Lobo Baseball – at Lobo Field
When: Tuesday – 6 p.m. (MT), Wednesday – 2 p.m. (MT)
Who: Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
GoLobos.com: Live stats, live stream, box score, postgame recap and stats
Video: Both games will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network at GoLobos.com
Radio: ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will broadcast Tuesday’s game
Note: Admission will be FREE to both games against the Lumberjacks, but due to NMAA basketball taking place in WisePies Arena aka The Pit, fans will be charged $5 for parking.
Mountain West Standings
| Place | School | MW record | Overall record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | 5-1 | 13-2 |
| 2 | New Mexico | 4-2 | 9-3 |
| 2 | San Diego State | 4-2 | 13-3 |
| 4 | Fresno State | 3-3 | 7-9 |
| 4 | Air Force | 3-3 | 5-8 |
| 6 | UNLV | 1-5 |
7-7 |
| 6 | San José St. | 1-5 |
5-10 |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Despite being on the cusp of the Top 25 — as both Aaron Fitt and Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com mentioned in their weekly chat this week — the University of New Mexico baseball team still hasn’t played its best baseball. The Lobos’ team average is up to .272, but they still have four starters hitting .233 or below. Their pitching staff has a respectable 4.25 ERA, which is right in line with their 4.23 ERA from last season, but they gave up 20 runs over the final two games to the Aztecs.
Now would be the perfect time for the Lobos to put everything together. Following a two-game visit from Stephen F. Austin that begins Tuesday, the Lobos play 16 of their next 19 games against teams that are currently ranked in a major national poll.
First thing’s first, however, as they cannot afford to overlook the Lumberjacks.
Coming off a big series win against San Diego State, and with an upcoming road trip to Mountain West-leading Nevada this weekend, it would be easy to do so. After all the Lumberjacks are struggling in the first month of the season, as they are just 4-12 and currently in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Their offense has struggled to the tune of a .226 batting average, and their pitching staff has an ERA of 6.15, but that’s precisely why the Lobos can’t afford to look past these two games to next weekend. Championship-caliber clubs, like the ones UNM head coach Ray Birmingham has built over the last eight years, can’t afford any letdowns.
Freshman righty Tyler Stevens will make his first career start Tuesday night, while junior Mike Gould will make just his third career start, and first of the season, in Wednesday’s matinee Stevens has yet to face more than five batters in any of his five relief appearances (despite a 1.69 ERA), but UNM will be counting on him to be able to stretch out a little bit and help save the bullpen as the Lobos will play at least one midweek game in each of the next seven weeks (10 total).
Against Stephen F. Austin: The Lobos dropped two games to the Lumberjacks at Isotopes Park in 2012, but won two games in Nacogdoches, Texas, last season.
Series Record: 2-2
Home: 0-2; Away: 2-0; Neutral: 0-0
• SCOUTING STEPHEN F. AUSTIN … The Lumberjacks have lost four straight, including a three-game sweep at home by Central Arkansas. They’re hitting just .226 as a team, and no qualified batter has an average better than the .278 mark sported by junior outfielder Garrett McMullen, who also has two of the team’s five home runs. They have struck out 134 times in 16 games while drawing just 48 walks. Their collective on-base percentage is just .302.
SFA’s pitching staff hasn’t fared much better, posting a 6.15 ERA. They have barely struck out more batters than they have walked (103-97), but are holding opponents to a respectable .281 batting average against.
Defensively, they’re not much better. They’re averaging nearly two errors per game (1.88) and have thrown out just 6 of 32 attempted base stealers (17.7 percent).
• LET’S TURN TWO … New Mexico has been one of the most prolific teams in the nation in turning double plays since 2012. Over the last three-plus seasons UNM has turned 183 double plays, which is the 10th most in the country during that span. This season they are 12th in the NCAA with 14 twin killings, and fourth in double plays per game with 1.44.
• ON BASE MACHINE … Sam Haggerty saw his streak of reaching base safely (via hit, walk or hit by pitch) end on March 7 versus San Diego State. He had reached in 38 straight games dating back to last season. For his career he has reached safely in 121 of his 127 career starts.
• BULLPEN DOMINANCE … The UNM bullpen has been outstanding at protecting leads during the last several seasons. The Lobos have won 39 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 65 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.
• 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. Sam Haggerty was on pace to break Garver’s record, but an oblique injury forced him to miss UNM’s game on Sunday, March 8, ending his streak at 118 straight starts, the sixth longest in school history.