Lobos Host Texas Tech Tuesday at Santa Ana Star Field

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico Baseball looks to bounce back from a 1-3 week on the road when the Lobos (16-15, 6-6 MW) host Texas Tech (9-19, 5-7 Big 12) for midweek nonconference action Tuesday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field.

Heading into this week, the Lobos remain one of the nation’s most productive offenses – they rank No. 27 in the nation in team Batting Average (0.314), No. 18 in slugging (.536), No. 12 in doubles per game (2.48) and tied for No. 43 in triples per game (0.31) while cracking the Top 100 in the nation in on-base percentage (86th, .404), scoring per nine innings (59th, 8.0), total double plays (No. 96, 22) and homers per game (31st, 1.55).

Last week, the Lobos defeated New Mexico State on the road on Tuesday (15-10) to secure at least a split of the two rivals’ four-game season series but dropped all three matchups with Fresno State on the road last weekend (5-12, 3-11, 7-13) to drop into a tie for third in the conference standings (6-6 in MW play).

This is the fourth season in a row in which the Lobos and Red Raiders will square off multiple times — they’ll face each other again on May 7 in Lubbock. UNM has beaten Texas Tech at least once in each of the last three seasons, most recently blowing the Red Raiders out in Lubbock last April by a score of 17-3 after falling at home in their first matchup in Albuquerque (8-11).

Tuesday’s matchup will be available to stream free via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/Watch, with live stats, streaming options and more available via GoLobos.com/BSBGameDay. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on IG, X and Facebook for comprehensive coverage, promotional updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

vs Texas Tech (9-19, 5-7 Big 12)
April 8 | Albuquerque, N.M. | Santa Ana Star Field

LAST WEEKEND
The Lobos couldn’t get their bats going after falling behind early in all three games on the road last weekend at preseason MW Favorites Fresno State, suffering their first sweep of the season (5-12, 3-11, 7-13).
– INF Luke Mansy stayed hot, going 5-for-12 (.417) in the series with two doubles and two RBIs. His season batting average now stands at a team-leading .448 through 17 games.
– 1B Ethan Ott batted .556 (5-for-9) and a 1.333 slugging percentage, homering twice in the series opener on Friday night.
– RHP Tommy White was sharp out of the bullpen, delivering 5.0 shutout innings across two appearances (5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K).
– LHP Presley Monteforte gave the Lobos a competitive start in game two, working through traffic to keep the game within reach (6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K).
– The Lobo offense showed flashes throughout the weekend, batting .277 as a team over the three-game series. UNM collected 28 hits, including four home runs and six doubles, while scoring 12 runs. The Lobos also drew 13 walks, helping create scoring opportunities, but struggled at times to capitalize with runners in scoring position.
– On the mound, the Lobos posted a team ERA of 7.67, allowing 26 runs (23 earned) across 27 innings. The staff gave up 35 hits, walked 12, and struck out 23.

ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM is 50-81-1 against Texas Tech all-time, but the Lobos are 29-26-1 against the Red Raiders at home and the Lobos have beaten TTU in each of the last three seasons. The Lobos have won twice at home and once on the road in that span — last season, UNM fell 8-11 in the two teams’ first meeting in ABQ before thumping them on the road in Lubbock (17-3) to secure the season series split.

LAST MEETING (UNM 17, TTU 3 – 4/23/24)
UNM racked up up 21 hits and slammed four homers behind a complete effort from the bullpen en route to a 17-3 win — the first for the Lobos in Lubbock since 2015.

• UNM’s 14-run margin of victory was its largest against Texas Tech since a 15-0 win in Albuquerque on Feb. 10, 1985 and the largest ever in a game between the two teams in Lubbock.
• With the win, the Lobos have beaten TTU in each of the last three seasons — the first time they’ve done so since 2017 — and split the two-game season series in the last two.
• It was also the second win against a Power 5 team on the road this season for the Lobos, who downed Arizona State 6-4 in Phoenix in midweek action on March 12.

Will Asby connected on his ninth and tenth homers of the year – with the second being his third grand slam this season – and Chase Weissenborn and Khalil Walker both hit their first big flies of the season back-to-back to power a day that saw six different Lobos pick up at least one RBI. UNM scored the final 10 runs of the game – including six in the top of the ninth – while a quartet of relievers kept the Red Raiders from getting back on the board over the final five frames.

Walker went 3-for-5 for his 12th multi-hit game this season, connecting on a double in the ninth after his solo shot in the eighth while scoring three runs. Konner Kinkade also finished with three knocks – two singles and a double – in the leadoff spot while scoring two more.

