Sports

Sports

Baseball: Lobos take rare underdog role against SDSU

Thomas Romero-Salas | March 5

The New Mexico baseball team isn’t usually considered an underdog in the Mountain West, but the underdog role is what UNM will play this weekend when it hosts a San Diego State team that heads into Lobo Field on a seven-game winning streak. Part of the reason SDSU is favored in the three-game series is because of its experience in the field. The Aztecs have eight hitters with two years of Division I experience or more. In comparison, UNM has just two batters — junior second baseman Sam Haggerty and junior shortstop Jared Holley — with two years of Division I skill. “Just by experience alone we’re the underdogs,” head coach Ray Birmingham said. “I consider us underdogs these next two weekends. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to win them.”

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Sports

Column: Yvonne Sanchez deserves new deal

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 4

In a season swimming in a whirlpool of doubt, head coach Yvonne Sanchez stood tall in the final year of her contract and produced one of the best women’s basketball teams to come out of the New Mexico program. Sanchez is deserving of a short-term deal to retain her position as head coach for UNM. The first three years were rough, which is why a long-term deal is not likely. However, the head coach should be allowed to prove this season was no fluke.

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Sports

Season may end on nine-game losing streak

Kyle Tomasi | March 4

New Mexico players and fans have grown accustomed to 20 or more wins from the men’s basketball team, but the 2014-15 season will have a different outcome – including the longest losing streak in more than 50 years. This season, the Lobos got off to a 9-4 start before the turn of the calendar. Since Jan 1, UNM has had a downfall for the ages and it won’t get any easier the remainder of the season.

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Sports

Football schedule announced for 2015

Staff Report | March 4

For the first time since 2006, the New Mexico football team will host seven home games in one season. The Mountain West on Monday announced the Lobos schedule, which includes at least two home games in every month of the 2015 season. The Lobos will start their campaign with two games at University Stadium against Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 5 and Tulsa on Sept. 12.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos dominate despite early error

Thomas Romero-Salas | March 2

The New Mexico baseball team fell into an early 3-0 hole, but climbed back up to win 9-3 over Utah Valley at Lobo Field on Sunday. Senior starting pitcher Colton Thomson earned his first win of the season after giving up three unearned runs on three hits in six innings. He struck out eight batters and walked three. “I thought I was a little wild today. I picked it up later in the innings,” Thomson said. “I didn’t get ahead of batters; it was an average outing. It’s something to build off and keep working for.”

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Sports

Men's basketball: UNM faces coldest month since 1959

Kyle Tomasi | March 2

he month of February has come to a close, and New Mexico will likely be glad to see the flip of the calendar. UNM concluded a winless month of basketball on Saturday with a 59-55 loss at Fresno State. New Mexico has not won since Jan. 31, marking the team’s longest losing streak since the 1959 season. “It’s one of those things that’s like a broken record,” said head coach Craig Neal in a press release. “It’s frustrating, and nobody feels the pain worse than I do.”

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Sports

Women's basketball: Historic win puts UNM second in MW

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 2

Rewriting the history books was not an easy task for New Mexico during an emotional 63-60 victory over Fresno State on Saturday at WisePies Arena. Once the final buzzer blew, this year’s Lobo squad became the first in program history to collect 13 Mountain West wins. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez, whose contract is up for renewal, said she cannot take sole credit for the team’s success. “I know a lot of times when good things happen, it’s easy to just see this head coach and put a bunch of praise on it,” Sanchez said. “This team has done everything we’ve asked them to do. They want to win and they want to play hard.”

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Sports

Track and Field: UNM men and women seize MWC

Thomas Romero-Salas | March 2

The New Mexico men’s and women’s track and field teams maintained their dominance of the Mountain West Conference this weekend, sweeping the indoor conference titles for the second consecutive year. The men held off Colorado State on Saturday to win the team’s third straight MW championship. The Lobos finished with 160 points, while the Rams had 140 for second place. For the women, the road to a repeat was much easier, as they won the meet by 53 points (149- 96) over runner-up CSU. “It just means the world to all of us, especially having it at home,” junior sprinter Holly Van Grinsven said. “It just makes it so much worth it because all your family and friends came to see all the hard work you put in. That’s most rewarding because you put so much time and energy, sweat and tears into this track, and to win it on this track is an incredible feeling.”

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Sports

Relief pitchers key to team's early success

Thomas Romero-Salas | February 27

So far, preseason expectations about the New Mexico baseball team’s bullpen have been proven, and the relief pitchers a key reason why the Lobos jumped out to a 5-2 start. Through seven games this season, the Lobo relievers have only given up nine earned runs in 29 1/3 innings for an ERA of 2.79.

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Sports

Much at stake in season's final home game

Liam Cary-Eaves | February 27

There is a lot on the line in New Mexico’s final home game in addition to the home crowd submitting a goodbye to the two departing seniors on Saturday against Fresno State. In addition to the Lobos gunning for a first-round bye in the Mountain West Tournament, the Bulldogs are the only team in conference the squad has failed to beat this season. UNM also has an opportunity to finish first in conference if Colorado State (21-6, 13-3 Mountain West) does not win out.

