New Mexico head coach Ray Birmingham had to call for time in the first inning to calm the nerves of his young club. After the conference on the hill, though, it was smooth sailing for the Lobos.
Make that two wins in two games. Less than two hours after knocking out sixth-seeded San Diego State, No. 3 seed Nevada routed No. 1 seed Fresno State 25-6 in eight innings Friday at Santa Ana Star Field.
Despite a late rally from sixth-seeded San Diego State, No. 3 Nevada held on to a 5-3 win Friday at Santa Ana Star Field to advance in the Mountain West tournament. With the win, the Wolf Pack will play No. 1 seed Fresno State at 3 p.m.
Colton Thomson said he wanted to give his team seven quality innings to put New Mexico in a position to win. The senior lefty did much more than that. Thomson chose UNM’s first appearance in the 2016 Mountain West Baseball Championships to throw his first career complete game, a shutout nonetheless. His career day would not stop there as the southpaw also fanned nine batters, tying Thomson’s career best.
Mike Kazlausky believes in the old adage that it’s hard for one team to beat another group seven times in a row. Now that isn’t exactly how the saying goes, but that didn’t matter to the Air Force head coach as the fifth-seeded Falcons upset No. 1 seed and regular season champion Fresno State 9-7 on Thursday at the Mountain West tournament.
San Diego State is more than accustomed to elimination games in the Mountain West tournament. In fact, the sixth-seeded Aztecs pushed their winning streak to 14 in elimination contests when they beat No. 4 seed UNLV 18-8 Thursday at Santa Ana Star Field. The Aztecs (21-37) have won the past three Mountain West tournaments.
A heated regular season race brought about many standouts on the UNM roster, none bigger than Lobo third baseman Carl Stajduhar’s finish as the player of the year. The Mountain West announced the postseason accolades on Wednesday morning, and along with Stajduhar, second baseman Jared Holley, DH Chris DeVito, and pitcher Tyler Stevens were all appointed as first team all-conference players. Centerfielder Luis Gonzalez was appointed to the All-Mountain West Second Team.
A grand slam walk-off, an upset, and a route highlighted the first day of the Mountain West Baseball Championships on Wednesday. Six teams remain in the hunt for a postseason crown, with two teams already possessing blemishes on their records.
Nevada cruised in its opening game against San Diego State with a 13-5 win at Santa Ana Star Field Wednesday night. The sixth-seeded Aztecs took an early 3-0 lead after the top of the first inning, but the Wolf Pack came roaring back with six runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.
The sun was well above the Sandia Mountains while New Mexico was taking in its final practice at Santa Ana Star Field before the Mountain West Tournament. Media representatives, conference sponsors, players and coaches were all putting in the final touches before the gun sets off for the postseason.
New Mexico juinior lefty Carson Schenieder has given the Lobos a free pass for the first round of the Mountain West tournament via UNM’s 11-2 route over Air Force on Saturday.
Postseason facial hair has begun to grow for many New Mexico players, but a massive series against Air Force looms to shape how the postseason will be played out. In UNM’s last series of the regular season, the Lobos will have to garner a sweep, for a shot at a piece of the conference crown and the number one seed in the Mountain West Tournament.
For just the second time all season, the Lobos dropped a conference series and are now at risk of losing a share of the Mountain West crown. Even with a loss at UNLV on Sunday afternoon, the Fresno State Bulldogs will at least own part of the conference title, while UNM must fight for at least a piece of first after falling to Nevada 13-9 on Sunday.
New Mexico continued its tear against Mountain West competition at home with a 5-4 victory against Nevada on Friday night. The Lobos, now 16-6 at home, have put together an 11-2 record at Santa Ana Star Field in league play. This could potentially bode well for UNM as the MW tournament is right around the corner, and will take place in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The ending to New Mexico’s long road trip did not go as planned as the club has watched its first-place lead shrink to just 0.5 games. For the first time in the 2016 campaign, UNM dropped a Mountain West series after being away from Santa Ana Star Field for seven games, the Lobos’ longest stint away from home.
Sophomore Tyler Stevens righted New Mexico’s ship on Saturday afternoon after Friday night’s difficult outing by the Lobo pitching staff. Stevens threw a gem, working in eight innings of one-run ball. While his performance wasn’t flawless, the righty was able to work through some tough jams to keep UNM in the ballgame.
New Mexico maintained its 1.5 game lead in first place on Saturday but not in the way they wanted to after falling to UNLV 11-6 on Friday. The Lobos received some help from San Diego State who beat Fresno State with some late game heroics by a final of 4-2.
As the season is winding down, accolades are beginning to come in for first place New Mexico. However, junior DH Chris DeVito and senior pitcher Alex Estrella aren’t just getting noticed for their on-field efforts in a tight Mountain West Conference race. They are also dominating in the classroom.
Immaculate pitching following the first inning has awarded UNM the Rio Grande for the 2016 campaign. It wasn’t without a fight, and by no means a blowout, but blanketing NMSU in a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night has awarded New Mexico the Rio Grande Rivalry, after winning three of the four meetings.
The Lobos have dropped a game here and there, which is expected during the course of a long season. But forgoing a series has been a rarity. For just the second time all season, the Lobos faltered a three-game matchup with an opponent. Saturday’s 7-4 loss to ASU guaranteed their first series loss since UNM played Dallas Baptist in early March. Despite the loss, senior right hander Taylor Duree joined the UNM record books with his 76th career appearance, more than any other pitcher in New Mexico history.
Solutions by The State News
