A pair of Lobos have joined the All-American squad for their work in the classroom. Chris DeVito and relief pitcher Alex Estrella are two of three players in the Mountain West to receive the honor, Air Force’s Russell Williams received the nod as well.
The road to Omaha will feature some familiar faces for New Mexico in the regional tournament this weekend. On Monday, UNM was selected as the No. 3 seed in the Lubbock, Texas Regionals. Of the three opponents, New Mexico has faced off against two of the clubs in the double elimination tournament.
For the first time in two decades, the Lobos will open up the season on a Thursday night. Originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3, UNM will now kick off its season against South Dakota on Sept. 1.
Sophomore Carl Stajduhar is running out of room for all the accolades rolling in from the 2016 campaign. New Mexico’s third baseman can now add All-American to his resume, following his first team all-conference, MW triple crown, and the Mountain West Player of the Year award.
New Mexico recruit Ethan Zubak has opted to forgo his college eligibility in order to pursue a professional career with the L.A. Galaxy. Zubak, a Los Angeles, California native, committed verbally to UNM as a junior in high school and signed his letter of intent in February of 2016. He will forgo his college eligibility to join the MLS.
The local vibes required many fans to stand along the third baseline if they had not arrived to any of the three New Mexico games during the Mountain West tournament. Head coach Ray Birmingham has turned the UNM program into a site of familiarity with all of the native faces up and down the Lobo lineup.
Head coach Mike Bradbury is bringing in yet another familiar face to the New Mexico women’s basketball program.
New Mexico head coach Ray Birmingham got his wish. Following Saturday evening’s 14-4 victory over Nevada for the conference tournament title, Birmingham said he wanted to play somewhere that suited UNM baseball. He said he didn’t want to venture to a ballpark that didn’t allow the Lobos to swing for the fences.
Six more Lobos punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships on Saturday, totaling 10 athletes that will head to Eugene Oregon for a shot at collegiate gold at the western preliminaries. Sophie Connor, Emily Hosker-Thornhill, Calli Thackery, Aasha Marler and Janell Hadnot and Josh Kerr will all join Alice Wright, Courtney Frerichs, Allan Hamilton, and Elmar Engholm who qualified for the NCAAs on Friday.
Nevada cruised to the Mountain West tournament championship game with a 12-1 win over Air Force in seven innings Saturday at Santa Ana Star Field. The third-seeded Wolf Pack will play No. 2 seed New Mexico at 5 p.m. and will have to secure a victory to force a sudden death game for the tournament title Sunday afternoon. UNM already beat Nevada 3-0 on Wednesday.
Four Lobos will represent New Mexico on the big stage for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 8-11. Though inclement weather prevented teams from competing on Thursday, Courtney Frerichs, Alice Wright, Elmar Engholm and Allan Hamilton have all punched their ticket after placing in the top 12 at the NCAA West Preliminary Round at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas on Friday.
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.
More accolades continue to pour in for Alice Wright and Sophie Connor. Along with a national championship in the 2015-2016 cross country season, the pair have recently been added to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Track & Field/Cross Country District 7 Teams, released on Thursday.
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.
Solutions by The State News
