GAME NOTES | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
New Mexico (7-3) vs. New Mexico State (9-5)
Tuesday, March 7 • 6:30 p.m. (MT)
LHP Austin Isenhart (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Kucko (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
Southwest University Park – El Paso, Texas
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico baseball team takes on in-state foe New Mexico State 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in midweek action at Southwest University Park in El Paso, Texas – the first of three meetings between the Land of Enchantment schools.
It marks the 243rd meeting between New Mexico and New Mexico State (the most games UNM has played against any single opponent) with the Lobos holding a 158-84 record against their in-state foes. The Lobos won three of four matchups against the Aggies last season with the lone loss coming in El Paso while winning in Roswell, Albuquerque and Las Cruces. Also of note, the teams played a pair of one-run contests last season with UNM coming out on top of both those, 3-2. The Lobos have won seven of their last nine against NMSU – though New Mexico had dropped nine of their previous 10 to the Aggies before this recent stretch that started in 2013.
New Mexico State is coming off a turnaround 2016 campaign – going from 11-38-1 in 2015 to 34-23 last season. This season, NMSU is off to a 9-5 start after taking three of four from Yale over the weekend. The Aggies’ losses have come to Bryant (2), nationally ranked Texas Tech, Arizona State and Yale (on Friday – NMSU won the final three games of the series). NMSU and New Mexico have played one common opponent in Texas Tech with the Aggies losing 16-1 and the Lobos losing 7-2 (both games were in Lubbock).
Listen to the game live with play-by-play from Scott Galetti on ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM streamed at www.1017theteam.com and on the TuneIn Radio app.
LAST TIME OUT FOR UNM … The Lobos are coming off an explosive series against Air Force in which they swept the Falcons while scoring a combined 59 runs on 68 hits in the three-game set in Colorado.
The Lobos opened the series Friday with a 19-5 victory over Air Force. Six UNM players had multiple hits in a contest where the Lobos scored in eight of the nine innings. Jack Zoellner led the way by going 4-for-6 with a home run, double and three RBI while Andre Gregory was 3-for-6 with two doubles and four RBI. Tyler Stevens got the win, going 7.2 innings and giving up five runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts and one walk (he shut out Air Force through the first six innings as the Lobos built a 14-0 advantage).
The second game of the series Saturday was a wild contest that saw a combined 27 runs scored in the first three innings (Air Force led 15-12) before Justin Slaten entered in relief for the Lobos and limited the Falcons to just one run over the final 4.2 innings to pick up his first collegiate win. The freshman got the victory thanks to the Lobos exploding for eight runs in the ninth inning to pull away for a 24-16 victory. Eight of the nine Lobo starters had multiple hits with Stajduhar tying a career high with five RBI as he went 4-for-6 with a home run and two doubles. Danny Collier set a career high with five runs scored for New Mexico.
In game three, the Lobos found themselves down 7-4 heading into the eighth inning before another eight-run outburst helped UNM pull away from the Falcons for an eventual 16-7 victory. Zoellner again exploded, going 5-for-5 with a home run and four RBI while Luis Gonzalez went 4-for-5 with three doubles, an RBI and four runs. Drew Gillespie picked up his first career victory in relief for the Lobos.
Overall for the series, the Lobos hit .496 in the series as Gonzalez (.786), Mang (.700), Zoellner (.588) and Stajduhar (.563) all hit above .500 in the three-game set.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE … The Aggies head into Tuesday’s contest as the top hitting team in the country at .366 (the Lobos are 13th at .337) after taking the final three games of a four-game set against Yale over the weekend.
Leading the way for NMSU are a trio of hitters above the .400 mark in average in Austin Botello (.464), Marcus Still (.426) and Joey Ortiz (.404).
Botello has a pair of home runs and is tied with Tristen Carranza for the team lead in RBI with 21 while he’s second on the team in doubles with six. Carranza leads the team with four home runs.
Overall, NMSU has eight players who have made at least 10 starts for them this season hitting above .333.
The Aggie pitching staff is sporting a 5.23 ERA on the season. Tuesday’s starter Chris Kucko is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in two games (one start) this season as he’s given up six hits and two runs in 3.1 innings of work with a pair of strikeouts.
Out of the bullpen NMSU closer Ruger Rodriguez hasn’t given up a run and just one hit in 3.2 innings of work with a pair of saves and six strikeouts in four appearances.
UNM BASEBALL NOTES
- IN-STATE TALENT ON THE FIELD TUESDAY … New Mexico and NMSU both have in-state talent on their rosters as the Lobos feature 13 players from the Land of Enchantment while the Aggies have four.
- LOBOS COME IN AT NO. 3 IN FIRST RPI RELEASED … UNM boasts one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country and a 7-3 start with that schedule has the Lobos at No. 3 in the first RPI released Sunday night by the NCAA. UNM sits only behind Arizona and Michigan State in the national rankings and are just ahead of No. 4 Baylor and No. 5 TCU (ranked No. 1 in all of the human polls).
- RUNS & HITS GALORE … UNM’s big weekend at Air Force included a 24-16 win over that saw rarified numbers produced – even for the Lobos. The 24 runs were the most for the Lobos since defeating Coppin State 29-3 on April 18, 2010, and their 28 hits was the most since racking up 29 in that same game. The Lobos were still seven runs off their program record of 31 set against Air Force on April 17, 2004, and four hits off their program record of 32 set against Fresno State on April 1, 1999.
