Lobos Head to Vegas for Rematch with UNLV May 3-5

New Mexico Baseball puts its recent hot streak to the test with a weekend rematch with UNLV (24-20, 10-14 MW) in Mountain West action in Vegas this weekend, looking to maintain its grip on second place in the league standings.

The Lobos (23-20, 12-9 MW) had their four-game win streak snapped after New Mexico State rallied to take Tuesday’s midweek matchup 10-8, but have still won seven of their last 10 since snapping an eight-game losing streak with a win over first-place Fresno State on April 14. UNM won all three matchups in their first meeting with the Rebels this season at home for the Lobos’ first three-game sweep of UNLV since 2017, matching the program record for single-game runs in a series-clinching Game Two (31-15) and winning on a ninth-inning two-run double from Reed Spenrath in the finale to secured the sweep (8-6).

Another weekend sweep of the Rebels would match last season’s 26 wins for most in a season with Head Coach Tod Brown at the helm and be the first time they’ve swept both the home and away series since 2017.

UNM jumped from tied for fourth to sole possession of second place in the league standings after sweeping San Diego State at home last weekend (8-4, 19-5, 9-7), rallying from down six in the finale to win on a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth from Devon Dixon. As a result, the Lobos swept the Mountain West Weekly Awards released Monday, with Will Asby being named Player of the Week, Brett Russell Pitcher of the Week and Gene Trujillo Freshman of the Week.

With three weekend series left to play for the Lobos, they sit two games behind first-place Fresno State (27-17, 14-7 MW) and 0.5 games ahead of Nevada (20-22, 13-11 MW) and San Jose State (18-25, 13-11 MW), both tied for third. UNM needs to finish in the Top Four in the league standings to secure their first MW Tournament berth since 2017 – they’ll face the Wolf Pack next weekend at home May 10-12 before a road series with the Spartans (May 16-18) to close out the regular season. In their first meetings this season, UNM took two of three from the Spartans (13-16, 7-5, 17-4) at home but dropped two against the Wolf Pack on the road (2-13, 3-4, 10-8).

The Lobos found their rhythm at the plate over a 4-0 week last week in which they batted .395 with a 1.161 team OPS – they’ve racked up double-digit hits in seven games in a row and hit three grand slams in their last five, all while holding opponents to seven or fewer runs in seven of their last 10. The Aggies’ two-run walk-off bomb in the ninth on Tuesday snapped a four-game streak of games in which the Lobos’ held their opponents to single-digit runs.

Khalil Walker’s hot bat has been a large reason why – the junior outfield has now finished with multiple hits in each of his last five games and is riding a team-best 14-game hit streak. Walker moved up to No. 5 in the nation in batting average heading into this weekend (.423) and No. 16 in on base percentage (.526). He had three of UNM’s 10 hits in Tuesday’s midweek game.

Heading into this weekend, UNM is batting .322 on the season as a team with an OPS of .945 while averaging 9.17 runs and 12.00 hits per nine innings to lead the league in batting average, slugging, on base percentage, runs, hits, RBI, total bases and walks. Khalil Walker (.423) and Jake Holland (.370) have the No. 1 and No. 3 batting averages in the Mountain West — Holland also leads the league in slugging (.803) and ranks fourth in RBI (48) and second in HR (13) while Walker leads the league in OBP (.526). Reed Spenrath leads the league in triples (4) and ranks sixth in slugging (.652). Tye Wood ranks third in OBP behind Walker at .480 with the second-most stolen bases (13).

UNM also ranks No. 8 in all of D-I college baseball in batting average (.322), No. 10 in team on-base percentage (.429), No. 16 in doubles per game (2.37), No. 18 in total hits (479), No. 29 in base on balls (243), No. 31 in runs scored (366), No. 32 in DP per game (0.88), No. 33 in total double plays (38) and No. 37 in slugging (.516). 

Both Friday’s series opener and Saturday’s Game Two are set to get underway at 7 p.m. MT and Sunday’s is set for 1 p.m., with live streaming for all three games available via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/WatchBSB and live stats at GoLobos.com/BSBStats. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on socials for promotional/marketing and gameday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

vs. UNLV (24-20, 10-14 MW)
May 3-5 | Las Vegas, Nev. | Earl E. Wilson Stadium

PROBABLE STARTERS
Game 1 – 5/3, 7 p.m. MT
UNLV: RHP Austin Cates (2.75 ERA, 6-3, 72.0 IP, 13 BB, 93 K)
UNM: RHP Dayne Pengelly (8.27 ERA, 3-4, 32.2 IP, 24 BB, 38 K)
Game 2 – 5/4, 7 p.m. MT
UNLV: RHP LJ Mercurius (4.01 ERA, 0-1, 24.2 IP, 7 BB, 20 K)
UNM: RHP Brett Russell (6.39 ERA, 4-0, 38.0 IP, 10 BB, 32 K)
Game 3 – 5/5, 1 p.m. MT
UNLV: RHP Carson Lane (6.55 ERA, 0-1, 33.0 IP, 12 BB, 21 K)
UNM: TBA

ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM trails the all-time series 89-102, holding a 45-29 advantage over the Rebels at home with a 42-73 record against them in Vegas. The Lobos only faced UNLV for one series last season, taking a game off the Rebels but dropping the series (13-5, 5-7, 3-8). UNM’s sweep in March was the first series win over the Rebels since 2019 — Head Coach Tod Brown is 5-7 against UNLV in his tenure at UNM.