In total, eight Lobos finished with multiple hits, with Josh McAlister, Kyle Smith (2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB), Reed Spenrath (1 R, 1 RBI) and Jake Holland (2 R, 1 BB) all adding two each. Tye Wood finished with 3 RBI on just one hit, driving in two with a bases-loaded single and another on a sacrifice fly.

RHP Josh Barnhouse set the tone for a dominant day for UNM on the bump with 3 ⅓ solid innings of work in his third start of the season, allowing one across in the first but retiring eight of his next nine before back-to-back homers cued his departure from the game. He struck out three in that span and walked two while being tagged for four hits. Taking the mound next, LHP Arthur Steinkamp (2 BB, 1 K) got UNM out of the inning without any further damage and kept Tech off the board for the next two frames despite five hits in that span and RHP Brian McBroom (1 H, 0 BB, 0 K), LHP Jaren Jackson (0 H, 1 BB, 1 K) and RHP Wil Bannister (0 H, 0 BB, 2 K) all pitched a scoreless frame each to keep the Red Raiders from cutting into the lead even as it ballooned to 14 in the ninth.

LONG BALL LOBOS
Through 31 games this season, 13 different players have combined for 48 home runs, exiting the ballpark seven times last week on the road at New Mexico State and Fresno State. UNM is averaging 1.55 homers per nine innings so far this season, moving from 39th in the nation last week to 31st heading into this week’s games.

With two homers last week, Jordy Oriach leads the Lobos – and the Mountain West – in homers with 10. Josh McAlister is just behind with nine on the season, while Ethan Ott (7), Will Asby (5), Andrew Neil (4), Caleb Herd (3) Karsen Waslefsky (2) and Khalil Walker (3) all have multiple.

THUNDER IN McALISTER’S BAT
Hampered by injury early in his first season as a Lobo in 2024, Josh McAlister homered six times with three doubles and a triple in 31 games played, primarily at third base. In 31 games in 2025 – with the majority of them at second and shortstop – McAlister has exited the ballpark nine times with five doubles. Should he homer one more time this year, he’ll match his total homers across the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Ohio State and in Albuquerque (10).

EARLY RETURNS
Walker & Asby Named Preseason All-MW; Lobo Baseball Tabbed Fourth in Coaches’ Poll:

• Outfielders Khalil Walker and Will Asby were named to the All-Conference Preseason Team and New Mexico was one of three teams tied for fourth in the Mountain West Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Monday ahead of the 2025 baseball season.
  Walker and Asby – who both were All-MW selections after their first season at UNM in 2024 – make UNM one of four teams with multiple preseason all-league selections along with Fresno State (four selections), Nevada (three selections) and San Diego State (two selections).
• With six first-place votes for a total of 43 points, 2024 MW Tournament Champions Fresno State are the favorites to win the conference again ahead of Nevada (35 points) in second and Washington State (1 first-place vote, 30 points) in third. With 27 points, the Lobos are tied for fourth alongside UNLV (1 first-place vote) and San Diego State, the third season in a row in which they’ve improved their preseason rank. Before the 2023 season, UNM was picked to finish seventh and ultimately finished fifth — before the 2024 season, they were voted fifth and closed out the regular season one game out of sharing a regular-season championship with Air Force.

Asby Named to D1Baseball.com’s Top 100 Outfielders: 

• Senior Will Asby clocked in at No. 91 in the nation on D1Baseball.com’s National Outfielders Rankings released last week. In his first season with the Lobos in 2024, Asby entered the outlet’s midseason Top 100 Outfielder rankings at No. 94 after not being ranked heading into the season.
• Last season, Asby ranked second in the league in runs scored (59), eighth in slugging (.601) and ninth in total hits (71), breaking the program record for single-season grand slams with four – he needs just one more to match Mark Wulfert’s career record of five.

“Keep an Eye On” New Mexico in Mountain West Race:

• D1Baseball.com slated New Mexico as the team to “Keep an eye on” in this year’s Mountain West race behind preseason favorite Fresno State, citing improved pitching depth and a host of high-level hitters returning.
• “This year’s team has a chance at making [an NCAA Regional] with five returnees who hit .300-plus, two returning weekend starters on the mound and five key pieces in the bullpen also coming back to campus.”

A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
– The 53-game schedule, including 30 Mountain West Conference games, opens up at the MLB Desert Invitational in Arizona (Feb. 14-16) and concludes with a conference weekend series at home vs. Fresno State (May 15-17). In that span, the Lobos will face four different teams that reached NCAA Regionals last spring – Arizona, UC Irvine, Grand Canyon and Fresno State – nine times.
– In total, UNM will play 27 games at Santa Ana Star Field in Albuquerque and 26 games on the road throughout the regular season, with 18 games against seven opponents that ranked in the Top 150 in the nation in last season’s final RPI rankings.
– Should the Lobos stand among the top six teams in the Mountain West standings upon the conclusion of that weekend, they’ll earn a berth to the expanded MWC Baseball Championships May 21-25, hosted this year in Mesa, Ariz. The winner earns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.

