UNM SERIES NOTES | LISTEN | WATCH
New Mexico (16-9, 9-0) vs. Fresno State (14-10, 5-4)
Friday, March 31 • 6:30 p.m. (MT)
RHP Tyler Stevens (3-2, 4.31 ERA) vs. LHP Ricky Tyler Thomas (2-1, 3.05 ERA)
Saturday, April 1 • 2 p.m. (MT)
RHP Johnathon Tripp (2-0, 5.18 ERA) vs. RHP Rickey Ramirez (2-3, 6.21 ERA)
Sunday, April 2 • 12 p.m. (MT)
LHP Luis Gonzalez (2-2, 4.21 ERA) vs. TBD
Santa Ana Star Field – Albuquerque, N.M.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico baseball team puts its unblemished Mountain West record on the line as the Lobos host 2016 regular-season Mountain West champion Fresno State in a three-game series starting 6:30 p.m. Friday at Santa Ana Star Field.
Friday marks the 47th meeting between UNM and Fresno State with the Lobos holding a 23-13 advantage – including a 14-1 edge in Albuquerque. The Lobos have won four straight against the Bulldogs, including sweeping a three-game series against Fresno State at home last season (two of those games were one-run victories). Prior to 2012, the programs had met just 11 times – including Fresno State winning the first seven matchups from 1960-98.
The Bulldogs are coming off of a five-game home stand in which they went 3-2, including dropping two of three to Mountain West foe San Diego State over the weekend. The only common opponent the Bulldogs and Lobos have is Air Force with the Lobos sweeping the Falcons and Fresno State taking two of three (both series played in Colorado).
Listen to the series with play-by-play from Robert Portnoy 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 picked up their second win in two tries against their in-state foe to the south as UNM defeated New Mexico State 5-3 on Tuesday in Las Cruces.
The Lobos were led by their pitching staff, primarily their bullpen as Cody Dye (3.2 innings, one hit, four strikeouts), Justin Slaten (one inning, one hit) and Christian Tripp (one inning, one strikeout) combined to shut down the NMSU bats over the final 5.2 innings. Dye picked up his first career win while Tripp collected his fourth save of the season.
At the plate, UNM got a key two-run homer from Andre Gregory (who finished 2-for-4) in the fourth inning, a go-ahead sacrifice fly from Jared Mang in the fifth inning and an RBI triple from Jack Zoellner in the eighth inning for insurance during the 5-3 victory.
Prior to Tuesday, the Lobos were coming off their third Mountain West sweep of the season in taking three from UNLV this past weekend in Las Vegas to move to 9-0 in MW play – the best start for any team in Mountain West history.
UNM opened the series with a bang as they scored the third-most runs in program history with a 29-8 victory over the Rebels on Friday. Seven Lobos finished with multiple hits, led by Carl Stajduhar who went 5-for-6 with a home run, five RBI and five runs. Jared Mang finished 3-for-6 with a home run, triple and a career-high six RBI while Daniel Herrera went 3-for-5 with his first home run as a Lobo to go along with four RBI and three runs. Tyler Stevens picked up the win, going six innings and giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
It was a different type of game Saturday as a strong start from Johnathon Tripp along with solid bullpen work from Justin Slaten and Christian Tripp helped the Lobos defeat the Rebels, 4-2. Tripp went seven innings and surrendered two runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts and two walks while Slaten and Tripp each tossed a scoreless inning to wrap up the game. Andre Gregory paced the UNM offense, going 2-for-3 with two RBI while Jack Zoellner went 2-for-4 with two runs.
The Lobos completed the sweep with a 7-3 victory Sunday, ignited by a three-run homer in the first inning by Zoellner as he finished 2-for-4. Luis Gonzalez scattered 12 hits while giving up three runs over six innings of work while James Harrington, Slaten and Tripp each worked a scoreless inning to secure the victory. Along with Zoellner, Andre Vigil went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs as UNM extended their win streak to four games.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE … The Bulldogs’ pitching staff is led by preseason All-American Ricky Tyler Thomas. The left-hander is 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA in six starts with 52 strikeouts (15th in the NCAA) in 38.1 innings.
The staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.85 with Rickey Ramirez (2-3, 6.21 ERA) and Davis Moore (3-1, 3.32 ERA) having five or more starts as well for the Fresno State staff. Out of the bullpen, Ryan Jensen (3.12 ERA, 17.1 innings), Edgar Gonzalez (3.72 ERA, 19.1 innings) and Fred Schlichtoholz (4.13 ERA, 24.0 innings) all feature ERAs under 4.20 with 17 or more innings pitched.
At the plate, the Bulldogs are hitting .297 as a team. Aaron Arruda (.346 average, five home runs, 26 RBI) and Jesse Medrano (.340 average, 10 doubles, two home runs, 22 RBI) have been the most dangerous hitters in the lineup while Zach Ashford (.377), Jared Akins (.355) and Carter Bins (.328) are each hitting above .300 for the Bulldogs.
UNM BASEBALL NOTES
- A MOUNTAIN WEST FIRST … With its win Friday, the Lobos became the first team in Mountain West history to start conference play 7-0 (the Lobos are now 9-0). The previous best start was 6-0 by UNLV in 2004. The best winning percentage in a season in Mountain West play is .870 (20-3)by TCU twice (2007 and 2011).
- TWO GAMES, 51 RUNS … The Lobos broke out of their slump in a big way Wednesday by beating Grand Canyon 22-3 and followed it up by racking up the third-most runs in Lobo history with a 29-8 win over UNLV on Friday. The two-game total of 51 runs is the second-most runs in back-to-back games in Lobo history. UNM scored 55 runs in a two-game span in 1999 (beat New Mexico State 28-18 on March 30 and Fresno State 27-26 on April 1).
- LOBO PITCHING STRONG OVER LAST NINE GAMES … The UNM pitching staff has continued to improve as the season has gone on – particularly over their last nine. The Lobo staff has a 3.46 ERA over that stretch, including a three-game set against No. 5 Cal State Fullerton. UNM has allowed 87 hits in 78 innings of work over the previous eight games with its opponents hitting .282 and owns a better than a 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (47 SO, 20 BB).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 understatement. The junior has started 145 of the Lobos’ 146 games during his career, including the last 133- 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
133 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 33 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
33 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 138 straight games, a streak that dates back to March 24, 2013.
Lobos when leading after 8 since March 24, 2013
2013 25-0
2014 33-0
2015 29-0
2016 36-0
2017 15-0
- 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