ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Head Coach Ray Birmingham and the University of New Mexico baseball team are pleased to announce the program’s schedule for the 2016 season. It features 17 games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament in either of the last two seasons, and is highlighted by a season-opening four-game trip to Hawai’i, and a three-game series at Lobo Field against Dallas Baptist, which was a No. 1 seed in last year’s tournament.
In total UNM will play 32 games away from home in 2016 compared to just 24 at Lobo Field.
“Our schedule is tough again, just like always,” said Birmingham, who is entering his ninth season at the helm of the Lobos. “There are no easy games on the schedule. We open in Hawai’i, and we hope our fans will come watch us for four days.”
The Lobos begin the season against the Rainbow Warriors on Friday, Feb. 19 and conclude the series on Monday, Feb. 22. After the long flight back UNM will host its home opener on Friday, Feb. 26 against traditional power Wichita State as part of a three-game series.
Things won’t get any easier for the Lobos the following weekend when Dallas Baptist comes to town.
“Wichita State is a storied program, and DBU was terrific last year,” Birmingham said. “It’s another exciting schedule with a lot of RPI points in it.”
Tuesday, March 8 will mark the first of four midweek games the Lobos have scheduled against Rio Grande Rival New Mexico State. The two teams will play games in both Albuquerque and Las Cruces, but also Roswell, N.M., and El Paso, Texas, which will be the host of the first contest.
UNM opens Mountain West play the following weekend at Nevada, the 2015 regular season conference champion. A two-game, mid-week series at Grand Canyon concludes the six-game road trip.
However, after three games at Lobo Field against San José State March 18-20, UNM is back on the road for six more games. It begins with a Tuesday showdown in Lubbock, Texas, against Texas Tech on March 22, continues with a MW showdown with 2015 Tournament champion San Diego State, and concludes with two games in northern California against Sacramento State.
Following that, though, is UNM’s longest homestand of the season, albeit with an asterisk. Sandwiched between two MW series at Lobo field versus UNLV April 1-3 and Fresno State April 8-10 is the Lobos’ game in Roswell against NMSU on Tuesday, April 5, for which UNM is the designated home team.
That is followed by another trip to the Golden State for midweek games at Santa Clara (April 12) and San Francisco (April 13) before facing off against San José State that weekend.
UNM returns home for two games against TTU April 19 and 20 ahead of a weekend series against SDSU and another matchup vs. NMSU, this time at Lobo Field on April 26.
The Lobos then close the season with 10 of its final 13 games on the road, beginning with a three-game series at Arizona State April 29 through May 1. That’s followed by a trek down I-25 to face off with the Aggies in Las Cruces for the fourth and final game of the year in the Rio Grande Rivalry on May 3.
Then it is three straight MW series to close the regular season. It begins with a trip to face UNLV, continues back in Albuquerque against Nevada, and concludes with a trip to Air Force, which will be UNM’s only matchup with the Falcons in 2016.
However, the difficult end to the season comes with a bonus: the Mountain West Tournament will be held at Lobo Field from May 25-28. So unlike previous seasons, including 2015, UNM will not be on the road for two straight weeks while trying to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Lobos are currently in the midst of their fall practice season and will play their annual Cherry-Silver series at the end of October and early November. The first game will be Halloween afternoon (a Saturday) at 1 p.m. with the second game the following afternoon at 1 as well. After a day off on Monday, the series will conclude with games Tuesday through Thursday tentatively scheduled (weather permitting) for 6 p.m. each day. The series is free and open to the public, and fans are encouraged to attend.
Lobo Baseball Releases 2016 Schedule
