UNM SERIES NOTES | LISTEN |
New Mexico (12-9, 6-0) vs. UNLV (10-13, 5-4)
Friday, March 24 • 7:05 p.m. (MT)
RHP Tyler Stevens (2-2, 4.28 ERA) vs. RHP Alan Strong (3-0, 3.00 ERA)
Saturday, March 25 • 7:05 p.m. (MT)
RHP Johnathon Tripp (1-0, 5.88 ERA) vs. LHP Tevita Gerber (2-3, 7.43 ERA)
Sunday, March 26• 2:05 p.m. (MT)
LHP Luis Gonzalez (1-2, 4.14 ERA) vs. LHP Garrett Poole (2-2, 5.46 ERA)
Wilson Stadium – Las Vegas, Nev.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The first-place University of New Mexico baseball team hopes to keep rolling in Mountain West play when the Lobos travel to take on UNLV for a three-game series starting 7:05 p.m. (MT) Friday at Wilson Stadium.
UNM – off to a 6-0 start for the first time since the Mountain West began in 1999-2000 – and UNLV are as even as you can be in the programs’ last 10 meetings as the Lobos are 5-5 against the Rebels, including 3-3 last season. The Lobos took two of three from UNLV at home last season, but dropped two of three at Wilson Stadium. Overall, UNM has had more success against the Rebels in Albuquerque (36-23) than in Las Vegas (35-65) and sit at 73-88 overall against UNLV (including a 2-1 record in neutral site games).
While the Rebels sit at 10-13 on the season, they do own a quality win over No. 5 Cal State Fullerton and are coming off losing a pair of close contests at No. 3 Texas Tech on Tuesday and Wednesday, including an extra-inning contest Wednesday – a game it led 4-3 in the 10th before falling 5-4. In conference play, UNLV dropped two of three at San Jose State, swept Air Force at home and lost two of three at San Diego State.
Listen to Saturday and Sunday’s games 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 broke their six-game losing streak in grand fashion Wednesday with a 22-3 victory over Grand Canyon University at Santa Ana Star Field.
The Lobos had seven players with multiple hits, led by Carl Stajduhar’s 5-for-6 performance that included a pair of doubles, four runs and two RBI. Jack Zoellner had four hits and three RBI while Daniel Herrera, Danny Collier and Jared Mang had three hits apiece with Collier swatting his third homer of the season. Austin Isenhart picked up the win (moving to 3-1 on the season), going five innings and giving up two runs on four hits with two strikeouts and three walks.
The win came a day after the Lobos totaled just four hits in a 6-1 loss to GCU – UNM’s first home loss this season. The Lobos’ lone run came on a home run by Andrew Pratt (who also homered Wednesday) that landed on top of the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center beyond the left-center field wall at Santa Ana Star Field.
The Lobos returned home after one of the toughest non-conference road trips any team in the nation will take this season as UNM lost a trio of one-run games to No. 5 Cal State Fullerton this past weekend after dropping two to another top-25 team in No. 21 Oklahoma State.
UNM got a stellar start from Tyler Stevens in Friday’s contest against Fullerton as he retired the first 12 batters he faced and gave up just two runs (one earned) on three hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings. But the Lobos scored its only run of the game on an RBI double by Danny Collier in the sixth inning to tie the game before the Titans scored in the seventh to take the lead for good during a 2-1 UNM loss.
The Lobos on Saturday took a 4-1 lead at one point before the Titans scored four unanswered runs – three in the final three innings – to rally to beat UNM, 5-4. Johnathon Tripp was solid on the mound, going six innings and giving up two runs on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Luis Gonzalez, Carl Stajduhar, Andre Vigil and Andre Gregory had two hits apiece for the Lobos.
UNM got another strong start on the mound Sunday from Gonzalez, but the Lobos couldn’t figure out Fullerton starter John Gavin and lost 1-0. Gonzalez went seven innings and gave up a run on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He also had both of the Lobo hits in the game.
SCOUTING UNLV … Though the Rebels have dropped four straight, two were close contests against the No. 3 team in the nation on the road at Texas Tech – including a 5-4 loss in 10 innings to the Red Raiders, a game UNLV led 4-3 in the top of the 10th.
As a team, UNLV is hitting .303 as a team – fourth in the conference and 41st in the nation. The Rebels sit eighth in the country in hits as well.
UNLV has seven players hitting above .300 with Bryson Scott leading the way with a .370 average. Justin Jones and Nick Ames have done much of the damage at the plate for the Rebels with Jones hitting .359 with four home runs, 24 RBI and five doubles while Ames is hitting .326 with five home runs, 25 RBI and four doubles.
On the mound the Rebels have a 5.16 ERA and have been led by starters Larry Quaney (who has been scratched from starting this weekend) and Alan Strong. Quaney is 1-1 with a 2.94 ERA, 14 strikeouts and 33 hits allowed in 33.2 innings while Strong (a two-time Mountain West Pitcher of the Week) is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA, 28 strikeouts and 25 hits allowed in 24.0 innings of work.
UNM BASEBALL NOTES
- LOBO PITCHING STRONG OVER LAST FIVE GAMES … The UNM pitching staff has continued to improve as the season has gone on – particularly over their last five. The Lobo staff has a 3.21 ERA over that stretch, including a three-game set against No. 5 Cal State Fullerton. UNM has allowed 43 hits in 42 innings of work over that stretch with their opponents hitting just .269.
- ROOF-BOUND BLAST FOR PRATT … Sophomore Andrew Pratt has displayed his raw power at the plate in the past, but did something few (if any) have ever done in game play at Santa Ana Star Field – particularly with no wind. In Tuesday night’s contest against Grand Canyon, Pratt crushed a ball for a home run that cleared the left-center field wall at the 413-foot sign, crossed the street behind the fence and landed on the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center roof – a building that is at least 30 feet tall.
- HITS IN BUNCHES FOR GONZO … The stellar start to the 2017 season for Luis Gonzalez has been well documented, but how he’s doing it is also impressive. The Lobo outfielder/pitcher not only has a hit in 14 of the Lobos’ 21 games for a lofty .412 average – he has multiple hits in 12 of those contests. This includes two four-hit games, five three-hit games and five two-hit games.
- 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.
- BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK JACK … Jack Zoellner’s incredible start to 2017 saw him do something that a Lobo hasn’t done since 2013. The senior first baseman hit home runs in three consecutive games (March 5 versus Air Force, March 7 versus New Mexico State and March 10 versus San Jose State), the first time a UNM player has done that since DJ Peterson in 2013.
- SWEEP HERE, SWEEP THERE … In sweeping Air Force and San Jose State to start Mountain West play, the Lobos are off to their first 6-0 start in conference play since the MW was created during the 1999-2000 season. It’s also the first time the Lobos have swept back-to-back Mountain West series since 2014.
- 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.
- 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 141 of the Lobos’ 142 games during his career, including the last 129 – which is tied for fifth 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
129 Carl Stajduhar, 2015-present
124 Larry Harrison, 1980-83
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 32 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
32 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 134 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 11-0
- 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