Lobos Close Out Regular Season in San Jose May 16-18

Still tied for first in the conference with three games to go, New Mexico Baseball heads into its final weekend series of the regular season with its first Mountain West Tournament berth since 2017 on the line when the Lobos face San Jose State (20-30, 14-13 MW) at Excite Ballpark May 16-18.

The Lobos (27-22, 16-11 MW) took care of business at home against Nevada last weekend for their third-straight weekend series win, taking last Friday’s series opener 16-0 and a pivotal Sunday rubber match 11-5 to move back into a tie for first with Fresno State (29-23, 16-11 MW) after the Bulldogs dropped their series finale on Sunday. UNM’s pitching staff had its best weekend of the season by far, posting a 2.33 ERA while recording its first shutout of the season in the opener.

Following UNM’s big weekend, Reed Spenrath was named MW Player of the Week and Dayne Pengelly was named Pitcher of the Week to bring the Lobos up to seven total weekly awards this season – the most in a single season since 2017.

Winners of three consecutive weekend series and the only team in the league that has won seven of its last 10, New Mexico needs just one win to clinch a MW Tournament berth but likely needs two or more to secure a conference regular season championship. They took two of three from the Spartans in their first meeting March 22-23, falling late in the opener before sweeping a doubleheader to secure the series (13-16, 7-5, 17-4 [7]).

The Mountain West race has gotten increasingly chaotic down the back stretch – there’s still a possibility that four teams could conclude the regular season tied for first place depending on the results of this weekend.

NOTABLES / SCENARIOS

• The Lobos have already exceeded their previous-highest win total under Coach Brown with 27 wins – should they win three this weekend, they’ll eclipse 30 wins for the first time since 2017.
• One win would clinch a MW Tournament bid and could be enough to still share a regular season crown dependent on other conference results.
• If UNM wins two or more games and Fresno State loses two, the Lobos would be lone MW Regular Season Champions.
• If the Lobos win all three, they’re guaranteed at least a share of the MW Regular Season Championship.
  

Heading into this weekend, UNM is batting .326 on the season as a team with an OPS of .957 while averaging 9.45 runs and 12.25 hits per nine innings to lead the league in batting average, slugging, on base percentage, runs, hits, RBI, total bases and walks. Khalil Walker (.404) and Jake Holland (.384) have the No. 1 and No. 2 batting averages in the Mountain West — Holland also leads the league in slugging (.801) and ranks second in RBI (57) and HR (15) while Walker leads the league in OBP (.506). Reed Spenrath ranks No. 2 in triples (4) and ranks fourth in OBP (.472), fourth in slugging (.707), fourth in HR (14) and sixth in RBI (49). Tye Wood ranks second in OBP behind Walker at .492 with the second-most stolen bases (19).

UNM now ranks No. 4 in all of D-I college baseball in batting average (.326), No. 7 in team on-base percentage (.430), No. 14 in doubles per game (2.31), No. 12 in total hits (557), No. 43 in base on balls (270), No. 27 in runs scored (430), No. 20 in DP per game (0.92), No. 20 in total double plays (45) and No. 28 in slugging (.527). 

All three of this weekend’s games will be broadcast via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/WatchBSB, 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 SAN JOSE STATE (20-30, 14-13 MW)
May 16-18 | San Jose, Calif. | Excite Ballpark

ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM leads the all-time series with the Spartans 29-20-1, with an 20-7 mark against them at home and a 26-17-1 record since they joined the Mountain West in 2014. The Lobos have won at least one game in each of their last five weekend series with San Jose State but hadn’t taken a weekend series from the Spartans since 2021 until they won two of three at home in March. They only faced each other three times last season, with UNM winning the series opener in Albuquerque 16-8 but falling in the next two (3-8, 3-14 [8 Inn.]). UNM Head Coach Tod Brown is 5-7 against the Spartans in his career.

LAST TIME AROUND
After giving up 16 runs on 22 hits in a heartbreaker on March 22, the Lobos’ pitchers and defense held the Spartans to nine runs while scattering 15 hits across 16 innings of action in a doubleheader the following day, batting .381 on the day while holding SJSU to a .246 average in the same span. 

UNM held off the Spartans late for a 7-5 win in Game One before erupting for a 17-4 seven-inning run-rule win in Game Two to earn the Lobos’ second Mountain West series victory and first over the Spartans since 2021.

