ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico softball team and head coach Erica Beach have announced the 2016 schedule. The schedule features some tough opponents, including three teams that finished in the top 25 last year and 12 opponents that have a 100 RPI or better from last year.
“We are going to be challenged,” said Beach. “But we will be able to be competitive in every tournament that we play in, and that’s a really great thing to look forward to. We have a really talented team who can handle the challenge and can handle this schedule. I think we are going to see some really great games out of this group.”
For the fifth year in a row, the Lobos will be opening their season at the Kajikawa Classic Feb. 12-14. The Lobos won’t be playing the usual match up with Beach’s alma mater Arizona State but the Lobos will be going up against some of the top teams in the country. They open with San Diego, Stanford, Cal Poly, Oregon State and Kentucky.
“I’m from Phoenix and it’s a really great area with our team because we have a ton of girls from Arizona, California, and New Mexico, so it’s a really great meeting spot, so most of the families can make it to tournaments like that. The atmosphere is fantastic. Some of the best teams in the nation are there and we’ve got some of the greatest umpires, so it’s just a really great atmosphere to be a part of.”
Kentucky finished last season ranked 17th in the nation while Oregon State finished with an RPI of 60.
The next couple of weekends will be challenging as well, as the Lobos return to the Mary Nutter Classic Feb. 19-21 after taking last year off from that tournament. The Lobos will also be visiting the UC Davis Aggie Tournament Feb. 26-28.
“It’s one of the premier tournaments in the country (Mary Nutter) and we’ve really enjoyed our time there. You can always look forward to some really big matchups and a lot of quality games. It’s definitely what we look forward to and it’s a really fun tournament to be a part of.”
In those two weekends, the Lobos will face Texas A&M, who finished ranked 21st in the country last season and Arkansas, who finished with an RPI of 89. Loyola Marymount, Bethune Cookman and Pacific round out the Mary Nutter before taking on South Dakota, Iowa State, Idaho State, and UC Davis the following weekend.
The Lobos will open its home stand with a series with Northern Colorado on March 5 and 6 before heading down to in-state rival New Mexico State for the first of two Rio Grande Rivalry match ups. The second match up is scheduled for May 4 in Albuquerque.
“We love playing New Mexico State. It’s an incredible in-state rivalry and it’s incredibly balanced. We’ve had great games with them. We’ve won, we’ve lost … it’s gone either way but it’s always a really fun atmosphere to be a part of so we really enjoy getting to do a home and away with them every year.”
A doubleheader at UTEP and the Cal State Fullerton tournament will challenge the Lobos before Mountain West play begins. The Lobos will have a tough test ahead in Fullerton with three teams – Alabama, Oklahoma and Cal State Fullerton – in the top 60 of the RPI and two of those – Alabama (No. 6) and Oklahoma (No. 9) ranking in the top 10 at the end of last season.
Mountain West play begins March 24 with the first series against Utah State at home. The Lobos will look to move up the ladder in conference again. Last season they were picked to finish last in the conference but proved that they were a tough team to beat, claiming five out of eight conference series to finish fourth behind San Jose State, San Diego State and Fresno State.
“I think we earned a lot more respect this past year in conference, beating some teams that probably didn’t expect us to beat them, finally getting some sweeps, and winning a lot more series. We still have to take that next step forward and part of that is because we have a very young roster this year.”
The Lobos will open up practice in January before heading to Arizona for its first tournament on Feb. 12.