Lobos Host Fordham to Open 2026 Season

New Mexico Baseball opens the season at home for the first time since 2017 when the Lobos host Fordham at Lobo Baseball Field for a four-game series Feb. 13-15.

After their third season in a row with more wins than the year prior and their second Mountain West Tournament appearance in a row, Head Coach Tod Brown's Lobos are on the hunt for a breakthrough season that will get underway Friday in Albuquerque. UNM returns three players that batted above .300 last season in starting roles and a total of nine upperclassmen pitching returners – eight of which with eight or more appearances last season – that combined for 217 innings of work.  

Admission to all 35 UNM home baseball games this is season is free. Friday and Sunday’s games in Albuquerque 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.

ALL-TIME SERIES
• This is the first meeting between Fordham and UNM. The Lobos are 13-3 against A-10 opponents all-time, most recently winning three of four at home last season against Rhode Island.

2026 OUTLOOK
• After another season in which the Lobos improved their winning percentage and made the Mountain West Tournament with one of their best offensive seasons in recent memory, New Mexico looks to be a threat to win the Mountain West in its final season with Fresno State, San Diego State and Washington State in the conference.
• Heading into Head Coach Tod Brown’s fifth year at the helm, the Lobos return three players that batted above .300 last season in starting roles and a total of nine upperclassmen pitching returners – eight of which with eight or more appearances last season – that combined for 217 innings of work. 
• The Lobos’ 2026 roster is its most experienced in Brown’s tenure, with 18 seniors -- six of which being graduate seniors -- and 29 of 36 players being upperclassmen.

TOP BATTING TEAM IN THE NATION
New Mexico led the entirety of NCAA D-I in team batting average (.337) and doubles per game (2.79) at the conclusion of the 2026 season, capping off a historic year that saw the Lobos rank among the Top 20 teams in the nation in seven different offensive categories. Four different Lobos ranked among the Top 100 in the nation in individual batting average -- Khalil Walker (#23, .397), Jordy Oriach (#29, .395), Josh McAlister (#78, .371) and Ethan Ott (#91, .368) -- they ranked Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 in the Mountain West.

UNM’s huge offensive year also saw the Lobos match a program record with 93 homers and notch the second-highest team slugging (.574) and sixth-best on-base percentage (.425) in school history.

ASHBY’S BIG RETURN
After spending the 2024 season at Kansas and winning the NCAA D-II Championship with Tampa in 2025, Lenny Junior Ashby is once more a Lobo for his final year of collegiate eligibility. The Aruban outfielder was a two-time All-MW selection in his first two seasons at UNM in 2022 and 2023, batting for a .361 average across 105 appearances in that span to go with 36 doubles, 26 homers, 110 RBI and 88 runs scored.
In his four years of collegiate baseball, Ashby has batted .325 in 205 games, driving in 165 runs and scoring 145 more while hitting 51 doubles, four triples and 36 homers.

SUPER SENIORS ABOUND
UNM boasts six graduate seniors on this year’s roster – OF Lenny Junior Ashby, RHP Josh Barnhouse, LHP Matthew Cornelius, OF Garrett Rede, LHP Matthew Romero and OF Khalil Walker – with Barnhouse, Cornelius, Romero and Walker all returning from last season. In total, the Lobos have 18 seniors on roster, the most Coach Tod Brown has had on a team in Albuquerque.

THE BULLPEN
• 2025 weekend starters RHP Ryan Castillo and RHP Cristian Mogen both look to headline the Lobos’ staff after promising performances in starting roles last season.
• After racking up 10 saves last season, RHP Ty Cunningham (21 App., 5.91 ERA, 32 IP) will move into a more high-volume non-closing role this year -- high-leverage relievers Josh Barnhouse (28 App., 6.07 ERA, 43 IP) and Luke Wiseman (25 App., 4.45 ERA, 30.1) also project to work more innings in their final collegiate seasons after being reliable in 2025.
• RHP Talor Grubbs (East Carolina) and Logan Barnett (Dayton/Heartland CC) add two more physical arms with D1 experience.
• Lefties Matt Cornelius (8 App.) and Matthew Romero (12 App.) both return for a grad year to make it nine returning arms with multiple appearances last season.

THE LINEUP
• A pair of two-time All-MW outfielders stand out in UNM’s new-look lineup -- two-time MW batting champion Khalil Walker (.396 career avg.) and the returning Lenny Junior Ashby (.325 career avg.).
• The lefty power bat Ashby (26 HR, 110 career RBI at UNM) looks to replace the production of Regional POTY Jordy Oriach after he transferred to Georgia in the offseason.
• The Lobos also get back Albuquerque native Akili Carris for his senior season after a productive 2025 that saw him hit a career-high .345 on the season and drive in 44 runs -- he’s started at third base in 71 games over the last two seasons.
• Luke Mansy (.353 average in 2025) returns after becoming a crucial part of UNM’s lineup down the stretch last season, as does SS Karsen Waslefsky (.298 average, 116 assists, .959 fielding percentage in 2025).
• Hawaii transfer Aidan Kuni looks to hold it down at first base and Houston transfer Tristan Russell will contend for an infield starting spot. Juco transfers Anthony Diaz (College of Central Florida) and Antonio Gianni (Central Arizona) also slot in as options in the outfield, as do Damian Garcia (Texas Southern) and Garrett Rede (Regis).

