When the UNM baseball team finally got back to the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time since 1962, the Lobos were heavy hitters.
Early on, the new-look Lobos struggled with the sticks, averaging just 4.4 runs per game in their 0-8 start to the year.
And after sweeping UNLV 9-7 Sunday in a late-inning slugfest at Isotopes Park, the Lobos have gotten their swat back.
“I’m glad, I’m glad, I’m glad and I’m glad,” head coach Ray Birmingham said. “It’s good, and it’s there. But momentum and confidence are huge, and we needed some confidence-building.”
Just one year removed from leading the country in hitting, the Lobos mysteriously couldn’t put aluminum to ball, much to Birmingham’s chagrin.
Last year, led by first baseman Justin Howard — who led the team with a .456 batting average and drove in 72 RBIs — UNM hit .346 as a team. The Lobos drove in 494 runs and hit 41 home runs.
With one returning starter — infielder Alex Allbritton — UNM could not produce enough runs to win until it beat the University of Texas-San Antonio, 13-6 on March 4.
“You know, every hitter here is a new hitter except for Alex Allbritton,” Birmingham said. “And a couple of guys have been sitting on the bench; they have faced some pretty tough pitching, and we’ve played a hard schedule.”
Since the two-game series against UTSA, UNM won 9 of 16 games and found success at the plate. UNM now averages two more runs (5.9) per game.
Freshman third baseman DJ Peterson said that lately the team has played more relaxed.
“We’ve just pieced together some hits,” he said. “Guys stayed back and just did their job. We were able to put it through the four-hole or maybe a little dink, and guys got it done.”
Even better, the Lobos’ suddenly come-to-life offense has been paired with solid defense.
Closer Gera Sanchez pitched every game in the three-game sweep against the Rebels.
None was bigger than his eighth-inning appearance during Sunday’s matinee.
Sanchez got the final out of the eighth inning and finished off UNLV in the final frame, sitting down three straight batters.
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Sanchez put up goose eggs in 1.2 innings of work and didn’t allow a hit, run or walk.
Sanchez faced identical situations on Friday and Saturday.
In Game 1, Sanchez replaced starter Jake McCasland in the eighth and struck out UNLV’s second baseman Hunter Beaty before getting pinch-hitter Marvin Campbell to ground out for 3-1 win.
Once again on Saturday, Sanchez was called upon late. Sanzhez closed out the Rebels’ lineup in order to secure the Lobos’ 7-6 victory. The closer now has four saves on the season.
Sanchez said that the Lobos need to stay on their midseason roll.
“We’re playing better defense,” he said. “I feel that we’ve been working harder as a team and playing more together, sharper and seeing the ball more.”
What they’ll also be seeing: Two nationally ranked opponents in Arizona on Tuesday and a three-game series against TCU starting April 8.
There’s only one thing that they need to do, Birmingham said.
“Win,” he said.
