UNM SERIES NOTES | SJSU SERIES NOTES | WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
New Mexico (8-3, 3-0) vs. San Jose St. (6-5, 2-1)
Friday, March 10 • 6 p.m. (MT)
RHP Tyler Stevens (1-1, 7.13 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Nashed (0-0, 1.59 ERA)
Saturday, March 11 • 2 p.m. (MT)
RHP Johnathon Tripp (1-0, 5.62 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Brown (1-2, 4.80 ERA)
Sunday, March 12 • 1 p.m. (MT)
TBA vs. LHP Graham Gomez (0-0, 6.75 ERA
Santa Ana Star Field – Albuquerque, N.M.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Mountain West’s top hitting team will host the conference’s top pitching team in this early season as the University of New Mexico baseball team and its 10.2 runs per game (fourth in the nation) welcomes San Jose State and its 3.36 ERA (52nd in the nation) to Santa Ana Star Field starting 6 p.m. Friday.
The Lobos go from taking on their oldest rival in New Mexico State on Tuesday (243rd meeting) to facing one of its newest conference foes in San Jose State (22nd meeting). UNM is 16-5 overall against the Spartans, including taking five of six from them last season with their lone loss coming on the road. The Lobos have won seven in a row against SJSU at home with its only loss coming March 22, 2014. Since the Spartans joined the Mountain West in 2014, the Lobos are 13-2 against SJSU.
The Spartans have a new coach in Jason Hawkins and are off to a solid start – 6-5 overall and 2-1 in Mountain West play (faced UNLV last weekend) after going 17-39 last season and 7-23 in the Mountain West. SJSU has won two in a row heading into this week after taking the rubber match against UNLV 9-5 on Sunday and winning a midweek contest Tuesday at home against Pacific, 9-2.
Listen to Friday and Sunday’s games 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 8-2 victory over Rio Grande rivals New Mexico State on Tuesday at Southwest University Park in El Paso, Texas.
UNM used eight pitchers (including three making their Lobo and collegiate debut) to hold the Aggies, who entered the game leading the nation in hitting at .366, to two runs.
At the plate, the Lobos were led by another strong effort from Jack Zoellner as the senior went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. The out he recorded in that game (in the eighth inning) ended a streak of nine consecutive at-bats with a hit and 12-straight plate appearances reaching base.
Prior to Tuesday’s midweek game, the Lobos had an offensive explosion 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. 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 SAN JOSE STATE … The Spartans enter this weekend’s series led by their pitching staff as SJSU sports a 3.36 ERA, ranked 52nd in the nation and tops in the Mountain West.
The Spartan staff has been led by Josh Nashed as he’s 0-0 with 1.59 ERA – including 16 strikeouts in 17 innings of work. The SJSU bullpen has also shined as five pitchers with 3.2 or more innings of work have an ERA of 1.35 or lower.
Where SJSU has struggled is at the plate as they are hitting .236, 232nd in the nation and last in the Mountain West. The Spartans have three players hitting above .300 in Joseph Stefanki (.417), Aaron Pleschner (.359) and Kellen Strahm (.359). No other SJSU player is hitting above .237, however.
UNM BASEBALL NOTES
- LOBOS COME IN AT NO. 2 IN LATEST RPI RELEASED … UNM boasts one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country and an 8-3 start with that schedule has the Lobos at No. 2 in the latest RPI rankings. UNM sits only behind Arizona in the national rankings and are ahead of No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Michigan State and No. 5 Louisiana Tech.
- JACK ATTACK – A HIT STREAK TO REMEMBER … UNM’s Jack Zoellner might have felt a little left out when he was sitting at 0-for-5 late in the game Saturday as the Lobos racked up 24 runs and 28 hits at Air Force. The senior hit a single in his second-to-last at-bat (he walked in his final plate appearance of the day) in that contest to keep from getting the collar – but little did anyone know it would start an impressive hit streak. Zoellner went 5-for-5 Sunday at Air Force and got a hit in his first three at-bats against New Mexico State on Tuesday for nine consecutive at-bats with a base hit before being retired in his final at-bat Tuesday night. Zoellner also walked three times during that span, meaning he reached base an eye-popping 12 straight plate appearances.
- STAJDUHAR MAKES IT 3-FOR-3 FOR LOBOS IN MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS (Feb. 27-March 5) … Carl Stajduhar gave the Lobos three Mountain West Player of the Week honors in the first three weeks of the season as the junior was selected for the award after hitting .550 (11-for-20) with three home runs, four doubles, nine runs and nine RBI in helping UNM go 3-1, including a three-game sweep at Air Force where the Lobos put up 59 runs and 68 hits. In the Lobos’ lone loss of the week at No. 6 Texas Tech (a 7-2 defeat) on Feb. 28, Stajduhar went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and a double. The Lobo third baseman had multiple hits in each game during the week and hit a homer in three of the four games. Stajduhar matched a career high with five RBI on Saturday after going 4-for-6 with a home run and two doubles during the Lobos’ 24-16 win over Air Force.
- 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 131 of the Lobos’ 132 games during his career, including the last 119 – 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
119 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 130 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 7-0
- 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