Perhaps nobody in the state of New Mexico is aware that Ray Birmingham is actually a seer.
When the Lobo head coach scheduled Texas, he seemed to be aiming for impossible targets without all his bullets — the Lobos lost several seniors from last year’s team, and this year, as it seems every year, was coined a rebuilding year by pundits, Birmingham said.
Let this serve as a notice.
The UNM baseball team marched into No. 1 Texas’ hallowed stomping grounds for a three-game series. And the Lobos left with the majority — two wins.
Birmingham could hardly contain his elation in a phone interview with the Daily Lobo on Sunday afternoon.
“We’re feeling like a million bucks,” he said. “The pitchers pitched their butts off in a hostile environment.”
Before the series began, Birmingham snickered at the assertion that New Mexico baseball lagged far behind other marquee college baseball destinations, Texas being one of them.
Apparently, his words resonated with the team.
After dropping a fiercely fought game on Friday, 6-2, UNM responded with a pair of victories, 6-5 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday.
Lobo pitcher Mike Lachapelle allowed seven hits in six innings of work, earmarking a 3-1 victory for UNM on Sunday.
And the hitters, too, came through in the direst circumstances.
Down two runs in the ninth inning on Saturday, Justin Howard evened the score at five apiece with a solo home run, before Max Willett’s sacrifice fly brought in the go-ahead run. UNM pitcher Austin House then seated the Longhorns’ next two batters in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win.
“When’s the last time a Lobo team beat the No. 1 team in the country at their place?” Birmingham asked.
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The answer: It’s never happened in the history of Lobo baseball.
“And not only once did we beat them, but twice — at their home place,” Birmingham said. “We’re going to celebrate today, but tonight, when we tuck our butts in bed, we’re going to be thinking about Texas Tech and how to beat them.”
