3 Lobos earn MW all-conference
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Three players from the New Mexico baseball team earned all-conference recognition for the 2023 baseball season, as the Mountain West announced its award winners on Thursday.
Lobo first baseman Reed Spenrath was a first-team selection, while third baseman Dylan Ditzenberger and left fielder Lenny Junior Ashby were second-team selections.
Spenrath led the team with 19 home runs, while slugging .716 and driving in 65 runners on the season. All three of those figures ranked second in the Mountain West during the regular season, and the newcomer’s OPS of 1.133 ranked him third in the conference. Starting 50 of 51 games, Spenrath hit .321 while adding 11 doubles, four triples, and scoring 54 runs which led the team. Spenrath reached base at a clip of .421 and was successful in all three of his stolen base attempts on the year.
In addition to his offensive prowess, Spenrath was one of the top players in the conference defensively both at first base and in right field. In a team-high 378 chances, Spenrath committed just two errors for a fielding percentage of .995 which ranked third in the conference. Spenrath’s 358 putouts were the sixth most in the league, and he was part of 32 double plays turned by the Lobos.
Earning second-team recognition for the second year in-a-row, Ashby was 1 of 3 Lobos to start all 51 games in 2023. The junior hit .381 with 18 doubles, nine home runs, and 51 RBIs, while scoring 46 times. Ashby’s batting average ranked third in the conference, and his on-base percentage of .455 ranked him second. He also ranked second in the league with 80 hits, and finished the regular season fourth in OPS at 1.050.
While injury brought an early halt to Ditzenberger’s senior season, it held up as one of the best in recent memory by a Lobo statistically. In 37 games, Ditzenberger led the league and ranked third in the NCAA in hitting with a batting average of .437. Ditzenberger got on base at a clip of .490 while slugging 563, hitting nine doubles, a triple, and two home runs along the way. The senior scored 42 runs and drove in 27, and was a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. Defensively, Ditzenberger committed just two errors in 78 chances at third base, holding a fielding percentage of .974.
Air Force’s Sam Kulasingam was named the Mountain West Player of the Year, San Diego State’s TJ Fondtain garnered Mountain West Pitcher of the Year, and Fresno State’s Murf Gray was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Mark Martinez of SDSU and Brad Sanfilippo of San Jose State were named the Mountain West co-Coaches of the Year.
The league’s all-conference teams were vote upon by the seven head coaches and were based on players’ 2023 statistics within conference play.
New Mexico went 26-25 overall in 2023, and finished in fifth place in the Mountain West standings with a league record of 13-17.