2024 IN REVIEW
– The Lobos wrapped up the 2024 season with the most wins (28), most MW wins (17) and best MW finish (2nd) since 2017 to punch their ticket to the conference tournament for the first time since that season.
– The last time UNM increased its winning percentage over three consecutive seasons was 2012-2014. It was also the second year in a row in which the Lobos outperformed their conference preseason rank — they were picked to finish 7th in the conference in 2023 and finished fifth before being picked to finish fifth this year and concluding the season one game out of a regular season championship. They were one of just two MW teams to finish the season above .500.
– At the conclusion of the 2024 regular season, UNM ranked No. 8 in the nation in batting average (.319), No. 15 in the nation in double plays (51) and No. 17 in doubles per game (2.24).
– The Lobos led the MW in nearly every offensive category in 2024, with a slugging percentage of .515 that tied for the 10th-best in program history (No. 35 in the nation) and an on-base percentage of .421 that was also 10th-best in program history and No. 15 in the nation.
– Jake Holland was named MW Co-Player of the Year and ABCA All-Region Second Team following the season, with four Lobos making the All-MW team (most since 2017) and UNM taking home eight MW weekly awards (most since 2013).

WOOD HEATING UP THE BASEPATHS
– The Lobos’ projected leadoff man this season, Tye Wood became a real threat on the basepaths down the stretch in 2024, only getting caught stealing once in his last 11 attempts.
– Wood ranked second in the conference with 20 swiped bags – the most in a single season since Josh Melendez stole 22 in 2012. He stole at least one base against each of the Lobos’ last four opponents in the regular season and wrapped up the season ranked second in the MW in on-base percentage (.488) behind Walker (.490).
– Wood stole three bags – matching Sean Stephens for the most in a single game last season by a Lobo – in UNM’s series opener against Nevada May 10.

SEEING DOUBLE
– The Lobos excelled at getting two for one in 2024, ranking No. 15 in NCAA D-I in double plays per game (0.94) and No. 17 in doubles per game (2.24). They ranked No. 21 in total DP (51) and No. 50 in total doubles (121).
– Last season, the Lobos had four players hit double-digit doubles — two of them, Khalil Walker (11) and Will Asby (17), return for this season.

BROWN’S PROGRAM-BUILDING RESUME
– In his first five seasons as head coach at North Dakota State, Brown’s teams improved their winning percentage in each season, going from 15-30 (.333) in his first season in 2008 to 40-20 (.667) in 2012 and finishing each of the next nine seasons above .400. The Bison reached the Summit League tournament eight times in that span, advancing to NCAA Regionals in 2014 and 2021.
– He’s done the same in each of his first three years in Albuquerque, improving from 21-33 (10-20 MW) in 2022 to 26-25 (13-17 MW) in 2023 to 28-26 (17-13 MW) in 2024.
– Brown coached the Bison to 40-win seasons in 2012 and 2021.
– In Brown’s second season at UNM, the Lobos improved to 26-25 from 21-33 the year prior, with the highest team batting average since 2013 (.328) and lowest team ERA since 2016 (5.95). They finished 28-26 on the season (28-24 in regular-season games) the following season in 2024.
– In 16 seasons as a D-I Head Coach, Brown has finished the season above .400 13 times and above .500 seven times – the only three seasons in which he’s finished below .400 were his first two years in Fargo (2008, 2009) and his first season in Albuquerque (2022).

YOUR 2025 LOBOS ROSTER
– UNM’s 2025 roster includes 13 returning players with 17 newcomers – the Lobos return seven position players who appeared in at least 20 games in 2024 while losing seven.
– Of the Lobos’ newcomers, five are freshmen and 12 are transfers – nine transfers are from junior colleges and three from four-year institutions.
– 30 players are upperclassmen – 15 seniors and 15 juniors – the most upperclassmen Brown has had on a roster in Albuquerque.

THE OUTFIELD
The Lobos have the best possible problem on their hands in the outfield, with three returning starters in Khalil Walker, Tye Wood and Will Asby as well as 2023 NJCAA All-American transfer Jordy Oriach (Frank Phillips College) in the mix to compete for a spot.

In 2024, Walker led the MW in batting average (.391) and on-base percentage (.490) – ranking 20th and 43rd in the nation in those categories – with the lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio (30 BB/24 SO) among conference players in his first season as a Lobo. Asby ranked second in the league in runs scored (59), eighth in slugging (.601) and ninth in total hits (71), breaking the program record for single-season grand slams with four – he needs just one more to match Mark Wulfert’s career record of five.

