Sports

Sports

Baseball: Albuquerque Isotopes season preview

Cameron Goeldner | April 4

Winter has given way to spring and April is here once again. Along with it, is the return of Isotopes Baseball. The Isotopes are entering their fourth season as the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies and return a number of familiar faces from last year’s squad. Once again the Isotopes will be led by manager Glenallen Hill, who has been the Rockies Triple-A manager since the 2013 season. The Rockies made their return to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009, in part because of a farm system that was ranked as highly as fourth in baseball by MLB.com prior to the 2016 season. While the system is not as highly ranked this year, many of the faces on the list will be spending time with the ‘Topes this season. Among that group are the No. 10 and 11 prospects in the system, starting pitcher Yency Almonte and catcher Tom Murphy. Both spent time with the team last season, Almonte recorded a 3-1 record and a 4.89 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts) with the Isotopes last season after being called up from Double-A Hartford. Murphy split his time between Albuquerque and Denver last season, slashing .255/.312/.426 with four home runs and 19 runs batted in in 38 games for the Isotopes.

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Sports

Men's Soccer: Lobos held scoreless against Denver

Robert Maler and Alanie Rael | April 4

The UNM Men’s soccer team failed to register a goal against the Denver University Pioneer’s in Saturday's spring exhibition, dropping the match by a score of 3-0. The Lobos also lost their spring opener 4-1 against Phoenix Rising earlier this month and, though the team couldn't bounce back for a win against Denver, UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said he has been pleased by what he has seen especially in the first half of both matches. He said it has been "an interesting first two games" and they were similar to each other in some respects. Fishbein said the opener was a 1-1 tie at halftime before he and the coaching staff started substituting players so they could make assessments.

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Sports

Baseball: UNM drops home game to Arizona

Matthew Narvaiz | April 3

Monday’s matchup with the Arizona Wildcats didn’t go as planned for the University of New Mexico baseball team. The Wildcats (17-10), who had won their last four games heading into Monday, pounced on the Lobos from the get-go on their way to a dominating 16-6 victory at Santa Ana Star Field. Senior pitcher James Harrington struggled on the mound in the starting role. In the first inning, he gave up two hits and a run, though Harrington was able to strike out the last batter he faced in the frame.

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Sports

Softball: Lobos travel south to take on New Mexico State

Cameron Goeldner | April 2

The two teams squared off on March 21 in Albuquerque, with the Aggies taking the win by a score of 12-7. The Aggies are coming off of a three game series sweep of the University of Missouri Kansas City, and currently hold a record of 18-14 and have won six straight games, a streak that began with their win over the Lobos. The Lobos are coming off of a weekend series against Fresno State in which they lost two of the three games, including being no-hit on Saturday in the series finale. UNM is 9-26 on the season so far. For Lobos head coach Paula Congleton, this is a big opportunity to help bring some life back into a rivalry that she says has been lost.

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Sports

Softball: Lobos get mercy ruled by Fresno State

Cameron Goeldner | April 1

The Lobos sent 17 batters to the plate on Saturday against Fresno State and Bulldogs starter Danielle East retired all of them without allowing a hit, as the Bulldogs won 10-0 over New Mexico to take the series victory. The Lobos faced East on Thursday and were able to get the better of her in the walk-off win, but she shut the Lobos’ offense down on Saturday.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos drop series finale, win first two against SDSU

Matthew Narvaiz | April 1

On Saturday, in the University of New Mexico baseball team’s series finale at Tony Gwynn Stadium against No. 23 San Diego State, the Lobos fell 3-2. It was a game of pitching, as both teams put together strong performances on the mound. UNM sophomore Cody Dye, who got the start on the mound, pitched 4.1 innings and allowed five hits and three runs over that time. The Lobos’ last two pitchers — junior Chad Smith and sophomore Drew Gillespie — each allowed just two hits and no runs to close out the game. For SDSU, junior Garrett Hill pitched 8.1 innings from the start. And in that time, he allowed just one run on three hits, while also striking out seven UNM batters. It moved him to 6-0 on the season.

