mexico plans on starting with left-handed junior Jacob Norton (0-3, 6.30 ERA) while the Aggies plan to begin with right-handed Kyle Thebeau (0-0, 3.60 ERA).
UNM concludes tournament play on Monday morning with Saint Louis. Right-handed freshman Ryan Escarcega (0-1, 4.82 ERA) is expected to start for the Lobos while the Billikens’ right-handed Eric Rohr (0-0, 7.11 ERA) is slated to throw out the first pitch at 10:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. MT.
LIVE ACTION
CSTV’s GameTracker is available for all tournament games, providing up to date stats, player bios and other team information. GameTracker links are available for New Mexico games at www.GoLobos.com while all game links can be found at www.AggieAthletics.com.
The New Mexico-Texas A&M game will have free live audio and video available on the Aggies’ website at the Domino’s Pizza Aggie Classic tournament central.
SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
Saint Louis has had a rough start to the 2007 season, going 0-3 at Troy in its opening weekend followed by another 0-3 weekend at Central Arkansas. At 0-6 overall, the start is very surprising for a team that won the Atlantic-10 Tournament last year and returned six starters and 19 letterwinners.
The Billikens, hitting .333 were led last weekend by freshman J.D. Dunn, who was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week. Dunn, who currently ranks third on the team with a .333 average, came off the bench during the series opener at Central Arkansas and went on to start the final two games of the series. He went 4-for-8 with a double, three walks and three RBI.
Saint Louis’ pitching staff has been its weakness, holding a 7.40 team ERA compared to its opponents’ 4.92 ERA. In 48.2 innings, the Billikens have struck out just 16 while walking 31 and hitting nine. Starter Dave Sever has a team-low 2.53 ERA, striking out a team-high seven batters in 10.2 innings over two starts.
UNCOVERING THE BEAVERS
Oregon State is 11-2 overall, playing all of its games on the road or at neutral parks so far. The Beavers are coming off back-to-back tournament appearances, partaking in the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Ariz. Feb. 16-18 and the River City Classic in Sacramento, Calif. Feb. 23-25. After this weekend’s tournament, they will finally head home for a six-game homestand.
OSU’s hitters are smoking once again, boasting a .311 batting average. Mitch Canham leads the team with a .462 average and a team-high 18 hits, 15 runs and 14 RBI. Joey Wong, hitting .390, leads the team with 16 runs scored. Darwin Barney, hitting .309, has a team-high 18 RBI with 12 runs scored and seven doubles.
Oregon State’s pitching staff has been nearly untouchable with a 3.05 ERA. Three pitchers, Josh Keller, Jake McCormick and Alex Sogard, haven’t allowed a run yet. Joe Paterson has the best ERA for the Beaver starters at 1.93. He has struck out 18 and allowed just five earned runs and walks in 23.1 innings.
REVIEWING THE AGGIES
Texas A&M catapulted into the national polls, going 12-1 to start the season. The Aggies have won 11 straight, including a 4-2 win over then-top-ranked Rice. Their lone loss game in their second game of the season, 5-4, to then 6th-ranked Arizona State.
At the plate, Texas A&M is hitting .317 thanks to five starters hitting over .300. Blake Stouffer leads the team with a .404 batting average, 21 hits and 17 RBI. Craig Stinson is hitting .400 with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored.
The Aggie pitching staff has dominated its opponents with a 2.56 ERA and .222 opposing batting average. Reliever Kyle Nicholson holds a team-low 1.12 ERA, going 3-1 with a team-high 21 strikeouts in 24.0 innings.
HISTORY LESSONS
The Lobos have never faced its first opponent, Saint Louis. The Lobos have only faced a member of their conference, the Atlantic 10, once, which resulted in a win for New Mexico over UMass. Overall, UNM prefers to know its opponents, going 58-71-1 in the first meeting with a new school. Under coach Rich Alday since 1990, the Lobos have gone 12-24-1 against first-time opponents.
Oregon State leads the Lobos, 7-2, in the short series history. The Beavers have won two straight against UNM and all but one (4-1) at neutral locations. The last OSU win was April 30, 2006 (8-2) in Corvallis while UNM’s last win was March 11, 2006 (13-2) in Albuquerque. The last neutral meeting, Feb. 22, 2003 in Las Cruces, N.M. resulted in a 14-7 UNM win.
New Mexico won its first meeting ever with Texas A&M (4-3) on March 11, 1995 but have lost four straight, giving the Aggies a 4-1 series advantage. All five contests have taken place in College Station with the last, an 11-1 win for TAMU, on Feb. 29, 2004.