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Sports

Lobos outshot by Boise State; Fresno State up next

Kyle Tomasi | February 27

For the first time this season it wasn’t the offense that brought New Mexico down. The defense did. UNM dropped its seventh straight game after losing to a streaking Boise State team 75-65 in Boise, Idaho, where the Lobos’ inability to get stops was the team’s Achilles’ heel.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos exact revenge on Boise State

Liam Cary-Eaves | February 26

New Mexico drifted away from its interior game, but reawakened its identity in a 63-50 victory over Boise State on Wednesday night at WisePies Arena. Going into the game, the Lobos were ranked second-worst in 3-point shooting percentage. However, the Lobos continued to shoot the deep ball despite the team’s low success rate in shots behind the arc. UNM went 3-10 from 3-point range in the first half. “Sometimes there’s a reason you’re open,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “We were beating them a lot inside a lot in the first half ... I told them we don’t need to take a lot or settle for jump shots.”

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Sports

Track and Field: Men's, Women's teamd aim to defend champion titles

C. Jake Swanitz | February 26

The New Mexico men’s and women’s track and field teams will look to defend their Mountain West Championships starting today at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Last season’s conference sweep at the indoor conference championships was the first in UNM history. This year, the Lobos will have the luxury of another home meet to defend its titles. For the men’s team, it will be a chance to make it three consecutive titles, following a winning performance at the 2013 championship in Boise, Idaho.

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Sports

Greenwood: Lobos need more practice

Kyle Tomasi | February 24

New Mexico senior guard Hugh Greenwood has been the cornerstone for UNM’s success as of late and feels that the young, struggling Lobos might need to put in a little more work than they have been. The Lobos start one freshman, Sam Logwood, and play five other players with no Division I experience, and Greenwood thinks the team could put some more time in the gym before and after practices.

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Sports

Men's baseball: Lobos carry blustery day

Thomas Romero-Salas | February 23

It wasn’t the prettiest baseball at Lobo Field on Sunday. In part due to blustery conditions, New Mexico and Air Force combined to make nine errors — six of which belonged to the Falcons — in the Lobos’ 15-5 victory. Air Force committed five errors in the first three innings to help UNM build a 9-3 lead. The Lobos stayed disciplined at the plate, drawing six walks over that same time frame. As a team, the Falcons combined for 12 walks.

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Sports

Men's basketball: Uphill battle proves too difficult for UNM

Kyle Tomasi | February 23

Maybe it was the pressure of the inaugural Pink Pack game. Maybe it was because the Lobos were staring at a potential six-game losing streak for the first time since the 1970-1971 season. Whatever the reason, New Mexico continued its vapid play in a 76-68 loss to the UNLV Rebels on Saturday. UNM dropped its sixth game in a row and has lost seven of its last eight overall. In the midst of one of the worst seasons in recent memory, head coach Craig Neal said the team has not shown eagerness to get back to the team’s winning ways. “It just seems like when it goes downhill, there’s no pushback,” Neal said. “There’s no fight to get back.”

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Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos give Rebels a run for their money

Liam Cary-Eaves | February 23

Sound interior play from UNLV and UNM’s inability to keep the Rebels off the line shattered New Mexico’s eight-game win streak with a 79-73 loss to UNLV on Saturday. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said the Rebels took advantage of sophomore Kianna Keller’s and junior Khadijah Shumpert’s trouble with steering clear of personal fouls. Despite the fouls from the Lobo forwards, UNM was not content with walking away from the 1,311 fans at Cox Pavilion without a fight. “Their bigs kind of took it to us when we got in foul trouble,” Sanchez said in a statement. “UNLV is playing really good basketball. We had to fight back on the road and it just didn’t work out for us. We had an opportunity.”

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Sports

Baseball: 'Road' game to be held in Albuquerque

Thomas Romero-Salas | February 20

Lobo Field will be the site for the New Mexico baseball team’s first road series of the season. No, that’s not a typo. Because of inclement weather in Colorado Springs, Air Force was unable to host UNM and will instead come to Albuquerque for a three-game Mountain West series that begins today. However, the Falcons will still be designated as the home team this weekend.

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Sports

Men's basketball: Team stays positive despite losing streak

Kyle Tomasi | February 20

The losses keep piling up for the New Mexico men’s basketball team, and head coach Craig Neal continues to point to the team’s youth as the cause. Neal said that he is trying to stay as positive as he can with his young and inexperienced team, using the losses as motivation to get better. “I’ve been sending the message out to the guys to be real positive,” Neal said. “We need to get back to doing the little things, trying to stay within the culture that we’ve built. I know we’ve been struggling and just trying to do the little things to get back on the winning way.”

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Sports

Women's basketball: UNM hoping for 9th straight victory

Liam Cary-Eaves | February 20

New Mexico will gear up for a showdown as the team heads into Las Vegas to take on the UNLV Rebels Saturday. The last time the two squads faced off, the Lobos squeaked by the Rebels 63-60. That game, on Jan. 21, UNM forced the win with its deep bench as three starters and a key bench player had early exits. The game required junior forward Alexa Chavez and junior guard Bryce Owens to be assisted off the court with injuries. Owens would later return in the contest to accumulate the team-high 15 points, but Chavez’s late injury sidelined her for the rest of the game.