LONG BALL LOBOS
In 2025, 15 different players combined for 93 New Mexico home runs to match a school single-season record set in 2003. UNM ranked 30th in NCAA D1 in total homers and averaged 1.75 homers per game, good for 16th in the nation.
Josh McAlister (17) ranked third in the MW in total bombs, with Jordy Oriach (16) and Ethan Ott (16) just behind. Will Asby (13), Tye Wood (5), Andrew Neil (4), Caleb Herd (4), Karsen Waslefsky (5), Gene Trujillo (3) and Khalil Walker (4) all finished with multiple.

D1Baseball on New Mexico in the Mountain West Race:
   • “Five starters return to a batting order that led the country in hitting with a crisp .337 team average, and five key arms on the mound who were all used a ton of innings and in high-leverage situations also come back. Obviously, the Lobos will lean on some newcomers to fill in the holes, but the staff feels like they are deeper on the mound with more velocity and with more pitchers who can pound the strike zone. That alone will put a few more check marks in the win column.” 
   • “The offense will have some bats to compete with but Brown sees the biggest question mark for this team being the fact that they won’t have the thump at the plate like they have in recent seasons ... A big win in the offseason was getting the return of top hitter and two-time All-MWC center fielder Khalil Walker, who led the team and was 17th nationally with a .399 average. He also posted five triples and four home runs and has the speed to run down gap shots in the grass. Also staying loyal to the program is third baseman Akili Carris, a three-year starter who hit .341-13-55 with a 1.033 OPS last season. Fellow senior Karsen Waslefsky also comes back after hitting .298-5-31 and is a high-level defensive glove at shortstop and a leader for the infield. He’ll team with second baseman Luke Mansy, another senior, to make a solid double-play duo. Mansy was a part-time starter last spring but still managed to post a .353 batting average and led the team with a .478 on-base percentage. Behind the plate, Brodey Williams is back after starting 32 games a year ago and hitting .282.”
   • “Among the newcomers who will help the offense plug along will be first baseman Aidan Kuni, a lefthanded bat from Hawaii who has the athleticism to play any position in the infield. Lenny Ashby is an interesting story. The 5-foot-7, 210-pound fireplug graduated high school in Aruba in 2018 and started his career at Odessa College in 2020 and 2021 before playing for UNM in 2022 and 2023, hitting .342 and .381 in those two seasons, respectively and earning All-Mountain West honors both years ... Finally, junior college transfer Anthony Diaz will take over in right field and is a ‘Gold Glove-type of outfielder’ according to the staff.”
   • "Pitching-wise, the Lobos had a team ERA of 8.08 last season ... But the potential is there for marked improvement, as the staff sees this year’s corps to be deeper and with more arms that can pound the strike zone ... The top three pitchers from the 2025 roster return in righthanded seniors Ty Cunningham (2-2, 5.91, 10 saves), who is slated to move from the closer’s role into the Sunday starter spot, Luke Wiseman (4-0, 4.45, 1 save), who should come close to his 25 appearances of last season and Tommy White (2-0, 4.69, 1 save), who will be a key to the bullpen hopes again. "
   • "The Friday and Saturday starter roles look like they’ll be handled by sophomore righthander Christian Mogen (2-1, 8.18, 7 starts), who showed better flashes this past fall, including high spin rates on his offspeed offerings, which induced more swing-and-miss, and fellow righty Ryan Castillo (4-4, 8.65, 9 starts), who had the highest velocity on the staff this past fall at a blistering 98 mph ... The closer role looks to be held by incoming transfer righthander Talor Grubbs from East Carolina ... Although he still has yet to put it together at the Division I level, he showed flashes this fall with his low-90s fastball and effective offspeed stuff." 

A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
- The Lobos’ 51-game slate features 35 home matchups at Lobo Baseball Field – the most in a single season since the facility’s opening – and a 30-game Mountain West schedule as the league expands to nine teams for the first time.
- 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 20-23, hosted in Mesa, Ariz. for the second year in a row. The winner earns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.

ESTABLISHED HITTING
UNM holds the nation’s 2nd-ranked batting average since 2016, a .309 clip in the last 10 seasons. The Lobos were NCAA D1 batting champs in 2025 with a .337 team average.

ROSTER OVERVIEW
UNM’s 2026 roster includes 18 returning players with 18 newcomers – the Lobos return seven position players who appeared in at least 25 games in 2025 while losing seven.
– Of the Lobos’ newcomers, three are freshmen and 15 are transfers – nine transfers are from junior colleges and six from four-year institutions.
– 29 players are upperclassmen – 18 seniors and 11 juniors – the most seniors Brown has had on a roster in his time at UNM.

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.
– Brown coached the Bison to 40-win seasons in 2012 and 2021.
– In Brown’s first four years at UNM, the Lobos have improved similarly, winning more games and posting a higher win percentage in each of the last three seasons. They went 21-33 (.389) in 2022, 26-25 (.510) in 2023, 26-25 (.510) in 2024 and 30-23 (.566) in 2025.
– In 18 seasons as a Head Coach, Brown has finished the season above .400 15 times and above .500 nine 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).