STOVALL NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico senior Daniel Stovall was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week Monday, Feb. 26, garnering the award for the fourth time in his career. Stovall, from Midland, Texas, batted .526 (10-for-19) from the plate, with a home run, three doubles, eight runs scored and eight RBI, as New Mexico went 3-1 last week. In a 16-5 win over New Mexico State, Stovall went 3-for-6 with a two-run double, two RBI and two runs scored. In the first game of a three-game series vs. Texas State, Stovall went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored. He blasted his league-leading third homer of the season, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the third, putting UNM up 5-0 on the way to a 10-0 victory. In a 13-7 game two win, Stovall went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored. His four-hit game was the first for the Lobos this season. Defensively, Stovall had 42 putouts with one assist and no errors.
NEARING THE MILESTONES
Head coach Rich Alday is nearing two major coaching milestones. With a 493-491-3 record at New Mexico, he needs just seven wins for 500. As a collegiate head coach, he is 989-711-3, leaving him just 11 victories shy of 1,000.
REWRITING THE RECORDS
Senior Daniel Stovall is so close to rewriting multiple program records at New Mexico. Currently with 67 career doubles, Stovall needs two to tie Dusty Young’s 69 set from 2000-03.
With 441 total bases in his career, Stovall is one base shy of fifth all-time. Second place in the book is easily within his grasp, needing 18 to pass Joe Salas’s (2001-04) 458. The record is held by Lon Yamaguchi (1996-99), with 496.
Stovall is also just shy of the top-5 in home runs. Currently with 34 in his career, he needs just two to tie Chris Carlson (2005-06). Salas and Yamaguchi are tied for fourth with 38. Stovall will have to have his best year yet if he wants to take over second or first, needing 16 to tie Chris Alexander’s (2000-03) 50 and 19 to match Aaron Sisk’s (1998-00) 53.
SHORT START
Junior Jordan Pacheco’s start at shortstop on Feb. 20 at New Mexico State was not a one-time thing. The two-time all-Mountain West Conference selection at second base has adapted so well to the move that head coach Rich Alday used him there for all three games vs. Texas State last weekend and vs. Tech Tech on Tuesday. In the five games combined, Pacheco has been perfect, recording 11 putouts, 15 assists, no errors and turning three double plays.
Filling in for Pacheco at second base was sophomore Chad Itokazu. Itokazu seemed natural at the spot, posting nine putouts, a team-high 18 assists, no errors and three double plays in four games.
RISING TO THE OCCASION
The Lobos have played almost 200 games against ranked opponents since 1981. Last year, New Mexico snapped a 12-game losing streak to ranked teams with a 13-2 win over then-12th-ranked Oregon State. After that, the Lobos lost three straight to ranked teams, all of whom were in the top-10. They extended the streak to four at the UTA Invite, falling in game one to No. 7 Nebraska. But they stunned the Huskers in game two, winning 6-2.
NOT ON BOBBY’S WATCH
Left-handed junior Bobby LaFromboise has thrown 17 innings in his last two outings combined. On Feb. 16 vs. Nebraska, he went 8.0 innings, giving up just one run in the first inning. On Feb. 23, LaFromboise threw a complete-game shutout. He has now thrown 16 straight scoreless innings.
HIT ME!
Senior Matt Foote has an eight-game hit streak for the Lobos, which is a season high for the team and matches his career high. During the streak, he is hitting .387 (12-for-31) with six runs, five RBI, three stolen bases and two doubles. He even got hit on his left hand by a pitch in the second game on Feb. 16 against Nebraska, sat out the rest of the tournament and returned to action a week later vs. Texas State. In the three-game series vs. the Aggies, Foote was 6-for-10 (.600) with three runs and two RBI.
WALK THIS WAY
In the last five games junior Ian Hollick has posted the team’s second highest on-base percentage (.600) thanks in large part to his 10 walks. Hollick drew a career-high three walks on Feb. 24 vs. Texas State, leaving him with only one official at bat that day.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Through 14 games this season, the Lobos have teamed for 28 multiple-RBI performances, equaling two per game. They average just over 2.5 multiple hits per game, posting 36 so far. Leading the way is senior Daniel Stovall and junior Jordan Pacheco. Stovall has a team-high six multiple-RBI games and six multiple-hit games, which is the second highest. Pacheco leads the team with seven multiple-hit games and is second with four multiple-RBI games.
INHERITED HEROES
Seven Lobo pitchers have inherited a total of 20 runners this season and gotten out of the situation with just two of them crossing the plate. Three Lobos, junior Adam Skelton, sophomore Brandon Hewett and freshman Jarrad Watkins, have come in twice with runners aboard.
Overall, Watkins has inherited five runners and held them all in place. Skelton has also taken on five total and allowed just one to score. Hewett has taken on one in two different appearances and not allowed them to score.
HITTING TO THE CORE-CHA
Freshman Adam Courcha changed his swing and reaped the rewards in his three games. After going hitless in his first three appearances, he has gone 6-for-8 (.750) with seven RBI, three runs, three doubles and a home run in three games. His best game to date was Feb. 27 vs. Texas Tech, where he went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, which were all team highs. He also hit his first collegiate homer that game.