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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s will be the beginning of year No. 10 for head baseball coach Ray Birmingham at the University of New Mexico when his Lobos hit the field 6 p.m. Friday for their season opener at Santa Ana Star Field against Binghamton – and the New Mexico native knows how close his program is to reaching the goal he stated clearly when he arrived a decade ago.
Getting the Lobos to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series.
UNM qualified for the NCAA Regionals for the fifth time in seven years in 2016 after winning the Mountain West Tournament (UNM reached the NCAAs only once prior to Birmingham’s arrival). The Lobos defeated 17th-ranked Dallas Baptist 12-6 in the Lubbock Regional opener, however, they lost a 3-1 lead in the final two innings to No. 7 Texas Tech and lost 4-3 to the Red Raiders before being eliminated by Dallas Baptist the next day, 5-3.
Texas Tech went on to not only win the Lubbock Regional, but won its Super Regional and advanced to the College World Series where it finished as one of the final four teams in the country.
And it left plenty of what-ifs lingering for the Lobos.
The page has turned for New Mexico, however, as the Lobos return six starters to their lineup and two-thirds of their weekend rotation. Expectations are high once again in 2017 as they are tabbed as the favorite in the Mountain West per the preseason coaches’ poll.
“Texas Tech beat us in the ninth and they go on to Omaha and are one of the final four teams there,” Birmingham said. “That’s what we are shooting for. It wasn’t long ago that we were just trying to convince kids to come here instead of a junior college. Now I feel like we are one of the better teams in the country. … But now it’s that time where you got to put up or shut up.”
POSITION PLAYERS
The Lobos return six starters to their lineup – led by 2016 Mountain West Player of the Year and Louisville Slugger All-American Carl Stajduhar at third base. The junior hit .331 with a team-high 18 home runs, 66 RBI and started all 62 games for the Lobos (he’s currently on a 108-game consecutive start streak). He’s garnered two preseason All-American awards and was ranked as the No. 4 third baseman in the nation heading into the season by D1Baseball.com.
Another key piece returning is fellow junior Luis Gonzalez. The center fielder, who will also likely see an increased role on the mound, led the Lobos with a .381 average, 21 doubles, five triples, 63 runs and 18 stolen bases to go along with six home runs and 48 RBI. Like Stajduhar, Gonzalez has been named to two preseason All-American teams and was named one of 55 players (and the only one from the Mountain West) to the Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List.
The Lobos also return senior first baseman Jack Zoellner (.307, 8 HR, 47 RBI) as well as sophomore Andrew Pratt (.326 AVG, 5 HR, 16 RBI) behind the plate (named a freshman All-American last season). Also expect to see junior college transfer and switch-hitting catcher Daniel Herrera to see time at catcher as well. The junior from Albuquerque hit .312 with eight home runs and 41 RBI last season for New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, N.M.
In the outfield, sophomore Jared Mang (.291, 3 HR, 30 RBI) returns to play left field while senior Andre Vigil (.262, HR, 11 RBI) will patrol right field.
The Lobos return a familiar name at designated hitter as junior Daniel Collier returns after suffering a season-ending injury 12 games into the 2016 campaign. Prior to the injury the 2015 All-Mountain West player and 2014 freshman All-American was hitting .405 with 9 RBI in those 12 contests and owns a .357 career average in 96 games (358 at-bats).
Along with losing All-American catcher, first baseman and designated hitter Chris DeVito, the Lobos graduated both starting middle infielders from a year ago in shortstop Dalton Bowers and second baseman Jared Holley.
Looking to take over at shortstop is Cosumnes River College transfer and junior Andre Gregory or sophomore Hayden Schilling, who redshirted for the Lobos last season after starting 19 games at shortstop or second base for UNM in 2015 (hit .250 with 14 RBI).
At second base it will be one of two freshmen taking over – either left-handed hitting Justin Watari or Beau Capanna (who was a 21st-round pick by the Boston Red Sox in the 2016 MLB Draft).