MOUNTAIN WEST STANDINGS (as of 5/1)

LAST TIME OUT
UNM jumped out to an 8-2 lead through four after back-to-back four spots in its third matchup with New Mexico State Tuesday at Presley Askew Field, but couldn’t hold off the Aggies (21-23, 7-11 C-USA) in the final frame when a two-out walk-off homer handed them a 10-8 loss to snap UNM’s four-game win streak.

Two days after rallying from down six against San Diego State and walking off the Aztecs with a grand slam to win by two, the Lobos hit another grand slam, went up by six and got walked off with a tie-breaking two-run bomb from NMSU’s Keith Jones in the bottom of the ninth. UNM got it sixth grand slam of the season and third in their last five games – this time from Kyle Smith – and outhit the Aggies 10-9 but were stranded on base 12 times as they were held scoreless through the final five frames to drop to 1-2 against their in-state rivals this season.

HUGE 4-0 WEEK
The Lobos put together their most complete week on both sides of the ball last week, batting .395 as a team while limiting opponents to a .254 average. UNM started the week with a loud 17-3 win over Texas Tech in Lubbock on Tuesday and kept rolling upon their return to the Land of Enchantment over the weekend, sweeping San Diego State in a series that they controlled even after falling behind midway through the finale.

Eight of 10 Lobos that appeared in all four games batted above .300 on the week, led by Khalil Walker (.600), Will Asby (.526), Reed Spenrath (.444) and Chase Weissenborn (.417) all above .400. 10 UNM batters drove in multiple runs in that span, with Asby and Weissenborn both finishing with 8 RBI each to lead the team. The Lobos averaged 16.2 hits and 14.31 runs per game despite a relatively quiet week from their leading home run hitter and RBI man Jake Holland, who batted .235 with one double and two RBI.

Six different Lobos combined for nine home runs – Will Asby, Khalil Walker and Josh McAlister finished the week with two round-trippers each. Asby matched a single-season program record with his third grand slam this season on Tuesday at Texas Tech and Devon Dixon walked off the Aztecs on Sunday with his first of the season to bring UNM up to five total grand slams on the season.

UNM pitchers posted a 4.00 team ERA as the Lobos held opponents to seven or fewer runs in all four games – the first time all season they’ve held opponents to single-digit runs four games in a row. Lobo batters drew 32 walks in total (8.64 / 9 innings) while UNM’s pitchers only issued 18 (4.50 / 9 innings).

The Lobos’ four-game win streak was tied for their longest this season – they hadn’t won four in a row this year since beating Arizona State on the road on March 12.

ON DECK
UNM looks to secure the season series split in its fourth and final matchup with New Mexico State on Tuesday at Santa Ana Star Field — the Lobos dominated their lone home matchup with the Aggies in seven innings (14-4) on March 19 but have dropped the last two (2-10, 8-10) in Las Cruces.

LOBOS SWEEP MOUNTAIN WEST WEEKLY AWARDS
Following a 4-0 week capped off by their second weekend series sweep of the season, the Lobos swept the Mountain West Weekly Awards for the week of April 22-28. Will Asby was named MW Player of the Week, Brett Russell was named MW Pitcher of the Week and Gene Trujillo was named Freshman of the Week, the league announced Monday.

MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK – WILL ASBY
Asby batted .526 over UNM’s 4-0 week, driving in eight RBI in that span to tie for most on the team with Chase Weissenborn. He hit his third grand slam of the season against Tech — his second homer that game — to finish with 6 RBI and 4 runs in a 4-for-6 outing against the Red Raiders. He followed with a double and a triple against the Aztecs later in the week.
Asby’s third grand slam of the season matched a single-season program record set in 1995.
In total, the senior transfer by way of the Bay Area posted an OPS of 1.545 over the week with 1.000 slugging and .545 on-base percentages — he finished with multiple hits and an RBI in each of UNM’s first two games with the Aztecs as they rolled to clinch the series. Added another base knock in the finale as the Lobos rallied to walk the Aztecs off in the ninth.

MW PITCHER OF THE WEEK – BRETT RUSSELL
Russell shut down the Aztecs’ bats for a career-high seven scoreless innings in UNM’s 19-5 win over San Diego State on Saturday to clinch the weekend series — the Lobos’ first series win over the Aztecs since 2019 and first at home since 2016.
Russell retired his first nine batters faced and only allowed four runners on base over seven shutout frames, never allowing more than one runner aboard in a single inning. He finished with seven strikeouts in that span, walking one while only being tagged for three hits in total — all on just 92 pitches (60 strikes). He only needed to face 24 batters to produce 21 outs, inducing 8 flyouts and five grounders.

