Baseball / May 27, 2021

Lobos to Host San Diego State in Final Series of the Season, Ray Birmingham's Final Series

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico baseball team is set to host the season’s final series on Friday and Saturday at Santa Ana Star Field versus San Diego State. The series will open with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. MT and conclude with a single game Saturday at Noon.

On Saturday, New Mexico’s 15 seniors will be honored pregame. The list of seniors is as follows:

Miguel Reyes Jr.

Aaron Makil

Payton Strambler

Cody Dye

Justin Armbruester

Nathaniel Garley

Jarrett Gonzales

Shane Podsednik

Kyle Landers

Lance Russell

Jared Martin

Connor Mang

Tresten Kennard

Kyler Castillo

Harry Fullerton

Saturday will also be Ray Birmingham’s last game at the helm of the Lobo squad, as he will be retiring after 43 years of coaching. Birmingham will retire as the winningest baseball coach in the state of New Mexico with 1,231 wins to his name (not including the upcoming three-game series). He will be honored for his contributions to New Mexico baseball prior to the first pitch in Saturday’s game.

The Lobos will look for redemption over San Diego State and will look to end a season of unprecedented events on a positive note. Earlier in the season, the Lobos fell three games to San Diego State on the road. Currently, the team is on a six-game win streak after sweeping Utah Valley and San Jose State over the last two weeks.

With momentum in their favor, the Lobos can expect another impressive outing from senior pitcher Justin Armbruester, who has been named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Week for the last two weeks. Pitching seven innings versus both Utah Valley and San Jose State, Armbruester struck out a combined 21 batters and walked just two after facing 53 in total.

Kyler Castillo will look to continue his 12-game hit streak, nine of which were multiple-hit games. Castillo bolsters a Mountain West fifth-best .408 average.

The Lobos have been able to create significant momentum in the sixth inning of the last six games, scoring a majority of runs in that one inning. In five of the last six games, UNM scored 25 runs in the sixth frame, helping the team to two series sweeps.

Here’s how to keep up with the final series of the season:

Tickets: https://bit.ly/3fR9Elo

GAME ONE | Friday | 1 p.m. MT

Watch: golobos.com/watch

Listen: ESPN Radio 101.7 THE TEAM

Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3c0RmNH

GAME TWO | Friday | 4:30 p.m. MT

Watch: golobos.com/watch

Listen: ESPN Radio 101.7 THE TEAM

Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3ur19D3

GAME THREE | Saturday | Noon MT

Watch: golobos.com/watch