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@ThomasRomeroS
It took a little more than two months, but the New Mexico baseball team is back in the rankings.
The Lobos were ranked No. 21 nationally coming into the season but dropped out of the top 25 after losing their opening series against Oklahoma State. This week, Baseball America has UNM at No. 24 in its most recent poll. This is the fourth time in head coach Ray Birmingham’s six years that the team has been ranked.
“We’re not going to let that go to our heads,” Birmingham said. “It doesn’t mean a whole lot, because you can be nationally ranked and lose in the first round of the playoffs.”
UNM has won seven straight games and six straight series overall. The team hasn’t lost a series since being swept by Nebraska on March 2 and 3. The Lobos’ first game versus the Cornhuskers on March 1 was canceled due to inclement weather.
Birmingham attributes the winning streak to the team’s pitching.
“It’s been a challenge … mainly on the pitching side because there’s been a whole bunch of different guys being a Friday, Saturday or Sunday starter,” he said. “Our biggest question mark coming into the season was pitching. Our bullpen was struggling early, but we’ve got it fixed now.”
On Sunday UNM was down 8-1 versus Nevada after six innings. The Lobos went into the top of the ninth trailing 10-7 but managed to score eight runs in the inning for a final score of 15-11, its second consecutive Mountain West Conference sweep.
“The fight in these kids and the determination of these kids has definitely been inspiring to me,” Birmingham said. “Sunday was an example of that.”
Starting today and through the weekend, UNM (24-16, 14-4 MWC) hosts UNLV (27-13, 11-7 MWC) for a critical three-game series. The first-place Lobos lead the Rebels by three wins in the MWC standings. UNLV has won four of its last five games, including a three-game sweep of San Diego State last weekend. Out of the Rebels’ 18 conference contests, 11 have been one-run games, i.e, games in which the final scores were one point apart.
“They’ve won a lot of games late, so that seventh, eighth and ninth inning, you really have to watch them,” Birmingham said. “They believe that they can come back and win — so do we.”
Baseball vs. UNLV
Friday at 3:05 p.m.
Saturday at 1:05 p.m.
Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
Lobo Field
Fan Appreciation Weekend
All three games against UNLV this weekend are free for everyone.
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