PITCHERS
Traditionally during Birmingham’s tenure, the offense has been there – but the big question was if the Lobos were going to have enough pitching to go with it.
Birmingham believes the Lobos have have it this season.
“There are eight kids on our team right now that probably could’ve pitched on Friday or Saturday the first year I was here,” Birmingham said. “There is that much potential. … There are some young guys that are included in that, but the potential is there.”
The Lobos have a pair of well-established starters leading the rotation in junior Tyler Stevens and senior left-hander Carson Schneider.
Stevens, a 2017 Preseason Mountain West All-Conference and 2016 First-Team All-Mountain West selection, had a team-high 16 starts in 2016 and went 8-4 with a 4.11 ERA while tossing a team-best 100.2 innings.
Schneider wasn’t far behind statistically, going 9-4 with a 4.68 ERA in 100.0 innings. The Albuquerque native became the ninth player in Lobo history to win nine or more games and his winning percentage of .727 (16-6) is tied for fourth in program history.
The third spot for the weekend will be a battle between returnees Gonzalez (3-1, 5.51 ERA) and James Harrington (7-2, 6.04 ERA), Texas Tech transfer Johnathon Tripp (who redshirted with the Lobos last season), freshman Justin Slaten and possibly others.
The difference for the Lobos could be their bullpen depth – led by the return of sophomore Christian Tripp after he set a freshman UNM record with 27 appearances and four saves to go with a 2-2 record and 4.54 ERA. The 6-foot-7 Tripp, the younger brother of Johnathon, struck out 25 batters in 35.2 innings.
Many other talented pitchers will be in the mix in the bullpen, including sophomore transfer Chad Smith (another Albuquerque native who played a year at New Mexico Military Institute) – who Birmingham has been impressed with since the Fall.
SCHEDULE
The Lobos take on arguably one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country in 2017 with five NCAA postseason opponents – including two College World Series participants – and a combined winning percentage of almost .600 between the Lobos’ 10 non-conference foes.
UNM faces CWS teams Texas Tech (on the road Feb. 28, April 11; at home April 25-26) and Oklahoma State (on the road March 14-15) along with fellow 2016 NCAA postseason teams Cal State Fullerton (on the road March 17-19), Dallas Baptist (on the road Feb. 24-26) and, of course, their season-opening series against Binghamton Friday through Sunday at Santa Ana Star Field.
Four of those teams finished in the top 30 of the NCBWA’s final rankings in No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 24 Dallas Baptist and No. 29 Cal State Fullerton.
“If this isn’t one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country, I’m not sure what is,” Birmingham said.
Of the Lobos’ 26 non-conference games, 21 are against teams that finished above .500 last season with 15 against NCAA postseason qualifiers. All 10 teams on the Lobos’ non-conference schedule finished with 25 or more victories.
Along with taking on five NCAA postseason teams, the Lobos face a Missouri State team (at home April 13-15) that finished 38-21 in 2016 and lost in the 12th inning of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game to Dallas Baptist.
UNM faces in-state foe New Mexico State (34-23 last season) three times in three locations – March 7 in El Paso at Southwest University Park, March 28 (6:30 p.m.) at New Mexico State and May 2 (6:30 p.m.) at Santa Ana Star Field in Albuquerque.
The Lobos added a third Big 12 opponent on their schedule as they travel to take on Kansas State April 18-19.
To see all 26 regular-season home Lobo baseball games for the single price of $50 (less than $2 per game), fans can purchase the Lobo Pride Pass – which also provides admission to every UNM home softball and track & field event.
For more information, fans can contact Lobo Athletic Ticket representatives Joe Gehling at (505) 925-1620 or visit the Lobo Ticket Office located in WisePies Arena.
Follow the UNM baseball team on Twitter (@UNMLoboBaseball), Instagram (@unmlobobaseball) and Facebook (/UNMLobosBaseball) for updates and information on your Lobos!