Lobo Baseball – at Mountain West Tournament, Reno, Nev.
When: Wednesday – 7:35 p.m. (MT)
Who: Mountain West Tournament
GoLobos.com: Live stats, box score, live stream, postgame recap and stats
Radio: ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM will broadcast each Lobo game
Video: Every game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network and can be found at GoLobos.com
Mountain West Standings
| Seed | School | MW record | Overall record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | 22-7 | 41-13 |
| 2 | San Diego State | 19-10 | 35-20 |
| 3 | Fresno State | 18-12 | 29-26 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 17-13 | 29-25 |
| 5 | Air Force | 11-17 | 22-27 |
| 6 | UNLV | 10-20 |
24-29 |
| 7 | San José St. | 6-24 |
13-43 |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico baseball team has won either the Mountain West regular-season or tournament titles in each of the last four years. The Lobos will need to string together some wins this year if they want to extend that streak to five years. UNM enters this week’s conference tournament in Reno, Nev., as the No. 4 seed after dropping its final MW series of the series last weekend at Fresno State.
The Lobos open tournament play vs. the Air Force Falcons Wednesday evening at approximately 8 MT. However, rain and thunderstorms are forecast in Reno most of the week, so the schedule is tentative. UNM took five of six against the Falcons this season, with each game coming at Lobo Field in Albuquerque. The Lobos are 3-0 all-time against Air Force in the Mountain West Tournament, but the two schools have not faced each other in the postseason since 2005.
UNM has also struggled in the tournament in recent years. After winning seven straight games and back-to-back tournaments in 2011 and 2012, the Lobos have lost their last four games: two championship games in 2013 and both games last season.
But the Lobos have high hopes and expectations entering this week. Nevada is the clear favorite as the regular season champions and host team, but UNM went 16-8 vs. the other five teams in the conference. Plus, UNM handed the Wolf Pack their first home loss of the season back on March 13, so they are capable of defeating any team in the conference. But if the Lobos are going to win the tournament and advance to the NCAA postseason they will need to not only play well, but also get some breaks along the way.
At the MW Tournament: The Lobos have lost their last four games in the MW Tournament dating back to the 2013 championship games. That followed a seven-game winning streak that saw UNM win back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.
UNM at MW Tournament: 21-24
UNM at MW Tournament under Birmingham: 13-10
• MILLIGAN REIGNING MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK … UNM sophomore Lane Milligan was named the Mountain West Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season. He his .500 (6-for-12), slugged 1.000 and drove in six runs. He is the sixth Lobo to earn a MW weekly honor this season, which is tied for first in the conference with Nevada and San Diego State.
• FRESHMEN LEADERS … The Lobos have a number of freshmen making cases for being named a Freshman All-American. Third baseman Carl Stajduhar currently ranks 23rd in the nation in doubles with 19, which is tied for second among freshmen. He is also seventh in the NCAA among freshmen with 50 RBIs. Catcher Cory Voss is eighth in the nation among freshmen with a .548 slugging percentage, and Stajduhar is 14th at .523. Voss finished sixth in the Mountain West in conference play with a .358 batting average, which was the highest by a freshman this season.
• PADILLA THE SECRET WEAPON? … Three years ago Ryan Padilla was a Freshman All-American and the next big thing for the Lobos. However, after a couple of years struggling at the plate he has moved to the bullpen this season, and he has started to see game action the last few weeks. In four appearances spanning 2.2 innings he has allowed just one hit to nine batters. His first batter faced was Nevada’s All-American first baseman Austin Byler, whom he got to hit a soft comebacker on the first pitch.
• YOUNG BACKSTOPS … Freshmen Cory Voss and Scottie Graham have combined to catch 471.0 of UNM’s 475.2 innings this season, which is 99.0 percent of the Lobos’ defensive outs. (Sophomore Lane Milligan has caught 4.2 innings over four games.)
• WALKING WOUNDED … The list of players that haven’t missed time due to injury this season for UNM is probably shorter than those that have missed time. A total of 14 players have spent time on the bench due to injury/illness: Sam Haggerty, Colton Thomson, Lane Milligan, Chris DeVito, Dalton Bowers, Cory Voss, Drew Bridges, Jared Holley, Andre Vigil, Luis Gonzalez, Jack Zoellner, Preston Ryan, Conner Rusch, Danny Collier and Jake Cole. That’s seven starters, three starting pitchers and a couple of valuable bullpen arms.
• BULLPEN DOMINANCE … The UNM bullpen has been outstanding at protecting leads during the last several seasons. If UNM is leading after eight innings? Forget it. The Lobos haven’t lost when leading after eight in 82 straight games, a streak that dates back to March 24, 2013.
• STAJDUHAR MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK … Freshman third baseman Carl Stajduhar was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on May 11. He hit .625 (10-for-16), slugged 1.188 and drove in 12 runs over four games from May 5-10. He had multiple RBIs in every game, scored seven runs and had an OBP of .625.
• RECORD FOR REECE … Redshirt freshman Reece Weber tied a UNM record, and set a freshman record, with four doubles against San José State on Sunday, May 10. He became just the fifth Lobo with five two-base hits in a game.
• FOLLOW MY LEAD … The Lobos have had their leadoff man reach in 195 of their 474 innings, good for an inning-starting OBP of .411.
• YOUNG LINEUP … The Lobos have one of the youngest lineups in the country, and it’s evidenced by the fact that 71.8 percent of their plate appearances have come from freshmen and sophomores. Right now UNM can expect to start just two upperclassmen — Aaron Siple in the outfield and Sam Haggerty 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. The only five Lobos that have started on the mound for UNM since April 10 (Toller Boardman, Tyler Stevens, Carson Schneider, James Harrington and Luis Gonzalez) 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 not start a game, while Stevens, Harrington and Gonzalez were in high school. This year, however, those five have started 40 of UNM’s 54 games (74.7 percent) heading into the weekend.
• ESTRELLA NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT … Redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Alex Estrella was named to CoSIDA’a Academic All-District team on May 7. He owns a 4.18 GPA in economics and is already pursuing his MBA in finance.
• ONE-RUN MANIA … 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 621 one-run games in program history and owns a .503 winning percentage (312-309). UNM has never had a stretch of six straight one-run games. The Lobos have played 15 such games this season and are 4-11. It is the most one-run games under Ray Birmingham, and it is also the most one-run losses Birmingham has ever suffered in one season. The school record for one-run games in one season is 17, done three times, most recently in 2003.
• 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 226 double plays, which is in the top 10 for most in the country during that span. This season they are fifth in the NCAA with 57 twin killings, and 11th in double plays per game with 1.06.