Lobos to take on league-leading Spartans
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| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 15-14 (6-6 MW) |
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS 14-15 (8-4 MW) |
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Tuesday, April, 2 – 6 p.m. | Wednesday, April 3 – 1 p.m. |
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Leading Off
The University of New Mexico baseball team is heading out west for a pivotal weekend series at league-leading San Jose State. The Lobos will enter the series riding a high of a 12-9 come-from-behind victory at home against No. 11-ranked Texas Tech this past Wednesday. The Spartans, meanwhile, are looking to snap a current six-game losing skid.
Despite the slide, the Spartans have not lost any ground in the conference standings and are still atop the MW as all six of the losses have come in non-conference play. Entering play, SJSU is 8-4 in the MW and their only series loss to this point came against the Lobos back in early March in Albuquerque. The Lobos will enter play two games back of the Spartans in both the win and loss columns as they are 6-6 in the MW.
Scouting San Jose State
San Jose State enters play this week 14-15 overall and are atop the Mountain West standings at 8-4. The Spartans are in the midst of a midseason swoon as they have lost six-straight games. This weekend will be their first MW games played in a week, however, as the Spartans played out of conference at Northwestern last weekend where they were swept. Their most-recent MW play was a 2-1 series win on the road at Fresno State.
Offensively, the Spartans are hitting .269 (253-for-942) as a team with 138 runs scored, 32 doubles, five triples and five home runs. Three of the lineup regulars are hitting over .300. The leading hitter so far is Kellen Strahm at .415 (44-for-106). Strahm is also the team leader in home runs and RBIs with three homers and 22 RBIs.
On the mound, San Jose State has staff ERA of 4.87. In 246.0 innings pitched, the arms for the Spartans have collectively struck out 192 batters. Andrew Mitchell, Ben Pollack and Tevin Cadola have each started at least six games with Mitchell having started seven. Cadola and Mitchell’s ERAs are both slightly under 4.00. Mitchell is the team leader and paces the conference in strikeouts with 56 in 39.0 innings pitched.
Lobo News & Notes
Splitting with the Red Raiders
The Lobos picked up their second win of the season against a ranked opponent this past Wednesday as they came-from-behind to upset No. 11-ranked Texas Tech. The win came in the second game of a two-game mid-week series with the Red Raiders and forced a split in the series. In the comeback, the Lobos trailed 8-2 through three innings, but went on to outscore the Red Raiders 10-1 over the next five and a half innings of play. The Lobos are now 2-5 against ranked opponents this season.
Starters Dealing in Vegas
The starting pitchers for the Lobos in their weekend series at UNLV were dealing. The trio of Nathaniel Garley, Drew Gillespie and Justin Slaten combined to pitch all but five innings of the series as each went at least six complete innings. Combined the starting rotation also had a 3.00 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 21.0 innings pitched.
Slaten went the longest as he pitched a career-high 8.0 innings and matched a career-best in strikeouts with 10 on Friday night. Garley grinded through 7.0 innings on Saturday and kept the game within reach. Gillespie helped the Lobos secure the series as he picked up his first win of the season. In the win, Gillespie also struck out a career-high seven batters.
Rio Grande Rivalry
Long-time in-state rivals New Mexico and New Mexico State met on the diamond for the first time in 2019 on March 26 in Las Cruces. Offense was not a premium in the mid-week clash as the two teams combined for eight runs through the first two innings and 21 hits for the game. NMSU would go on to win the game 13-5 to take the first of two Rio Grande Rivalry meetings this season.
In the midst of all the offense, freshman right-hander Jack Murano had the best outing of his career as he pitched 3.0 innings of shutout relief against the Aggies. Murano, who was the lone Lobo hurler to not allow a run to the Aggies, matched a career-best with three strikeouts.
Salvage Series with Aztecs
After dropping the first two games of the weekend series with San Diego State, the Lobos bounced back in the finale with a 13-4 win to salvage a game in the series. Game one of the series was for the taking and the Lobos nearly rallied from a 4-0 deficit, but fell short 4-2. Game two was lopsided and controlled by the Aztecs 19-3. In the finale, the Lobos fell behind 3-0, but ultimately flipped the script and snapped what was a season-long five-game losing streak.