- NOT ONE, NOT TWO, NOT THREE, NOT FOUR, BUT … UNM junior Danny Collier did something a Lobo hasn’t done in nearly seven years as he scored five runs during Saturday’s 24-16 victory over Air Force. He’s the first Lobo to score five runs in a game since Justin Howard scored six against Coppin State on April 18, 2010.
- GONZALEZ’S BIG WEEK LEADS TO MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Feb. 20-26) … For the second week in a row to start the season the Lobos have earned the Mountain West Player of the Week as Luis Gonzalez was selected for the honor. The junior outfielder hit .727 (8-for-11) with a home run, two doubles, two RBI, two stolen bases and three runs on the road against No. 23 Dallas Baptist. He also drew five walks and reached base 13 of his 16 plate appearances, including reaching base in 11 of his final 12. Gonzalez for his career is now 18-for-27 (.667) at the plate against Dallas Baptist.
- RUN SCORING STREAK FOR VIGIL … Andre Vigil started a nice streak for himself to begin the 2017 campaign as the senior scored a run in each of the Lobos’ first six games. Overall, he has scored seven runs and already has doubled his career home run total entering the season with two blasts early in 2017.
. - ZOELLNER TABBED MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK (FEB. 13-19) … Jack Zoellner was the story of the weekend for the Lobos at the plate as the senior went 6-for-12 with three home runs, a double, eight RBI and five runs to earn Mountain West Player of the Week honors. Zoellner’s three home runs and six RBI in the Feb. 18 win over Binghamton were both career highs. This is the first time Zoellner has been selected for this honor.
- INNING TO REMEMBER … Freshman Beau Capanna had an inning to remember against Binghamton in his collegiate debut Feb. 19. In his first plate appearance as a Lobo in the third inning, Capanna singled, stole second base and eventually scored. As the Lobos kept putting together hits for what would be a seven-run inning, Capanna came up again and hit an RBI single – and stole another base. When the damage was done in the third inning, Capanna went 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, a run and an RBI. Not a bad debut to say the least.
- DEATH, TAXES & STAJ … To say Carl Stajduhar has been a staple in the Lobo lineup for his first two years in Albuquerque might be an understament. The junior has started 130 of the Lobos’ 131 games during his career, including the last 118 – which is eighth on the Lobos’ all-time list.The lone game he didn’t start in his career? A March 8, 2015, game against San Diego State in Albuquerque – a contest he later entered as a pinch hitter.
CONSECUTIVE STARTS
181 Mitch Garver, 2010-13
144 Daniel Stovall, 2004-07
139 Antonio Fernandez, 1992-94
135 Aaron Sisk, 1998-2000
124 Larry Harrison, 1980-83
118 Carl Stajduhar, 2015-present
118 Sam Haggerty, 2013-15
117 Chase Harris, 2013-14
108 Matt Foote, 2004-07
101 Lon Yamaguchi, 1996-99
- YARD WORK BY STAJDUHAR … Carl Stajduhar’s 2016 season saw him swat 18 home runs, which tied for seventh in single-season Lobo history. The junior also has 31 in his career, tied for ninth on the UNM all-time list.
HOME RUNS (Career)
53 Aaron Sisk, 1998-00
50 Chris Alexander, 2000-03
42 Daniel Stovall, 2004-07
41 DJ Peterson, 2011-13
38 Joe Salas, 2001-04
38 Lon Yamaguchi, 1996-99
36 Chris Carlson, 2005-06
34 Jeff Grady, 2002-05
31 Carl Stajduhar, 2015-present
29 Mark Gulseth, 1992-93
- IT’S OVER AFTER EIGHT … 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 129 straight games, a streak that dates back to March 24, 2013.
Lobos when leading after 8 since 3/24/13
2013 25-0
2014 33-0
2015 29-0
2016 36-0
2017 6-0
- SCHNEIDER WINS – A COMMON THEME … Senior left-hander Carson Schneider is moving up the all-time win ranks after going 9-4 last season, tied for the sixth-most wins in single-season Lobo history. The Albuquerque native and Sandia High School grad is now 19-6 in his career, which is a win short of reaching the all-time top 10. His .750 winning percentage is tied for second on the all-time Lobo list as well.
WINS (Career)
27 Rob Hoover, 1976-79
26 Josh Walker, 2012-14
24 Bob McAulay, 1966-68
23 Dean Duane, 1982-85
22 Danny Ray Herrera, 2004-06
22 Jim Kremmel, 1968-71
21 Kurt Hildebrandt, 1991-93, ’95
20 Rod Adair, 1971-74
19 Dean Duane, 1982-85
19 Jim Sharpe, 1979-82
19 Ralph Sallee, 1966-68
(18 Carson Schneider, 2014-present)WINNING PCT. (Career, Min. 15 Dec.)
.773 (17-5) Luis Gonzalez, 1995-96
.750 (18-6) Carson Schneider, 2014-present
.750 (12-4) Jim Coleman, 1991-94
.743 (26-9) Josh Walker, 2012-14
.727 (24-9) Bob McAulay, 1966-68
.722 (13-5) Don Miller, 1972-75
.708 (17-7) Chris Baum, 1992-95
.704 (19-8) Ralph Sallee, 1966-68
.688 (11-5) Gary Jacobs, 1969-70
.650 (13-7) Arnie Marzullo, 1972-73
.647 (22-12) Danny Ray Herrera, 2004-06