Lobo Baseball – at Lobo Field
When: Friday – 6 p.m. (MT); Saturday – 2 p.m. (MT); Sunday – 1 p.m. (MT)
Who: No. 24 Houston Cougars
GoLobos.com: Live stats, live stream, box score, postgame recap and stats
Video: All three games will be streamed live on that Mountain West Network at GoLobos.com
Radio: ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will broadcast all three games, and Robert Portnoy will have the call for each one
PARKING NOTICE: This weekend baseball fans are asked to park in the Baseball South dirt lot and are encouraged to get there early due to PBR in WisePies Arena, aka The Pit on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Baseball fans will also enter on the south end of the baseball field for all three games. Baseball fans will not be charged for parking as long as they arrive near the start time for each game. However, if they arrive late to the game then there may be a fee.
Promotions:
Friday – $1 cotton candy, 2000 Lobo Baseball team honored
Saturday – Pregame Hot Dog Eating Contest presented by Wienerschnitzel, 1967 Lobo Baseball team honored, Disc Dog Show, Mascot Day
Sunday – Cupcake Giveaway! The first 100 fans will receive a free cupcake. Fan Autograph Day: after the game fans can get autographs from their favorite players and coaches near the clubhouse.
Mountain West Standings
| Place | School | MW record | Overall record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | 7-2 | 17-4 |
| 2 | San Diego State | 4-2 | 16-5 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 5-4 | 11-7 |
| 3 | Air Force | 5-4 | 9-10 |
| 5 | Fresno State | 3-3 | 11-11 |
| 6 | UNLV | 2-7 |
9-10 |
| 7 | San José St. | 1-5 |
7-13 |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Before the season UNM head baseball coach Ray Birmingham said there’s nowhere to hide in his schedule.
It turns out he was more accurate than he probably would’ve liked.
The Lobos continue their brutal stretch against ranked teams when they host No. 24 Houston for a series this weekend beginning Friday evening at 6. It also comes at a tough time for UNM as the Lobos have dropped three straight admist a rash of injuries. Sam Haggerty has missed the last seven games for UNM, while Danny Collier has missed the last five. Also out this weekend will be usual Saturday starter Colton Thomson.
The Cougars are fighting through injuries of their own as they are down two weekend starters, but they have just kept rolling. Their pitching staff owns a sub-3.00 ERA, and earlier this week they defeated No. 8 Rice 8-3. Friday night starter Andrew Lantrip has been the mainstay in the rotation, and he has been outstanding. He’s 4-1 with a 1.27 ERA in 35.1 innings. He’s allowed just six runs, five earned, while striking out 30 versus just four walks.
It should be an excellent Friday night pitching matchup as Toller Boardman will oppose Lantrip. Boardman is 4-0 with a 2.43 ERA in 33.1 innings. His numbers might not be quite as gaudy as Lantrip’s, but three of Boardman’s starts have been a mile high in Albuquerque, and another was in Reno’s launching pad, where he allowed just one run in 8.1 innings last weekend.
Following Boardman will be two youngsters for UNM: freshman righty Tyler Stevens on Saturday and sophomore lefty Carson Schneider on Sunday. Stevens will be making just his third career start while it will be Schneider’s second. Neither one has ever started on the weekend, although Schneider’s start came against Oregon State on a Monday to close out the opening weekend.
UNM will need one of those young hurlers to step up if they want any chance of taking this series. It could have huge at-large potential later in the season.
Against Houston: These are the first ever meetings between the schools.
Series Record: 0-0
Home: 0-0; Away: 0-0; Neutral: 0-0
• SCOUTING HOUSTON … The Cougars are coming off an 8-3 win vs. No. 8 Rice on Tuesday to improve to 14-7 on the season. The Cougars, though, have lost two of their weekend starters to injuries this season, including one just this week in Jake Lemoine, who was previously scheduled to start Saturday’s game. Aaron Garza has been working back from an arm injury and may see some time out of the bullpen against the Lobos.
Even with all the injuries, though, the Houston staff has been dominant. The Cougars own a 2.97 ERA and are holding opponents to a .248 batting average. Friday night starter Andre Lantrip has been lights out with a 1.27 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 35.1 innings.
Although their offense hasn’t produced at quite the same level as the pitching staff, the Cougars are batting a very respectable .279 and have walked 106 times. They get on base at a .391 clip, and when they do, they like to run. They’re 37-43 stealing bases this season, with freshman outfielder Zac Taylor 10-for-11 and junior outfielder Kyle Survance swiping 15 in 19 attempts. Josh Vidales, a junior second baseman, leads the squad with a .387 average and a .500 OBP.
• NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY … The Lobos current weekend rotation looks almost nothing like how the coaching staff drew it up before the season. UNM’s starting trio of Toller Boardman, Tyler Stevens and Carson Schneider entered the 2015 season with a combined total of ONE Division I start, and that was by Boardman as a member of the Texas Longhorns back in 2013. Schneider made a UNM fresman-record 24 appearances out of the bullpen last season, but did start a game. Stevens was pitching for Rocky Mountain HS last season. This year, however, the trio have started eight of UNM’s 18 games heading into the weekend.
• 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 188 double plays, which is the 10th most in the country during that span. This season they are 24th in the NCAA with 21 twin killings, and 14th in double plays per game with 1.17.
• THREE FOR ME … On Tuesday, March 10, freshman catcher Cory Voss tripled twice in UNM’s 8-5 loss to Stephen F. Austin. He was the first Lobo to record two triples in a game since Alex Allbritton did so on April 18, 2010, against Coppin State. Heading into the weekend he’s eighth in the NCAA with four triples.
• HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME … Despite standing just 5-foot-8 and being the shortest player in each of his three years on campus, Jared Holley has become a baseball magnet. He has been hit by 26 pitches in his career, which is good for a four-way tie for fifth in UNM history.
• FOLLOW MY LEAD … The Lobos have had their leadoff man reach in 65 of their 159 innings, good for an inning-starting OBP of .409.
• BULLPEN DOMINANCE … The UNM bullpen has been outstanding at protecting leads during the last several seasons. The Lobos have won 40 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 67 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.