University of New Mexico Baseball Associate Head Coach Michael Lopez is not ashamed of his heritage. Like his father before him, he was raised with the phrase, “don’t let them call you a lazy Mexican,” Lopez said. Lopez gives the phrase partial credit for growing up in a household where hard work and discipline were preached.
No one would dare call Lopez that today, as he has steadily improved the Lobo’s pitching staff since entering the picture in July. Earned run average, walks and hits per innings pitched and walks per nine innings are all down as Lobo baseball trends in the right direction.
In standings, the Lobos have finished third in 2025 and second in 2024 in the Mountain West Conference, and Lopez looks to get them over the hump this year, he said.
Growing up Lopez was a pitcher, with his favorite pitch being his changeup. His fastball would run up to 88-90 miles per hour by the time he got to high school, he said. He spent his collegiate career at the University of Arizona, where he played for his father, Head Coach Andy Lopez.
“I was blessed to have a really good feel with the change-up,” Lopez said.
Unfortunately for Lopez, he suffered a shoulder injury in his sophomore year of college and couldn’t get a good feel for the change-up anymore. This injury interfered with his arm slots and his favorite pitch didn’t move the way he wanted it to anymore. Lopez was able to persevere and adopt a new offspeed pitch — a splitter — but things would never be the same again, he said.
It was around this time that Lopez realized he wanted to be a coach. He turned to his father, the now retired College Baseball Hall of Famer coach and two-time national champion, for guidance, Lopez said.
“I know I’m probably not going to pitch, but can I stick around. I think I want to get into coaching,” Lopez said to his father.
His father obliged, and although officially he remained on the roster as a player, Lopez was given new responsibilities such as operating the walkie-talkie in the bullpen, communicating with former Arizona Pitching Coach Shaun Cole and helping prepare the scouting reports, he said. Lopez attributes this experience with showing him “old school teaching philosophies,” Lopez said.
This experiment paid off in dividends, as just a year later he was named team captain ahead of Arizona’s 2012 national title run. Lopez credits the experience as a major part of the journey that has led him where he is today, he said.
After his time as a volunteer assistant, he went to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school at Marymount California University and spent time as a pitching coach, and then head coach at Howard Community College in Big Springs, Texas. After two seasons, Lopez would join the Lobo squad.
As the Lobos’ associate head coach, his responsibilities today include anything to do with pitching. Lopez performs background checks and looks for intangibles like competitiveness, toughness and work ethic as well as seeing if the recruits meet certain thresholds in regards to fastball velocity and breaking ball movement.
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“Bullpens, development plans, playing catch, calling pitches and scouting reports are my number one responsibilities,” Lopez said.
Lopez is also instrumental in helping Recruiting Coordinator Matt Risdon, who he wants to thank for all of his hard work, he said.
“This is a tough place to pitch at … as much as you want to go get guys with high (velocity) and good breaking balls you ultimately need to start with the intangibles,” Lopez said.
Marley Herndon is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @superagent47ult
