The Lobos welcome the University of California-Santa Barbara to Isotopes Park for a three-game series this weekend.
The UCSB Gauchos come to Albuquerque for their first games outside of California. Their overall record is 8-5 and the Gauchos sit in fifth place in the Big West Conference.
"They're going to be a tough team," Lobo head coach Rich Alday said. "They pitch really well and play good defense."
Alday said that any team coming from California, an American baseball hotbed, will offer a distinct challenge.
UNM is coming off a tough weekend at College Station, Texas, where it played six games in three days against some of the top programs in the country.
Though the team dropped five of the six games it played, there were signs that this young Lobo team is capable of big things.
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In their first game of last weekend's series, the Lobos beat previously undefeated Arkansas 3-1. The star of that game was clearly starting righty Jason Fernandez, who in his first career start for UNM threw a six-hit complete game to net the Lobos their first win of the season.
"Jason was able to throw all his pitches for strikes," Alday said. "He located really well and got out of some tough spots without any serious damage."
Fernandez (1-1, 2.25 ERA), who will start the first game of this weekend's series on Friday, was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Game two will be pitched by freshman lefty Danny Ray Herrera (0-1, 4.09).
Herrera pitched brilliantly in a 2-1 loss to the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies in last weekend's tournament. The two Aggie runs came in the first inning and were unearned, and Herrera didn't give up a run to their potent offense in seven innings of work.
"Danny pitched really well," Alday said. "He was just outstanding against a really good team."
Junior Cooper Eddy (0-2, 7.20) will start game three.
Alday said timely hitting is an offensive improvement he will be looking for this weekend.
"We should have won two more games (last weekend)," he said. "We pitched well, but we couldn't get key base hits when we needed them. We have to swing the bats better for a chance to win."
The Lobos have never beaten UCSB, going 0-3 all-time against the Gauchos.
A win this weekend would not only end that small streak, but also put an end to their losing ways in Isotopes field. UNM has yet to win in its new park, where the team has gone 0-5-1.
The Lobos will face UC-Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and will wrap up the series Sunday at noon. Admission is free for UNM students with a valid Lobo ID.