MW FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK – GENE TRUJILLO
Trujillo came up with two huge hits in four pinch ABs over the Lobos’ 4-0 week, mashing a three-run homer to lead the Lobos in RBI in their 19-5 series-clinching win over San Diego State on Saturday and adding a double as the Lobos rallied to take the finale on Sunday. Truillo drew a walk in both games.

WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM (!!) FOR THE SWEEP (!!)
UNM capped off its undefeated week and sweep of San Diego State in the most dramatic way humanly possibly on Sunday, completing a rally from down 7-1 with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth from Devon Dixon that gave the Lobos their first lead of the day at 9-7.
With one on the board and at risk of a double play ball ending the game with three runners aboard, Dixon delivered in only his third plate appearance of the week with one of the biggest hits of his Lobo career to turn back the Aztecs one more time. It was the ninth homer of his UNM career and second grand slam — the other being on the road at Fresno State last season (March 18, 2023).
UNM’s fourth straight win completed the first three-game weekend series sweep of San Diego State since 2013 and first in Albuquerque since 2012. After entering this season winless against the Aztecs in his first two seasons at the helm, UNM Head Coach Tod Brown has beaten them in four out of six meetings this season to take the regular-season series.

LOBOS SWINGING HOT BATS
WILL ASBY: With his third grand slam of the season on Tuesday, Asby matched a single-season program record set in 1995 by Mark Wulfert and is up to five games this season with four or more RBI. He batted .526 with a team-high 8 RBI last week, getting a hit in all four games and multiple hits in three of four.
KHALIL WALKER: Walker just keeps producing at the plate – for the second straight week, he not only leads the Lobos in average (.412) and on base percentage (.517), but the entire Mountain West. He’s hit safely in 14 straight – the longest hit streak on the team this season – with five straight multi-hit games. Walker led the Lobos in average last week (.600) while hitting two homers and three doubles.
REED SPENRATH: Spenrath is riding a team- and season-best 25-game on base streak and is now leading the team in doubles (16) after hitting two over an 8-for-18 (.444) week last week.

WIL BANNISTER: THE CLOSER^TM
There’s been no more reliable arm out of the pen than RHP Wil Bannister in the month of April — through his last 12 appearances dating back to March 28, he’s posted a 1.86 ERA over 19.1 IP, collecting three saves and a win while holding opponents to a .109 batting average.
Bannister threw four innings of scoreless relief across three appearances last week, allowing just one single with three strikeouts to one walk. The Aggies’ two-run bomb on Tuesday was only the second time he’s given up an earned run in his last 12 outings and only the third extra base hit he’s allowed in that span.

SEEING DOUBLE
The Lobos have excelled at getting two for one this season, ranking No. 33 in NCAA D-I in total double plays (38) and No. 15 in total doubles (102). They rank No. 32 in double plays per game (0.88) and No. 16 in doubles per game (2.37).
Jake Holland ranks No. 23 in the NCAA D-I in doubles per game (0.42) and Reed Spenrath ranks No. 56 in NCAA D-I in total doubles (16). UNM ranks No. 2 in the MW in assists (402) and leads the league in DP — Spenrath has been a part of 37 double plays (No. 1 in the MW) and leads the league in putouts (344), while Dixon has helped stitch 29 (No. 2 in the MW). Dixon also ranks No. 2 in the league in assists (121).

LONG BALL LOBOS
The Lobos found a penchant for the big fly in the month of March and haven’t looked back since – after homering four times in their first eight games, they’ve connected on 50 for a total of 104 RBI since March 1. UNM is 14-3 in games this season in which the Lobos hit multiple homers – they’ve hit three or more in a game seven times (6-1 in those games)
UNM is 17-10 in games in which the Lobos go yard at least once. The Lobos are slugging a MW-best .516 as a team after mashing nine HR – including three grand slams – in their last five.
11 different Lobos have hit a homer this season for a total of 54 through 43 games – 37 have been at Santa Ana Star Field.
Jake Holland leads the Lobos with 13 homers (No. 3 in MW) ahead of Will Asby (10) and Reed Spenrath (9) — all of Spenrath’s have come since he hit his first of the season on March 10 against UNLV.
Chase Weissenborn and Khalil Walker hit their first of the season — and only the second of Weissenborn’s career — back-to-back against TTU last Tuesday, with Walker hitting his second in the finale against SDSU on Sunday. Along with Walker, Josh McAlister (5), Kyle Smith (3), Devon Dixon (3), Tye Wood (2), Gene Trujillo (4) and Ethan Ott (2) all have gone yard multiple times this season. Wood and Smith have both hit grand slams, with Smith’s coming against State in Las Cruces on Tuesday.