Lobo Baseball – at Lobo Field
When: Friday – 6 p.m. (MT), Saturday – 12 p.m. (MT), Sunday – 12 p.m. (MT)
Who: Air Force Falcons
GoLobos.com: Live stats, live stream, box score, postgame recap and stats
Video: All three games will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network
Radio: ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will broadcast the game on Saturday and Sunday with Scott Galetti and Henry Tafoya on the call
Mountain West Standings
| Place | School | MW record | Overall record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | 0-0 | 4-0 |
| 1 | San Diego State | 0-0 | 4-0 |
| 1 | Fresno State | 0-0 | 3-1 |
| 1 | New Mexico | 0-0 | 3-1 |
| 1 | UNLV | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| 1 | San José St. | 0-0 |
1-3 |
| 1 | Air Force | 0-0 |
0-4 |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico baseball team will get an early start on conference play when it visits Air Force at Lobo Field this weekend.
Wait, what?
Yes, due to inclement weather in Colorado Springs this weekend (where the teams were originally scheduled to play), the two teams will instead play in Albuquerque with the Falcons being the designated home team for all three games. Snow is in the forecast for both Saturday and Sunday with highs in the 20s, so the teams decided to play in the Land of Enchantment this weekend to avoid scheduling nightmares later in the season if they couldn’t get the games in.
Regardless of venue, the Lobos must prepare to face an improved Falcons squad that has given them fits over the last several seasons.
The Lobos are a young team with just four seniors, but they don’t equal the youth of the Falcons. Air Force has just eight upperclassmen (five seniors, three juniors) and a whopping 18 freshmen, including a middle-infield duo that combined to go just 3-for-31 (.097) over the first four games of the season.
On the mound, though, Air Force has experience, and starting pitchers that have had success against the Lobos. Friday night starter Griffin Jax allowed just one run in 14.0 innings over two starts against UNM last season. Saturday’s started, Steven Trojan, earned a win in relief last season by hurling four shutout innings at UNM, and two years ago defeated the Lobos by holding them to two runs in seven innings.
UNM will start junior lefty Toller Boardman Friday and senior lefty Colton Thomson on Saturday. The Lobos are currently undecided on Sunday’s starter.
• SCOUTING AIR FORCE … The Falcons had a rough opening weekend, dropping all four of their contests: three at The Citadel and one at Savannah State. They hit just .174 as a team and drew just six walks vs. 44 strikeouts. Despite posting a team ERA of 5.06, Air Force pitchers struck out 31 batters with Sunday’s projected starter, Jacob DeVries, leading the way with eight in just 5.0 innings.
The Lobos are a young team with just four seniors, but they don’t equal the youth of the Falcons. Air Force has just eight upperclassmen (five seniors, three juniors) and a whopping 18 freshmen, including a middle-infield duo that combined to go just 3-for-31 (.097) over the first four games of the season.
On the mound, though, Air Force has experience, and starting pitchers that have had success against the Lobos. Friday night starter Griffin Jax allowed just one run in 14.0 innings over two starts against UNM last season. Saturday’s started, Steven Trojan, earned a win in relief last season by hurling four shutout innings at UNM, and two years ago defeated the Lobos by holding them to two runs in seven innings.
The teams were originally scheduled to play at Air Force, but due to inclement weather in Colorado Springs the games were moved to Albuquerque to keep the teams from having to potentially play five times in three days later in the season.
• BULLPEN DOMINANCE … The UNM bullpen has been outstanding at protecting leads during the last several seasons. The Lobos have won 34 straight games when leading after six innings, a streak that dates back to June 1, 2013. And if UNM is leading after eight innings? Forget it. The Lobos haven’t lost when leading after eight in 60 straight games. The last time the Lobos blew a lead was in their first game at the renovated Lobo Field when Luke Campbell lost a ball in the sun, which would have been the final out of the game, and allowed the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run to score.
• SANCHEZ ON PRESEASON WATCH LIST … Junior righty Victor Sanchez was one of 37 players named to the Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List, which is given annually to the best reliever in the nation. Sanchez had a breakout 2014 with a 4-1 record, 2.33 ERA, 10 saves and 33 strikeouts in 38.2 innings. He held opponents to just a .175 batting average and walked just 15 men all season.
• BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK … UNM is one of just five programs in the nation to have won at least a share of its regular-season conference title in each of the last three seasons. The others are Louisville, which won two in the Big East and the American Athletic Conference this season, Bryant (Northeast), Sam Houston State (Southland), and Delaware State (MEAC). Florida State has also won the Atlantic Division in the ACC each of the last three years, but this season Miami won the Coastal Division and had a better conference mark.
It marks the fourth straight championship season for the Lobos, who won the Mountain West Tournament title as the No. 6 seed in 2011.
• THE NEXT LOBO IRONMAN … In 2013 Mitch Garver finished his career with a UNM record 181 consecutive starts, easily breaking the record of 144 set by Daniel Stovall between 2004 and 2007. With Garver’s departure, a new Lobo Ironman appeared in Chase Harris. He started all 117 games in his two years at UNM, good for the sixth best streak in program history.
Junior Sam Haggerty might pose the biggest threat to Garver’s record, though, as he sits right behind Harris in seventh at 111 straight starts with two years of eligibility left.
• NEXT FRESHMAN UP … Four years running now the Lobos have produced a Freshman All-American. It started with DJ Peterson and his NCAA-freshman record 32 doubles in 2011. Then Ryan Padilla hit .353 and helped UNM to Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles in 2012. In 2013 Sam Haggerty was honored after being named Co-MW Freshman of the Year and leading UNM with 49 walks. Last season Danny Collier followed in Haggerty’s footsteps in earning MW Freshman of the Year honors and hitting .353 despite being limited by hamstring and heel problems.
So who’s next up for the Lobos? UNM has several intriguing possibilities like Carl Stajduhar, who was the 5A Colorado Player of the Year last season. Luis Gonzalez has tremendous bat speed and great power and was named Division 2 MVP in Arizona last year after hitting .500 with 10 home runs. Cory Voss, who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 34th round of the MLB Draft last year, and Scottie Graham each have a chance to see significant playing time at catcher with the position up in the air. Luis Gonzalez had an outstanding first weekend, pitching 4.1 innings of no-hit relief one day and also going 3-for-8 with a pair of doubles. The opportunities will be there for all 14 of the Lobos’ freshmen, and one thing is for sure: whoever is playing well will get his chance to be a Freshman All-American.