They’re joined in the outfield by a productive switch-hitter in Wood (51 starts in 2024), who ranked 44th in the nation in on-base percentage (.488) and stole 20 bases last season, the second-most in the league and most by a Lobo in a single season since Josh Melendez in 2012 (23).

THE INFIELD
First and foremost, the Lobos look to replace three crucial middle infielders that soaked up most of the reps at shortstop and second in 2024 – Chase Weissenborn, Devon Dixon and Konner Kinkade. After both splitting time at the hot corner last season, junior Akili Carris (.301 average, 30 GS) looks to slot in at third full-time with senior Josh McAlister (.287 average, 10 XBH, 25 GS) moving back to second base, where he played over two seasons at Ohio State (2021-22). Luke Mansy (14 GP/7 GS) and juco transfer Karsen Waslefsky (South Mountain CC) also look to get significant reps up the middle, with utility transfer Elias Fiddler (Utah) as another option with D-I experience. Cooper Brass – who redshirted last season as a true freshman – and freshman Shane Miller are also both in the mix for reps up the middle in their collegiate debut seasons.

With the graduation of Reed Spenrath – who started 89 of 104 games at first base for UNM the past two seasons – UNM has two sluggers that could feasibly move into the starting spot in Ethan Ott (.553 slugging, 23 RBI in 30 games in 2024) and Gene Trujillo (.630 slugging, 13 RBI in 25 games). Both showed plenty of power at the DH spot in 2024, combining for eight homers and 10 doubles even with limited AB’s. 

CATCHERS
UNM relied on two fifth-year catchers in 2024, and there’s a three-way competition for who will get the most reps behind the dish in ‘25. Ironically, Caleb Herd – a junior who played his true freshman season at UNM in 2023 before transferring to Pima CC and returning to UNM this fall – is the only catcher on roster who’s appeared in a collegiate game for the Lobos. But junior transfer Brodey Williams (McLennan CC) and 2024 greyshirt Luke Banister are both in the mix to become key pieces.

PITCHING STAFF
In ‘24, the Lobos’ pitching staff posted a 7.71 team ERA after losing all three weekend starters from 2023 to the draft or graduation – with 10 newcomers and 32 games at elevation in New Mexico, UNM’s arms had significantly improved by the end of the season, posting a 5.17 ERA over the Lobos’ final 10 games and a 5.98 over their last 20. 

In the process, they struck out 394 in total – the most in a single season in Brown’s tenure and seventh-most in a single season in program history. This year’s returning arms produced 233 of those punchouts.

This year, all three projected weekend starters are senior returners that all got significant reps in 2024 in RHP Dayne Pengelly (11 GS, 50 IP), RHP David Lopez (11 GS, 65.1 IP) and LHP Daxton Purser (7 GS, 35 IP). 

• From D1Baseball: “The highlight of the fall practice sessions had to be the performance of the three projected starting weekend pitchers: righthanders Dayne Pengelly and David Lopez and lefthander Daxton Purser. The three seniors offer a lot of experience and combined for 30 of last year’s 54 starts. Pengelly can hit 95 on the guns and though he had some peaks and valleys last year (4-5, 7.63), the coaches say he can flash “unicorn-level stuff” when he is on. His power slider is his go-to pitch when he needs a big out. Lopez also posted some lofty numbers (4-2, 7.71) but his low-90s fastball has good life and his four-pitch mix (fastball, curveball, slider, splitter) has shown good improvement over the course of the offseason. Purser came out of high school as the No. 2-ranked lefthanded pitcher in the state of Utah and held opposing batters to a .245 average last season, which was the best of all the regular Lobo pitchers. He did not allow an earned run in his final three appearances.”

Four other pitchers that saw crucial innings as midweek starters and/or trusty relievers also return – Brian McBroom (95.1 IP in 59 app. at UNM), Josh Barnhouse (18 app. 35.1 IP in 2024), Ryan Castillo (10 app., 20.1 IP in 2024) and Ben Baker-Livingston (52.2 IP in 24 app. at UNM) – with six transfer juniors and four freshmen joining them.

• From D1Baseball: “The bullpen has some interesting pieces and timely additions. Righthander Ryan Castillo exceeded expectations as a freshman last season and looks to improve on his  1-2, 11.57 numbers. The coaches say he showed flashes of “next-level strike throwing” in the fall sessions. Castillo could also figure into a starting role this coming spring. Two transfers who will play key roles this season are lefty Matthew Cornelius (12 appearances at Arizona State, 3-0, 10.80) and righty Jack Messmore (13 starts at Delaware State, 2-4, 6.47), who both have key D1 experience. Another southpaw who will play a big role in the bullpen plans will be JC transfer Presley Monteforte, who uses a ton of deception in his offspeed offerings, which makes his 87-89 fastball play way up.”