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Sports

Beach Volleyball: Lobos net three wins, one loss in home tournament

Aaron Cowan | April 1

The University of New Mexico’s beach volleyball team turned in a dominant performance in their first home tournament of the season, at the Lucky 66 Bowl outdoor courts, clinching wins against Colorado Mesa University and Abilene Christian University both days, before falling to Arizona State University. These much needed victories pushed UNM’s record to 5-10 in their third week of season play. Head coach Jeff Nelson seemed to express satisfaction with the game results and the venue. “In terms of training and on-court facilities, this is the best place for us to train”, Nelson said of the Lucky 66 Bowl venue. Nelson noted that UNM’s beach volleyball program is relatively new, having just started its fourth season, compared to its indoor counterpart.

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Sports

Softball: Lobos get mercy ruled by Fresno State

Cameron Goeldner | March 30

A strong start by the New Mexico softball team wasn’t enough for the Lobos as they fell in five innings to Fresno State in game two of a three game set on Friday night at the Lobo Softball Field. Freshman Alexis Ruel got the start for the Lobos in the game, and cruised through the first two innings, cutting down six straight Bulldogs to start the game. Offensively, the Lobos were off to a quick start, as Sydney Townes walked to lead off the game and was eventually brought home from second via a single from Chelsea Johnson to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead.

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Sports

Softball: Lobos win in dramatic fashion over Fresno State

Cameron Goeldner | March 30

Behind a strong first six innings from Jensen Main and a walk off double from Monica Salas, the University of New Mexico Softball team was able to secure its first win over the Fresno State Bulldogs since 2014, 4-3. “Main kind of kept them off balance, she was working hard,” head coach Paula Congleton said. “She gave up some walks which we will work on, she knows that. The big hitters, she stifled them tonight. They’ve got some great hitters, they’re doing quite well in the Mountain West. She did do a very nice job today for us.” The Lobos struck first in the second inning, as walks from Kasey Halleen and Aleyah Wilbon set the Lobos up with runners on the corners for Cameryn O’Grady, who doubled to drive in both runs. O’Grady advanced to third on a wild pitch, but Sydney Townes was unable to bring her in to score, as Townes struck out to end the inning.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos beat No. 23 SDSU in game one of three game series

Matthew Narvaiz | March 30

The ranking didn’t matter much to the University of New Mexico baseball team as a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning and a steady stream of pitching from the bullpen helped elevate the Lobos to a 5-4 victory over No. 23 San Diego State at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Sophomore Justin Slaten got the start on the mound for UNM on Thursday afternoon and was dealing early in the game, retiring the first six batters he faced. But in the third inning SDSU was able to get its first run of the game, scoring on a wild pitch to take a 1-0 lead.

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Sports

Softball: Lobos host Fresno State, looking for first MW series win

Robert Maler | March 29

The University of New Mexico softball team will look to get back in the win column when it continues conference play on Thursday, hosting a three-game slate against the Fresno State Bulldogs. New Mexico (8-24, 2-4 MW) has had a rough go of things early on in the season as the team logged a lot of miles over the first month of play, competing away from home in four tournaments in four different states. UNM picked up just three wins over those first 20 games, but seemed to find a groove when it finally got the opportunity to host the Lobo Classic, winning three of the five games played there. The team also looked pretty good in the pair of losses, making things competitive right to the end.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Pair of Lobos to leave UNM

Robert Maler | March 28

Last year, the University of New Mexico men's basketball team saw a multitude of players announce their intentions to leave the program before a new head coach took the reins and coaxed some of them into staying put. And while head coach Paul Weir has seemed to bring stability to what looked like a shaky program, a release said a pair of players were recently granted their release to pursue other opportunities. Senior forward Connor MacDougall didn't see any action during the past season after he suffered a foot injury during an exhibition game against former rival Brigham Young University.

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News

Athletics dept. pressured on deficit

Danielle Prokop | March 26

Students urged the University of New Mexico Board of Regents to not forgive the athletics department’s accumulated $7.5 million deficit at the Budget Summit Thursday. And the regents delivered. Board of Regents president Robert Doughty made the move to table the issue of UNM athletics’ deficit until the department can provide a balanced budget for 2019. “I need to be convinced now more than anything that we will not have a deficit next year,” Doughty said. “We table any discussion on dealing with the past deficit until we get a financially sound transparent budget for 2019.”

