UNM baseball is back - not necessarily in full swing, but in bunt mode.
The Lobos squared off Tuesday in Game 2 of a five-game series of intrasquad scrimmages.
Ken Jacome's Big Red Machine ran Chad Tidwell's Silver Slammers through the press 10-4.
Jacome is the Lobos' recruiting coordinator, and Tidwell is a pitching coach.
UNM will conclude its fall practice session with Game 5 of the scrimmage on Friday. After that, the Lobos will take a break until January, with their first game slated for Feb. 20 against Texas A&M-CC.
Still, head coach Ray Birmingham, entering his second year at the helm, said the Lobos need to acclimate to Isotopes Park, where they will play most of their home games.
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"The big thing we're doing is playing at Isotopes," he said. "And we need to play at Isotopes, because the one thing I found out last year is that - we practice over at (Lobo Field) and play over here - is it takes time to get used to this field. The ball plays different on this field. We really play about 15 ball games here before we get used to this yard. It becomes 15 away games."
The Lobos were 17-12 in home games last year. And UNM didn't have a problem adjusting to Isotopes Park last season, going 11-4 in its first 15 home games.
In fairness, the Lobos' first 15 home games were against opponents that finished the season a combined 100-134. All four teams the Lobos faced - Eastern Michigan, Texas Tech, UNLV and NMSU - finished with losing records.
Coming off two errors in Monday's game, Brian Cavazos-Galvez opened Tuesday's contest with a highlight-worthy diving grab that robbed Silver of a base hit. Cavazos-Galvez also produced offensively, connecting with two pitches and sending them spiraling over the fence. He went 3-for-4 and drove in 5 RBIs, including a three-run shot that put the Cherry squad up 10-2 in the bottom of the sixth.
In an exercise in futility, the Silver Slammers added two runs in the top of the fourth to put the final score at 10-4 Big Red Machine.
On Monday, the Silver Slammers edged the Big Red Machine 6-3, demonstrating the type of balance in talent the Lobos have.
Cavazos-Galvez said this year's team is one of the most talented he has played on.
"(Our talent) is a little more raw, not as polished," he said. "But I think that the talent will make up for that."
Cavazos-Galvez also said UNM has a good amount of power.
However, of all the intangibles the Lobos come into the 2009 campaign with, Birmingham was most pleased with the team's depth.
"Our depth is 10 times better. I have so many more options now," Birmingham said, chuckling. "If I don't like you, you sit down, and I put another guy in."
Last year, the Lobos struggled in midweek games coming off short periods of rest, especially in the bullpen.
But Birmingham has made it a point to rectify the pitching situation, signing seven pitchers in fall 2007 and three more in spring 2008.
"All our (pitchers) have progressed," Birmingham said. "I'm all about depth. I'm a coach that sends signals by the butt meeting the bench and the bench sending a signal to the brain that you're not playing very good."
Birmingham decided to swap his assistant coaches' responsibilities, delegating Tidwell as the pitching coach and Jacome as recruiting coordinator.
He said the move was effective and that the pitching staff has responded well to Tidwell's input.
"I have a great coaching staff," he said. "I'm fortunate to have great gentlemen helping me. Coach Tidwell is a great pitching coach, as was coach Jacome, but you have to move your people around. I found that coach Tidwell, as a pitching coach, makes us stronger, and Jacome, as our recruiting coordinator, makes us stronger. And it's really looking good."
The Lobos also added Pat Leach, who volunteered to become a coach. Leach spent last season as an assistant head coach at Stetson University in Florida.
But as things start to fall into place with the steady thwacking of wood and the "pop" of a baseball hitting the glove, Birmingham is faced with cuts.
UNM has 41 players on its roster, but the Lobos will be able to keep only 35, as mandated by the NCAA.
Birmingham said UNM will finalize its roster after the Lobos' scrimmages.
However, he said he isn't looking forward to making cuts.
"You coach because you like young men," he said. "It's difficult. You like to raise them the right way through the venue of baseball. When you have to have a separation, it's tough. But we'll take care of them."
Letting go of talented players is among the many challenges Birmingham faces.
"The thing is," he said, "there's players now that would have played in years past that won't make this ballclub."