Jake Holland went yard in all three games, earning MW Player of the Week honors after finishing the weekend with a team-best .727 batting average and 2.000% slugging (2.750 OPS) with 14 RBI, homering four times and hitting two doubles in the process. He batted .750 with runners in scoring position (6-for-8) and .667 in two-out situations (4-for-6) in that span. The senior catcher finished with multiple hits, runs and RBI in all three games, homering in each — Holland scored eight runs on the weekend, drawing three walks and only striking out once. He also started behind the dish in all three games, generating 25 putouts and three assists without any errors.

WEEKEND UPDATE
UNM posted its best pitching performance as a team over a three-game this season with a 2.33 ERA, posting its first shutout of the season as Reed Spenrath drove in nine runs with three homers and two grand slams to pace a runaway 16-0 win in the opener. 

The Lobos in turn were shut out for the first time this season in Game Two despite a career start from RHP Brett Russell (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) to fall 0-2 and set up Sunday’s Senior Day Rubber Match. 

UNM started slow on Sunday but heated up in a hurry after a three-run bomb from Ethan Ott gave the Lobos a 5-3 lead, scoring six more runs by the end of the next inning and holding them off late with effective relief outings from LHP Arthur Steinkamp (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K), RHP Wil Bannister (2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) and LHP Jaren Jackson (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K). Jackson struck out two as he retired the side in order in the ninth to seal the deal emphatically.

The Lobos batted .337 as a team last weekend while holding the Wolf Pack to a .224 average – Will Asby and Chase Weissenborn both went 5-for-12 on the week to lead the Lobos with .417 averages, with Spenrath batting .385 on the week with a team-high 10 RBI.

LHP Arthur Steinkamp was pivotal in relief, tallying 3.2 hitless and scoreless innings out of the pen across two appearances and earning the win on Sunday. No UNM pitcher was tagged for more than two earned runs on the weekend.

MOUNTAIN WEST STANDINGS (as of 5/15)

SPENRATH, PENGELLY EARN MW WEEKLY AWARDS
Following New Mexico Baseball’s third-consecutive weekend series win that kept the Lobos tied for first in the Mountain West standings, Reed Spenrath was named MW Player of the Week and Dayne Pengelly was named Pitcher of the Week, the league announced Monday.

The honors are the first of Spenrath and Pengelly’s careers and the sixth and seventh weekly awards of the season for UNM – the most in a single season since 2017, when the Lobos brought in eight weekly awards.

MOUNTAIN WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK | REED SPENRATH | SR | 1B
– Batted .385 on the weekend in the Lobos’ series win over Nevada last weekend, finishing with 9 RBI on three homers in the Lobos’ 16-0 series-opening win on Friday night.
– Spenrath hit two grand slams in the same game for the first time since 1992, when Mark Gulseth did it against San Diego State. It’s also the first time in over 12 months that a Lobo has hit three homers in the same game (Justin Olson vs. Fresno State, 4/29/23).
– Batted .444 (4-for-9) with runners on and .500 with two outs on the board this weekend, leading the Lobos in RBI with 10 on the week — the next most from a single player was 4.
-Generated 38 putouts while starting all three games at first without any errors to go with an assist, turning four double plays.

MOUNTAIN WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK | DAYNE PENGELLY | JR | RHP
– Pengelly struck out 12 – the most in a single game for a UNM player since Justin Armbruster (May 22, 2021) also struck out 12 at San Jose State – for a new career- and team-high over seven scoreless frames, walking three and scattering four hits in that span to improve to 4-4 on the season. UNM’s 16-0 win was their first time shutting out an opponent this season.
– The Lobos’ pitchers posted a 2.33 ERA over the weekend series, their lowest in a three-game span this season.

MOUNTAIN WEST BREAKDOWN
Heading into the final weekend of conference action, the Lobos lead the Mountain West in 10 statistical categories:
– Batting Average (.326)
– Slugging Percentage (.527)
– On Base Percentage (.430)
– Runs Scored (430)
– Hits (557)
– Runs Batted In (398)
– Total Bases (900)
– Walks (270)
– Sac Flies (27)
– Saves (10)
– Double Plays (45)
They rank second in four more:
– Home Runs (66)
– Assists (466)
– Wins (27)
– Stolen Bases (42)

WOOD HEATING UP THE BASEPATHS
Tye Wood has become a real threat on the basepaths as of late, with seven swiped bags in his last seven games. He stole three – the most in a single game this season by a Lobo – in the series opener against Nevada last weekend, and ranks second in the conference with 19 swiped bags – the most in a single season since Chase Harris in 2013. If he steals one more, it’ll be the most since Josh Melendez stole 22 in 2012.