SURPRISE, Ariz. — The University of New Mexico baseball season is set to get underway 1 p.m. Friday as the Lobos take on No. 2 Oregon State to open the College Baseball Classic at Surprise Stadium in Arizona.
The Lobos also take on Cal Poly 5 p.m. Saturday, Gonzaga 5 p.m. Sunday and the Beavers again 2 p.m. Monday in Surprise, Arizona.
LISTEN: ESPN Radio 101.7 The TEAM enters its ninth season as the flagship station for Lobo baseball. Joe O’Neill, president of The TEAM, said 101.7 FM will broadcast a minimum of 45 games this season including all four games this week from Surprise, Arizona. All broadcasts can be heard live worldwide on the complimentary 101.7 The TEAM radio app. All MW Tournament and postseason games will also be aired. Robert Portnoy – the Voice of the Lobos – will continue to provide play by play.
The defending Mountain West regular-season champion Lobos have plenty of holes to fill from last year’s squad (including four players who were drafted in the top 18 rounds of the MLB Draft), but a quality core group of returnees along with a talented crop of 17 freshmen have UNM picked by the Mountain West coaches to defend their crown.
The Lobos – who went 30-27-1 last year and had its season end in the semifinals of the Mountain West tournament – are led by a trio of Preseason All-Mountain West players in senior Danny Collier, junior Jared Mang and junior Christian Tripp.
Collier, the team’s lone fifth-year senior, hit .328 with three home runs, 51 RBI, 50 runs and six stolen bases last season and improved his numbers during Mountain West action – hitting .396 (eighth in the conference) with 29 RBI and 27 runs in 24 Mountain West games. He’s expected to either patrol left field or be the team’s designated hitter.
Mang hit .373 last season with nine home runs, 17 doubles, 62 RBI and 62 runs – but stepped it up even more in Mountain West play by hitting .432 (third in the conference) and tying for the RBI lead with 42. He was an All-Mountain West player in 2017 as well as a CoSIDA Academic All-American. He’s expected to play one of the outfield spots (he played all three last season) or could even see some time in the infield at second base.
Tripp finished with six saves, 26 strikeouts and a 5.14 ERA in 28 innings (26 games last season). In Mountain West play, Tripp tied for the conference lead with four saves and tied for second in games finished with 11. He’ll once again be the Lobos’ closer and his 10 saves are tied for fifth on the UNM all-time list.
Another experienced bat returning to the lineup is junior shortstop Hayden Schilling as he hit .317 with two home runs, 30 RBI, 35 runs and eight stolen bases in 48 games (42 starts – mainly at shortstop) last year. Freshman Garrett Gouldsmith – a Rio Rancho High School (New Mexico) grad – could also see time there for the Lobos.
Another position the Lobos will have experience returning is at catcher where senior Daniel Herrera (.247 Avg, 1 HR, 15 RBI in 38 games) and sophomore Robby Campillo (.273, 1 HR, 10 RBI) will both see time.
At second base, sophomore Justin Watari (.268, 12 RBI, 29 runs in 35 games) will get time while freshman Nick Atkins (Venice, Calif.) could also play there as well.
After missing last season due to injury, junior and Albuquerque native Jeff Deimling will get the start at first base while freshman Derek Marshall (who redshirted last season with the Lobos) and JUCO transfer and junior Jeremy Conant will also be in the mix.
At third base, redshirt freshman Connor Mang and true freshman Richard Ware (both New Mexico natives) will battle for time while JUCO transfer Larry Leitha, redshirt freshman Chris Dunn and true freshman Phillip Sikes will be fighting for time in the Lobo outfield.
While UNM returns the back end of its bullpen in Tripp, much of the rest of the pitching staff will be either in a new spot – or just new to the team.
Sophomore right-hander Justin Slaten makes the move to the starting rotation and will be the Lobos’ opening day starter after going 2-2 with a 3.74 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 33.2 innings (23 appearances). Also battling for the weekend rotation will be freshman left-hander Robert Gasser (El Dorado Hills, California) who will get the start in game two against Cal Poly, sophomore Drew Gillespie (1-1, 6.75 ERA, 1 save, 23 strikeouts, 25.1 innings) who is starting game three against Gonzaga and sophomore Cody Dye (1-0, 3.55 ERA, 11 strikeouts, 12.2 innings) who will get the start in the final game of the College Baseball Classic against No. 2 Oregon State on Monday.
Lobos open 2018 Friday vs. No. 2 OSU in Arizona
