Out of its 30 appearances this season, the UNM pitching staff has thrown three complete games. All of them came last weekend against MWC opponent Utah.
UNM won all three outings against the fourth-place Mountain West Conference foe.
Riding that three-game winning streak, the Lobos started with a two-run lead against the Albuquerque Isotopes. Then UNM's hopes of upsetting the minor league team faded, with the pitching staff giving up 17 runs.
Head coach Rich Alday said some pitchers suffered confidence setbacks.
"For some of them, it hurt because they didn't throw strikes," he said. "That was the biggest thing."
Alday said they are still struggling with the bullpen this season, but the last game was a bright spot.
UNM relievers Javier Lopez, Jesse Perez and Petr Pacas combined to throw three and a third innings with three strikeouts and one hit.
Alday said they still haven't found a middle reliever.
"They really did a good job, and hopefully they will do the same thing if we need them," he said.
Alday liked seeing each of his three starters go the distance against Utah.
"It really helped a bunch," he said. "They were right around 125 to 130 pitches, so it was really good. So they threw a lot of strikes and were ahead in the count."
Starting pitcher Danny Ray Herrera is coming off his first complete game of the season.
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He credited his win last weekend to being aggressive.
"You can't really walk anybody when it's crucial, so you have to go right after them," he said.
UNM will travel this weekend to face San Diego State.
Alday will use the same starters - Jason Fernandez, Danny Ray Herrera and Darren Coltrinari.
"They are going to go out there and compete without a doubt and throw a lot of strikes," Alday said.