Mid-Week Tuneup with Sooners
A day after playing a weekend series on the road at Nevada, the Lobos played a two-game mid-week series against No. 25-ranked Oklahoma. The Sooners would take both games of the series, but the Lobos were able to get game experience for numerous arms. All told across the two games, the Lobos used 13 different pitchers with Kyle Conley making his collegiate debut.
Back and Forth with the Wolf Pack
The MW series between the Lobos and Wolf Pack was an up-and-down experience. Playing on the road for the first time in conference play this season, the Lobos dropped the opener in a tight 5-3 game that saw the Lobos rally late. Game two kept the momentum of the Friday night rally as the Lobos scored nine runs on 12 hits en route to a 9-3 win to even the series. In the finale, the Lobos out-hit the Wolf Pack, but an early 5-0 deficit was too much to overcome, losing 6-4.
Titans Experience ABQ for First Time
UNM and Cal State Fullerton had met 15 times in their all-time series ahead of their weekend series, but it would be the first time that the two teams had played a game in Albuquerque. The rare change in venue did not bode well for the Titans as the Lobos secured the series in just two games and scored 24 runs in the process with 18 coming in game two. The Titans would salvage the finale to avoid the sweep, but their first trip to the Duke City ended in a 2-1 series loss.
Deimling becomes 3rd Lobo to Earn MW Player of the Week
The Lobos held an early season stranglehold on the Mountain West Player of the Week award with three honors through the first four weeks. The latest recipient was Jeff Deimling.
In a three-game set against preseason nationally-ranked Cal State Fullerton, Deimling batted .455 as he went 5-for-11. In the Lobos’ two wins over the Titans, Deimling did most of his damage as he was 4-for-6 with four runs scored, two HRs and eight RBIs. In each of those two games, Deimling was 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs. Overall for the weekend, Deimling would total nine RBIs and slugged 1.091.
Fight at the Bat Rack
In the second game of the weekend series vs. Cal State Fullerton the Lobos notched a season-high 19 hits against the Titans. All nine players in the starting lineup had at least one hit with eight registering multiple hits.
First MW Series Win
The calendar had barely turned over to March and the UNM baseball team already played their first Mountain West series as they hosted San Jose State last weekend. The Lobos would take the series 2-1 after winning the first two and dropping the finale.
In the first game, the bats were alive as the Lobos jumped out to a 9-0 lead through three innings before ending with a 14-2 win. The second game ended in an improbable walk-off fashion as the Lobos were down to their last strike and scored twice on a throwing error to win. The series finale went the way of San Jose State to stave off the sweep.
Marathon 9-Inning Game
All of the following numbers are true and what you would expect for marathon extra inning game, except all of it occurred in one regulation nine-inning game. In the series finale between UNM and San Jose State there were 15 pitchers used, 434 pitches thrown, four balks in an inning, 40 combined run, 42 combined hits and a 9-inning game record 4 hours and 52 minutes.
Two Nickels = A Dime; Two HRs = a Deimling
In the wild series finale against San Jose State, senior Jeff Deimling left the yard twice. His first was a two-run homer to center in the second inning and his second was a three-run bomb to left in the seventh. The multi-home run game was the first by a Lobo since Jack Zoellner hit two against Air Force in 2017.
Schilling Hits His Way to MW Player of the Week
Hayden Schilling is the second Lobo to earn Mountain West Player of the Week honors joining Jared Mang, who earned the year’s first award. In receiving the honor, Schilling had two hits in each game of the four-game week for the Lobos, going 8-for-17 (.471). He also scored five runs, had two doubles, a triple and six runs batted in, including a career-high five on Friday in a 14-2 win.
It’s Not Over Until It’s Over
In their game against Arizona, the UNM Lobo baseball team entered the top of the ninth inning trailing by two and were down to their final strike on several occasions. Despite that, the Lobos caught a couple of breaks and engineered a come-from-behind victory against the Wildcats on the road. It was the first win for the Lobos against the Wildcats since 2006 and snapped what was a 14-game losing streak to Arizona.