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos best Air Force in series finale

Matthew Narvaiz | March 25

The University of New Mexico baseball team finished out the weekend strong, defeating Air Force 7-4 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field. Sophomore Cody Dye started on the mound for the Lobos (10-12-1, 4-5 MW). He pitched seven strong innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and struck out eight Air Force batters to put himself in line for the win. The strikeout total tied a career high for the sophomore righty, but also delivered a career-high 133 pitches towards home plate before the workhorse exited the game. The win was the Lobos’ second in their three-game series against the Falcons this weekend, as they had won Saturday’s matchup, too, behind a walk-off home run in the tenth inning courtesy of senior Danny Collier.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos down Air Force in extra innings

Matthew Narvaiz | March 24

Senior Danny Collier hit for the cycle and the University of New Mexico, after dropping the series opener yesterday, downed the Air Force Falcons 12-11 at Santa Ana Star Field on Saturday afternoon. Collier went 4-for-5 from the plate, with three runs and three RBI. Since he hit for the cycle, it included a single, a double, a triple and a homer. That home run, though, was the game winner, as he pelted it to right center with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning. Air Force (9-13, 3-5 MW) was able to get on the scoreboard first after they scored three runs in the top of the third inning. But UNM, in the bottom of the frame, quickly responded by adding four runs of its own. 

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos drop game one at Santa Ana Star Field to Air Force

Matthew Narvaiz | March 24

Being at home didn’t favor the University of New Mexico Lobos Friday evening. UNM, which has won two of its last three games prior to Friday’s contest, struggled against the visiting Falcons, falling 10-4 in game one at Santa Ana Star Field. Sophomore pitcher Justin Slaten, who got the start on the mound for the Lobos, wasn’t able to find his groove in 4.1 innings of play. Though he pitched a good first inning, he eventually allowed 7 runs on 11 hits in the ensuing innings.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos' WNIT Run comes to an end with loss to TCU

Cameron Goeldner | March 23

As the clock wound down to zero, tears were shed. It wasn’t the way the Lobos hoped it would end. University of New Mexico women’s basketball team saw its season come to a close Thursday night Dreamstyle Arena in an 81-72 loss to TCU in the third round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Early on, the Lobos appeared as though they might run away from TCU in a similar fashion to Tuesday night’s contest against Rice, as Tesha Buck went 3-for-4 from the field, including two three-pointers to lead the Lobos with eight points in the first quarter, as the Lobos jumped out to a 22-15 lead.

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Sports

Softball: Lobos fall to New Mexico State

Cameron Goeldner | March 22

Wednesday night was an emotional one for new University of New Mexico softball coach Paula Congleton, as she participated in her first Rio Grande Rivalry matchup since her playing days at UNM ended in 1983. The Lobos were unable to deliver a win in the matchup, as New Mexico State used a four-run fourth and a seven-run sixth to claim a 12-7 victory over the Lobos, but that didn’t detract from what the night meant to her or what her new job means to her.

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Sports

Men's Soccer: Lobos add a pair of international players

Cameron Goeldner | March 21

The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team has added two new international players to its roster in Maliek Howell of Jamaica and Carlton McKenzie of England, the program announced on Tuesday. Howell comes to the Lobos from Kingston, Jamaica where he has competed for the national team at the U17 and U20 levels. At Jamaica College, he was named Sports Man of the Year in 2015-16, and one of the top six players at the Digicel Kickstart Clinic at the Manchester City Football Club Academy.

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Sports

Women’s Basketball: Lobos dominate Rice on both ends en route to 93-73 victory at the Pit

Matthew Narvaiz | March 21

The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team played like a well-oiled machine on Tuesday evening at the Pit, defeating the Rice Owls 93-73 in the second round of the WNIT. On both sides of the ball, the Lobos (25-10) executed. Defensively, they forced 22 turnovers, 15 of which were steals. And on offense, their best three scorers played up to par, with junior post Jaisa Nunn leading the way with a team-high 28 points on 11-for-15 from the field. Senior guards Cherise Beynon and Tesha Buck added 20 and 18 points, respectively. “Defensively, we were really good,” said UNM head coach Mike Bradbury. “They followed the plan almost perfectly. We knew we had to turn (Rice) over, and we were able to do that.”