Two Lobos Earn Preseason All-MW; Lobos Tied for Third in Preseason Poll
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of New Mexico baseball team claimed two spots on the 2021 Mountain West Baseball Preseason All-Conference team. The Lobos are tied with UNLV for third place in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
The two players representing the Lobos in the Preseason All-Conference team are seniors Justin Armbruester and Kyle Landers.
Armbruester saw action in four games, all starts, in the 2020 season, and led the team with a 1.14 ERA. In his first collegiate start against Gonzaga, Armbruester threw six innings of five-hit baseball, allowing just one run and striking out five. He played six shutout innings and had a career-best nine strikeouts in the team’s 7-6 win over Northern Colorado.
In 2020, Landers led the Mountain West with a .417 average, going 25-60 from the plate with six doubles and a home run. Landers also led the Mountain West in runs batted in (18), on-base percentage (.532) and ended the season with five straight multi-hit games, going 13-for-22 with five runs, 11 runs batted in, and four doubles. Because of his efforts in 2020, Landers was named All-Mountain West and was named by DI Baseball as the Mountain West’s “Most Impressive Hitter.”
After an impressive 14-4 start to the 2020 season, the team is looking to pick up right where they left off. Before the cancelation of the season due to COVID-19, the Lobos were on a six-game win streak. UNM is tied with UNLV in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 23 points each. Last season, UNLV was 6-11 overall prior to the cancellation of the season.
The Lobos will start the 2021 season at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz. The team will first face Gonzaga at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19.
See below where the rest of the Mountain West teams landed in the Preseason Polls.
2021 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Rank | Team (1st Place Votes) | Points |
1. | San Diego State (6) | 36 |
2. | Fresno State (1) | 29 |
3. | NEW MEXICO | 23 |
UNLV | 23 | |
5. | Nevada | 16 |
6. | Air Force | 11 |
7. | San José State | 9 |
2021 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Name Class Position Institution
Cole Blatchford Sr. 3B Air Force
Ryan Higgins Jr. INF/OF Fresno State
Nikoh Mitchell Sr. LHP Fresno State
Zach Presno Sr. C Fresno State
Owen Sharts Jr. RHP Nevada
Joshua Zamora Sr. 3B Nevada
Justin Armbruester Sr. RHP New Mexico
Kyle Landers Sr. 1B New Mexico
Jaden Fein So. RF San Diego State
Troy Melton So. RHP San Diego State
Matt Rudick Jr. CF San Diego State
Eric Bigani Jr. C UNLV
Edarian Williams So. 2B UNLV