Lobos set for 2nd half of MW play
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The second half of the 2023 Mountain West Conference season has arrived, as the New Mexico baseball team gets set for a three-game road series at Air Force this weekend.
Action at Falcon Field kicks off on Friday afternoon, with the series signaling the start of the back half of the league schedule.
Lobo Baseball Weekly Schedule
All times listed are Mountain Daylight Time
Friday, April 21 – at Air Force – Colorado Springs, Colo. – 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 22 – at Air Force – Colorado Springs, Colo. – Noon
Sunday, April 23 – at Air Force – Colorado Springs, Colo. – Noon
LAST TIME OUT: The Lobos got payback on their in-state rival in a big way on Tuesday night, blanking New Mexico State 13-0 to even the 2023 Rio Grande Rivalry at 1-1. New Mexico will look to build off its second shutout victory of the season as it prepares for its first league game since April 8.
MOUNTAIN WEST STANDINGS: The Lobos enter the week in fifth place in the conference standings with a league record of 6-8. Air Force is directly ahead of UNM at 9-9 in league play, while Fresno State is third a 9-8, San Diego State is second at 8-5, and San Jose State leads the conference at 11-4. With 15 conference games remaining, the Lobos are in the thick of the race for a top-four spot in the regular-season standings to earn a berth into the conference tournament on May 25-27 at Fresno State.
LOBOS IN THE NCAA STAT RANKINGS: New Mexico enters the week ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in batting average, as the team has maintained a mark of .334 through the first 32 games of the 2023 season. UNM also ranks eighth in triples with 17, 11th in runs per game with 9.1, 16th in total hits with 397, and on the pitching side 12th in walks per nine innings at 3.03.
JACKSON CONTRIBUTES BEST EFFORT OF SEASON: Left-hander Jaren Jackson turned in his best outing in a Lobo uniform to date on Tuesday, authoring five shutout innings to secure his second win of the season. The junior had a season-high six strikeouts against the Aggies, while allowing five hits and just one walk in the dominant effort. On the season Jackson has 24 strikeouts in 31 innings of work, while holding a 7.26 ERA.
KINKADE THE WALK-OFF HERO: For the second time in his collegiate career Konner Kinkade delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly, as he had the winning swing of the bat in last Tuesday’s 8-7 come-from-behind triumph over CSU Pueblo. It was the newcomer’s seventh RBI of the season – six of which have come in his last nine games as he has seen a spike in playing time. Overall Kinkade owns a slash line of .324/.478/.500 in 22 games played.
ASHBY DOUBLING DOWN: With doubles in three of his last four games, Lenny Junior Ashby upped his season total to 11 which leads the team. The junior added his fourth home run of the season on Tuesday night, and upped his season RBI count to 32. Overall during his current nine-game hitting streak, Ashby owns a slash line of .440/.550/.720 which has elevated his season slash line to .357/.433/.535. With just 12 strikeouts on the season, Ashby ranks 52nd in the nation in the toughest to strike out category with a mark of 10.8.
DAVID HAS 2ND 4-HIT GAME: Jeffrey David notched his second four-hit game of the season last Wednesday against the ThunderWolves, finishing with a line of 4-for-5 with his third home run of the year and a pair of doubles. David also drove in a pair of runs, giving him 32 total which slots him sixth in the conference. David played third base for the first time this season, and handled four tricky chances without a miscue in his start last Tuesday.
SPENRATH ADDS TO RBI TOTAL: Reed Spenrath drove in four runs in the Lobos’ two games against CSU Pueblo, and added two more on Tuesday to up his season total to 38 which ranks him tied for second in the conference entering this week. Spenrath hit a triple in his second straight game last week, and over the last six games he is hitting .540 (13-for-24). Spenrath has raised his batting average 66 points over the last 10 games, with his slash line now reading .313/.429/.652 and his slugging percentage leading the conference.
EGLOFF TIED FOR MW WINS LEAD: Riley Egloff pitched five solid innings in the series opener against San Jose State on April 6, keeping pace as the Mountain West leader in both wins with five and innings pitched with 48 2/3 on the season. Egloff added four more strikeouts to his tally to give him 42 on the season, and he enters this week needing two more victories to give him 20 wins in his collegiate career.
MCBROOM PICKS UP SECOND WIN: Brian McBroom was the pitcher of record when Kinkade ended the game with a fly ball last week, as he picked up his second win of the season after authoring two stellar innings in relief. The lone run the ThunderWolves managed off the righty came after a bloop fly ball fell untouched in the outfield, and McBroom had three strikeouts in each of his last two outings to up his season total to 27 in 28 1/3 innings pitched.
OLSON KEEPS SLUGGING: Justin Olson kept his recent hot streak going last week, connecting on his fifth home run of the year and his fourth in six games Tuesday night. Olson is slashing .389/.522/.833 across 36 at-bats this spring, while driving in 13 runs on 14 hits.