The late-inning heroics were handled by Jared Mang. Batting with the bases loaded, two outs and the Lobos trailing by a run 4-3, Mang hit a fly ball into deep foul territory down the left field line. On the play, the Wildcats’ left fielder ranged over to the fence line, reached over and had the ball in his glove, but was unable to secure the catch, giving Mang new life at the plate. On the next pitch, Mang smacked a two-RBI single into centerfield to give the Lobos a 5-4 lead. Malachi Emond came on in the bottom half and nailed down the victory.
Home-Opener Weather or Not
Winter weather made an unwelcome appearance causing the schedule of the Lobos’ home-opening series vs. Niagara to shift several times. Eventually, the scheduled format of a four-game series over three days was condensed down to a four-game slate over two days as the teams played doubleheaders both on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. After dropping the first game 5-3, the Lobos bounced back to win the next three games and take the series over the Purple Eagles. In those four games, the Lobos scored 28 runs and hit .278 as a team. Pitching was rather dominant on the weekend as the Lobo arms had a 3.18 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 34.0 innings pitched.
Opening Weekend In Surprise
For the second-straight season, the UNM Baseball team opened their season out in Surprise, Ariz. with four games as part of the annual College Baseball Classic. This year’s classic featured three quality opponents for the Lobos with Oregon State and Minnesota being preseason nationally-ranked and Gonzaga tabbed as the preseason favorite in their league. All three teams were coming off of NCAA Regional Tournament appearances a year ago with Oregon State claiming the National Championship.
In the opening weekend, the Lobos went 2-2 with wins over No. 24 Minnesota and Gonzaga. The two losses came against No. 7/8 Oregon State as the Lobos and Beavers bookended the weekend. The Lobos had a lead against the Beavers until the bottom of ninth when Oregon State rallied for three runs to walk-off with a win. The second meeting saw the Beavers shutout the Lobos.
Sweeping MW Player and Pitcher of the Week
Opening weekend saw a lot of positives both collectively as a team and individually for several Lobos. As a result UNM swept the first edition of the Mountain West Player and Pitcher of the Week awards with Jared Mang garnering the player award and Nathaniel Garley the pitcher award. Through the first three games of his senior season Mang would hit .545 (6-for-11) with five runs scored, seven RBIs, two doubles and a home run. Mang also slugged at 1.000 and had an on-base percentage of .600 thanks to three walks, two of which were intentional.
In the first three games, Mang registered at least one hit and RBI. In the Lobos’ 11-1 win over No. 24 Minnesota, Mang went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs.
On the mound, Garley earned the award in his lone appearance of the week as he pitched 7.0 innings and allowed just three hits (all singles) and one earned run against the No 24 Gophers. Garley also K’d six.
Mang Named Preseason All-MW
For the second-consecutive year, senior outfielder Jared Mang has been named to the Preseason All-MW Team, earning the honor prior to his junior season. That initial preseason plaudit was in response to a sensational sophomore campaign that saw Mang hit .373 (90-for-241) with 63 runs scored, 17 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, and 62 RBIs. Mang’s junior season, however, was hampered by injuries and limited him to just 29 games played. Despite that, Mang still put up impressive numbers as he batted .284 (29-for-102), scored 27 runs, drove in 29 and hit a team-high eight home runs.
A 2017 All-MW First Team selection, Mang enters his senior season as a .328 career hitter with 127 runs scored, 170 hits, 30 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs and 121 RBIs.
Lobos Looking for Turnaround in 2019
The 2018 season was a down year for the Lobo baseball program. With an overall record of 20-33-1 and an 11-19 mark in the Mountain West, the Lobos missed out on the MW Tournament for the first time in league history. All of that is in the rear-view, however, as the Lobos enter the 2019 season with a renewed sense of optimism and confidence. Aiding that change in culture are the additions to the coaching staff. Head Coach Ray Birmingham is all that returned from the 2018 staff, giving way to three new coaches. New to the program this year are infield coach and recruiting coordinator, Jon Coyne, pitching coach, Brandon Higelin and volunteer catching coach, Nate Causey.