Lobos Face Second-Place Air Force in MW Weekend Series April 19-21

New Mexico Baseball heads north for a Mountain West series on the road at Air Force this weekend with a chance to move up in the conference standings with a series win over the second-place Falcons (15-20, 8-6 MW).

The Lobos (18-17, 8-7 MW) got back on the winning track with their second in a row after downing CSU-Pueblo 3-1 in midweek action on Tuesday – they snapped an eight-game skid with a win over MW-leading Fresno State in the series finale on Sunday and tout a winning record again after falling below .500 for the first time since February.

They’d be able to stay above the .500 mark by winning two or more against the second-place Falcons at Erdle Field – the only Mountain West venue at a higher elevation than Albuquerque’s Santa Ana Star Field (6,788 feet).

Air Force has played the toughest schedule in the MW by a significant margin. The Falcons rank 10th in the nation in non conference strength of schedule with a league-best 10 Quad 1 games so far this season and are coming off four straight games against Top-25 opponents (No. 15 Dallas Baptist April 12-14, No. 1 Texas A&M April 16). San Jose State is the only other MW team to play more than two Quad 1 games (0-4).

Heading into this weekend, UNM is batting .315 on the season as a team with an OPS of .930 while averaging 8.91 runs and 11.68 hits per nine innings to lead the league in nearly every offensive category. Jake Holland is leading the league in homers (13), RBI (45) and batting average (.392). Reed Spenrath leads the league in triples (4) and ranks fourth in slugging (.664), while Tye Wood paces the MW in on-base percentage (.489) with the second-most swiped bags (11).

UNM also ranks No. 20 in all of D-I college baseball in total double plays (33) and DP per game (0.94), No. 24 in team on-base percentage (.425), No. 15 in doubles per game (2.49), No. 51 in base on balls (194), No. 23 in batting average (.315), No. 48 in runs scored (289), No. 33 in total hits (379) and No. 41 in slugging (.505). 

Friday’s series opener is set for a 3 p.m. MT first pitch, with Saturday’s Game Two slated for a 1 p.m. start and Sunday’s finale at Noon. All three games this weekend will be broadcast via the MW Network, with live stats available via GoLobos.com/BSBStats. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on socials for promotional/marketing and gameday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

at Air Force (15-20, 8-6 MW)
April 19-21 | U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. | Erdle Field

PROBABLE STARTERS
Game 1 – 4/19, 3 p.m. MT
Air Force: LHP Seungmin Shim
UNM: RHP Dayne Pengelly
Game 3 – 4/20, 1 p.m. MT
Air Force: RHP Dylan Rogers
UNM: RHP Brett Russell
Game 3 – 4/21, 12 p.m. MT
Air Force: RHP Ben Weber
UNM: TBA

ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM leads the all-time series against Air Force 152-59, with a 55-34 record on the road against the Falcons. The two teams split their six meetings in 2023, with UNM taking the series at home in Albuquerque March 10-12 (7-9 (10 Inn.) 15-0, 11-4) before dropping two of three in Colorado Springs April 21-23 (6-9, 12-1, 8-13). This will be the only regular-season meeting between the two teams this season — UNM Head Coach Tod Brown is an even 6-6 against Air Force during his tenure at UNM (2022-present).

LAST TIME OUT (vs. Fresno State, 4/14)
UNM snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over MW-leading Fresno State on Sunday, scoring the final four runs of the game behind impressive outings on the mound from David Lopez (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and Wil Bannister (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K) to hand the Bulldogs (25-10, 14-4 MW) their first conference loss in their last 11.

The Lobos got back in the win column after their longest losing streak of the season brought them below .500 for the first time since the first weekend of the season in February – they remain in third place in the Mountain West standings at the halfway point in league play. UNM has only played three games in which the Lobos come in with a winning percentage below .500 this season — they’re 3-0 in those games.

Jake Holland hit his 13th homer of the season – and third in the last 24 hours – to put UNM up by one early and Reed Spenrath hit his seventh of the year to lead an eight-hit day for UNM. On the weekend, Holland went 7-for-14 with nine RBI, three home runs and a triple, good for a 1.286 slugging percentage and 1.849 OPS – he is now riding the longest hit streak on the team at six games and leads the Mountain West in home runs (13).

Spenrath finished with a team-high two RBI and Akili Carris was the only player on either team to finish with multiple hits after singling twice and scoring a run. Four other Lobos – Will Asby (1 RBI), Tye Wood (1 HBP), Devon Dixon and Khalil Walker (1 R, 1 BB) picked up a knock each. After a six-game hitless streak, Dixon has now hit safely in three straight, with Asby finishing with five hits this weekend after going hitless in four of his last five prior.

“Huge win for us because we’ve been on a little bit of a losing streak,” said Spenrath. “It might not have looked like it, but the last two games we came together as a family … not as individuals, but as a team.

“This is a big one for us, just to see it in the win column and know we can still do it –  we’re gonna take that with us to Tuesday’s game and at Air Force.”

ON DECK
UNM stays on the road for midweek action against Texas Tech on Tuesday — the Lobos’ second meeting with the Red Raiders this season — before returning home to play host to San Diego State in MW action April 26-28.