Lobo Baseball – at Lobo Field
When: Tuesday – 2 p.m. (MT)
Who: Texas Tech Red Raiders
GoLobos.com: Live stats, live stream, box score, postgame recap and stats
Video: The game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network at GoLobos.com
Radio: ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will carry the game, and Robert Portnoy will have the call all weekend
Mountain West Standings
| Place | School | MW record | Overall record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego State | 10-2 | 22-6 |
| 2 | Nevada | 9-3 | 23-5 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 7-5 | 14-11 |
| 3 | Fresno State | 7-5 | 16-13 |
| 5 | Air Force | 5-7 | 10-16 |
| 6 | UNLV | 2-10 |
12-14 |
| 6 | San José St. | 2-10 |
8-20 |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Fresh off a series win over Mountain West rival Fresno State, the University of New Mexico baseball team welcomes the 19th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders to Lobo Field Tuesday afternoon for a rematch of last Tuesday’s 7-6 UNM win in Lubbock.
The Lobos may be finding their stroke at the plate after some early season struggles. Over their last seven games, four of which came against ranked opponents, the Lobos are hitting a robust .318 with 20 doubles over that time. Freshly named MW Player of the Week Cory Voss (.458) and sophomore designated hitter Chris DeVito (.448) are absolutely raking, while Lane Milligan (.357), Danny Collier (.357) and Carl Stajduhar (.333) are chipping in as well. Those five are all underclassmen and comprise the top five in UNM’s batting order. Add in Jack Zoellner (.275 on the season) who is coming off back-to-back multi-hit games, and you have the top six hitters in UNM’s order that are either freshmen or sophomores.
Like the Lobos, TTU is also fresh off a home series win, as the Red Raiders took the final two games of their three-game series against the Kansas Jayhawks to snap a four-game losing streak. They are only 3-6 on the road, though, but two of those wins came at San Diego State earlier this month.
Against Texas Tech: UNM has won two straight over the Red Raiders, and three of the last four in Albuquerque dating back to 2012. The Lobos are 11-11 against TTU under Ray Birmingham.
Series Record: 43-66-1
Home: 23-21-1; Away: 20-44; Neutral: 0-1
• SCOUTING TEXAS TECH … The Red Raiders are coming off a series win over Kansas following last week’s 7-6 loss to the Lobos. TTU dropped the first game against the Jayhawks before responding with back-to-back wins to win the series.
The Red Raiders own a very respectable .281 team batting average and are led by junior Cory Raley (.364). However, Eric Gutierrez (.300) is the only other qualified hitter batting over .265.
The strength of the Red Raiders is their pitching staff as they own a 3.21 ERA. They have five qualified pitchers with an ERA of 3.82 or better, including their number one reliever, Corey Taylor. The right-handed senior is 2-0 with a 0.29 ERA in 31.0 IP over 12 games. He’s holding opponents to just a .160 batting average. Their second best reliever is their closer, Dominic Moreno, who has a 2.73 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 29.2 innings over 11 games.
• COLE, VOSS SWEEP MW WEEKLY AWARDS … Senior RHP Jake Cole and freshman catcher Cory Voss were named Mountain West Pitcher and Player of the Week on Monday, March 30. It was the first career honor for both players, and it was the first weekly honors for UNM this season.
• YOUNG LINEUP … The Lobos have one of the youngest lineups in the country, and it’s evidenced by the fact that 65 percent of their plate appearances have come from freshmen and sophomores, which is the eighth highest percentage in the nation. Right now UNM can expect to start just two juniors — Dalton Bowers at short and Jared Holley at second — and seven freshmen and sophomores.
• NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY … Speaking of youth, 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 14 of UNM’s 25 games heading into Tuesday’s game vs. Texas Tech.
• FIVE STRAIGHT … From March 18-24 the Lobos played in five straight one-run games. It was the first time they had done so since 1968, and it was just the second time in program history, UNM has now been part of 613 one-run games in program history and owns a .507 winning percentage (311-302). UNM has never had a stretch of six straight one-run games.
• 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 191double plays, which is the 10th most in the country during that span. This season they are 22nd in the NCAA with 27 twin killings, and 13th in double plays per game with 1.14.
• 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 Tuesday’s matchup he’s 12th in the NCAA with five triples, which is tops among all catchers.
• 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 27 pitches in his career, which is good for a tie for fourth in UNM history.
• FOLLOW MY LEAD … The Lobos have had their leadoff man reach in 96 of their 222 innings, good for an inning-starting OBP of .436.