Ray Birmingham certainly has no problem letting his players “have it.”
The baseball team is 2-5 in the season and just came off a 1-3 series against the University of Texas, San Antonio.
“I called everyone in one-by-one and let them have it, then I put them in the locker room as a group and let them have it, and then I ran them for two hours,” Birmingham said.
Birmingham said he coaches a physically talented team that is caught in a mental slump.
“The truth of the matter is these boys haven’t bought in,” he said. “They’re not executing the game properly. The problem isn’t physical, it’s mental.”
Junior infielder Josh Melendez, who received the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week honor last week, said the team can fix its problems if the players come together.
“Right now, we’re going through a couple of bumps in the road, and we’re going to figure it out and come together just like how it was in the fall,” Melendez said.
The team has the difficult task of trying to get on the winning track against No. 16 Oklahoma this weekend in a three-game series at Isotopes Park.
Even with their losing record, Melendez said the Lobos don’t have any extra pressure to win this weekend.
“It’s definitely important to get momentum, but there’s no need to panic right now,” he said.
Oklahoma comes into the game with a 4-3 record. Two of the Sooners’ three losses this season have come by seven runs or more, including their loss on Wednesday to University of Texas, Arlington 10-2.
The Sooners aren’t part of the MWC, and Birmingham said he’s most worried about games against conference opponents.
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“The biggest thing I like about these games is that in the end, they don’t count,” Birmingham said. “We’re just trying to win our conference and get into the tournament.”
Birmingham said he doesn’t concern himself with the ranking of the opposing team.
“I don’t care if the Yankees are in the other dugout,” he said. “I only care about the team in my dugout.”
UNM was the favorite to win in its first two series, but now they are an obvious underdog against the Sooners, which isn’t a problem for some of the players.
“I love being the underdog,” Melendez said. “People look down on you, but when you kick their butt, they’re a little more upset about it.”