PIGFORD HITS FIFTH HOME RUN: Deylan Pigford hit his fifth home run of the season and the 17th of his collegiate career last week, making 2023 the highest yielding long ball season of his five-year collegiate career. Pigford hit four home runs each in 2019 and 2020 while at Midland College, before adding three in 2021 and one more in 2022 at Cal State Fullerton. This spring, the trusty outfielder is hitting .339 with eight doubles and three triples aiding his .591 slugging percentage.
RUNION’S STREAKS SNAPPED: Braydon Runion saw his season-long reached base streak of 15 games and hitting streak of 13 games come to an end last Wednesday, but he got right back on track Tuesday with a 2-for-3 performance. Runion had three RBIs to make his season total 32, and he upped his hit total to a team-leading 49. Tuesday was also his third multi-double game of the season, after he had none in his first four collegiate seasons. Runion holds a slash line of .374/.407/.580 this season, and defensively he has committed just one error in 41 chances in the outfield.
SMITH’S REACHED BASE STREAK INTACT: Junior catcher Kyle Smith has reached base in all 13 games he has played this spring, keeping the streak alive by getting on in 2 of 5 plate appearances last Wednesday. Smith holds an on-base percentage of .422 across his 48 at-bats, and five of his 11 hits have gone for extra bases.
DITZENBERGER RANKS AMONG NCAA LEADERS: Senior third baseman Dylan Ditzenberger returned to the lineup in a big way on Tuesday, reaching base in all five plate appearances after missing five games with an injury. Ditzenberger had a double among his 3-for-3 hitting line, as he raised his batting average to .466. Entering the weekend, Ditzenberger ranks second in the NCAA in batting average and 21st in on-base percentage at .521.
DIXON STAYS ELITE WITH GLOVE: Devon Dixon had another error-free week, making seven plays without a fielding miscue. Dixon has just four errors in 129 chances this season, as he holds a .969 fielding percentage and has been part of 16 double plays. The junior added his fifth home run of the season on Tuesday, a two-run shot that increased his season RBI total to 23.
MR. HOLLAND’S OPS: Jake Holland connected on his eighth home run of the season last Wednesday, as he maintained an OPS of 1.032 to rank seventh in the Mountain West. He added his first triple in a Lobo uniform during his 2-for-4 performance on Tuesday, and had two more RBIs to give him 29 on the season. The first-year Lobo is hitting .354 on the season, while slugging .646 and driving in 29 runs in 22 games started behind the plate.
STEINKAMP SCORELESS AGAIN: Arthur Steinkamp logged 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his appearance last week, lowering his season ERA to 3.24 across his six appearances out of the bullpen. Four of those six outings have been scoreless affairs for the senior left-hander.
WEISSENBORN PRODUCTIVE AT PLATE, IN FIELD: Junior shortstop Chase Weissenborn went 3-for-6 and reached base in 5 of 8 plate appearances last week, and he hit his fifth double of the season. Defensively, Weissenborn was flawless in eight chances, and has committed just two errors in his last 53 chances across 12 games up the middle.
GALLEGOS REACHES 250 CAREER STRIKEOUTS: Junior right-hander Isaac Gallegos upped his collegiate strikeout total to 253, fanning six on April 8 in the Lobos’ loss to San Jose State. Only two of the eight runs he surrendered were earned, as Gallegos kept his ERA at 3.18 and continues to rank second in the Mountain West with an opponents’ batting average of .227 on the season.
Air Force Falcons
2023 Record: 16-23, 9-9 MW
Head Coach: Mike Kazlausky, 13th season
Series History: UNM leads 151-57
In Colorado Springs: UNM leads 54-32
First Meeting: 1957
Last Meeting: March 12, 2023
The Falcons dropped a pair of mid-week games at Kansas, after falling 2-1 in their most recent Mountain West series at Nevada last week. Air Force is enduring a current four-game losing streak, which comes on the heels of a five game winning streak. The Falcons are directly above the Lobos in the conference standings as the schedule turns to the second half of league play.
Sam Kulasingam is the Falcons’ top player, leading the Mountain West with 65 hits including 20 doubles to go along with a .414 batting average and 33 RBIs. Jay Thomason leads the conference with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs, and Trayden Tamiya is batting .329 to rank second on the team among everyday starters. As a squad Air Force is batting .281 with an average of 6.64 runs per game.
Starters jake Sansing, Dylan Rogers,a nd Doyle Gehring have been the most consistent arms for the Falcons, with Sansing holding a team-best 3.33 ERA across 46 innings pitched. Rogers leads the team with 48 1/3 innings pitched, while Gehring’s 46 strikeouts are the most on the squad. Sawyer Hawks has been the top closer with three saves, while holding a 3.81 ERA in 28 1/3 innings across 13 appearances out of the bullpen. As a staff Air Force holds a 7.30 ERA and the opposition is hitting .321 off of it.