It’s a rare occasion that there’s a moment of calm during a basketball game, especially one that is as close as the game the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team played against Wyoming last Wednesday.
Fans of the University of New Mexico men's basketball team probably know about the potential and the growth of junior guard Troy Simons throughout this season, but many may not know the path that landed him in a Lobo uniform. Simons led the nation in NCJAA scoring during the 2016-17 season while playing for the Polk State Eagles, torching the nets with 26.3 points per game. The 6-foot-3-inch guard said he wasn't used to playing college basketball and learned a lot from his time as an Eagle.
For the players, it is one of the most important parts of the game. Some do it to hype themselves up. Others do it to calm their nerves and relax. But for just about every player, walk-up songs give insight into who they are and what they listen to. For the University of New Mexico baseball team, it’s no different. The Lobos, this season, have a wide variety of music choices from classic rock to old school hip-hop, to old Kanye and much more.
In September, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was pursuing criminal cases against some of the most powerful people in major college basketball. It was a bombshell that shook the landscape just before practice for the new season underway. One of the first, and still one of the biggest dominoes to fall, was Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who was fired following the revelation that an Adidas executive, the school’s official provider of athletic apparel, had conspired to pay $100,000 dollars to the family of an elite recruit to get him to play for Louisville and represent Adidas following the conclusion of his college career. Despite the national prevalence of this story, its effects weren’t felt by the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team. However, this week the investigation reached the Lobos' corner of the basketball universe, as San Diego State’s Malik Pope and former UNLV player Patrick McCaw were linked to the latest round of players who had allegedly received improper benefits from agents — specifically the agency, ASM Sports, in a story released by Yahoo! Sports last week.
As the University of New Mexico women’s soccer program prepares for its upcoming spring season, it announced the addition of seven new players to the roster for the 2018 fall season. “This group of players is exceptionally talented and will fit in with our culture of hard work on and off the field immediately,” UNM head coach Heather Dyche said in a release. “They are excellent students, outstanding players and, most importantly, great people.”
That’s right. On Sunday afternoon, the University of New Mexico baseball team and Central Michigan finished their fourth meeting this season in a 6-6 tie. After nine whole innings of play, the game was tied. And in the tenth, neither team added another score. In the meantime, the Chippewas had a plane to catch and the game had reached its time limit all culminating to the tie. The Lobos (4-3-1), however, won the first three matchups. On Thursday in the series opener, UNM won 20-9 behind a big offensive outing from junior Hayden Schilling. On Friday, sophomore Justin Slaten allowed just three hits and no runs starting on the mound for the Lobos in their second win. And on Saturday, junior Christian Tripp struck out the side in the ninth inning to propel UNM to a close 8-7 win. On Sunday, though, the game was as tight as tight gets. Central Michigan scored in the top of the first on a fly out, with the runner on third getting there courtesy of a triple. It gave them a 1-0 lead early on.
Mountain West play hasn’t been kind to the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team. On Saturday, they lost on the road to UNLV, 74-62, marking their second straight loss and eight in conference. The Lobos (20-9, 8-8 MW) started off well, getting out to a 17-6 lead after senior guard Tesha Buck made back-to-back three-pointers early in the first quarter. But the Lady Rebels (18-9, 13-3), at home, didn’t shy away. UNLV went on a 9-1 run the rest of the first quarter, and cut the Lobos’ lead to three points, 18-15, heading into the second quarter.
For the University of New Mexico softball team (2-11), Saturday’s game started off differently. With a lead. However, it wasn’t meant to be for the Lobos on the second day of the UC Riverside Classic, as the Lobos fell to Montana (2-10), as the Grizzlies used a three run sixth inning to take a lead they would hold until the final out
The University of New Mexico men's basketball team picked up a huge road win in its last game, but must protect home court on Sunday against UNLV if it wants to keep pace in the Mountain West standings. New Mexico (14-14, 9-6 MW) outlasted Wyoming and won a 119-114 shootout over the Cowboys to sweep the season series and break what was a four-team tie for fourth place. The Cowboys continued to provide the Lobos with some assistance, downing Fresno State to snap the Bulldogs' five-game winning streak. That result means UNM could move into a tie for third place in the MW standings with Fresno State, with a big matchup between the two schools looming in the season finale.
An eighth inning in which Central Michigan scored five runs to bring the game within just one run, the University of New Mexico baseball team saw a clutch ninth inning from Christian Tripp on the mound. The junior closer, after coming in as relief in a tumultuous eighth inning for sophomore reliever Nathaniel Garley, struck out the side to give UNM the 8-7 win on Saturday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field. The win was the Lobos’ third straight over the Chippewas, winning the first game on Thursday and again on Friday. Freshman Robert Gasser got the start on the mound for the Lobos, and threw three shutout innings to start the game.
The University of New Mexico Softball team (2-10) dropped their opening two games of the UC-Riverside classic, losing to George Washington in the opener by a score of 8-3, as well as a mercy rule loss to the hosts by a score of 9-1 in six innings. In the first game, Alexis Ruel got the start for the Lobos opposite Sierra Lange, but the Colonials got to Ruel immediately, driving her from the game before she had recorded an out, giving up five runs on four hits and a walk before she was pulled from the game. She was relieved by Krissy Fortner, who was able to give the Lobos seven innings of work, allowing seven hits and three runs, only two of which were earned, walking two and striking out four.
A strong outing from Justin Slaten on the mound propelled the University of New Mexico baseball team to its second win over Central Michigan this Friday evening. Slaten, a sophomore, pitched seven innings and allowed just three hits and no runs. He also struck out eight batters and walked none en route to his first victory this season. In fact, Slaten pitched two shutout innings to start the game. He hit a batter in the third inning but retired the next three batters to end the inning.
Sam Gleadle has signed a professional contract with Reno 1868 of the USL, the club announced on Monday. Gleadle graduated from the University of New Mexico in December following a four year career with the Lobos. During his final season at New Mexico, he started 14 games for the Lobos, scoring three goals and adding two assists, including two game winning goals. He was named to the All-Conference USA Third Team in November. For his career, he appeared in 70 games for the Lobos, including 31 starts, and scored five goals while adding 12 assists. He becomes the second former Lobo in as many years to sign for Reno, joining Chris Wehan, who spent one year with the club before signing with San Jose Earthquakes earlier this offseason.
The first day of the Mountain West Track and Field Championships proved to be a record breaking one for the University of New Mexico distance medley relay teams. The men’s DMR relay, led by the NCAA defending mile champion in Josh Kerr, finished in first with a time of 9 minutes, 33.41 seconds. Per NCAA protocol, the time was converted for altitude, coming in at 9:24.73. This time would be good for the NCAA record, which currently stands at 9:25.97 and was set by Texas in 2008. However, altitude conversions don’t count towards official records, and so the record will stand as unofficial.
The University of New Mexico Softball team spends the third weekend of the season at the UC Riverside Classic and will play five games from Friday to Sunday. So far this season, the Lobos are 2-8, with four of their eight losses coming against ranked opponents by a combined score of 52-2. The Lobos have scored only 15 runs in 10 games this year as the offense has struggled to get going. Chelsea Johnson is leading the way with six hits so far this season. The Lobos open the weekend against George Washington University in the first of two meetings on Friday morning at 9 a.m. The two teams will meet again on Sunday morning. The Colonials (3-2) began their season last weekend at the Diamond 9 Citrus Blossom Classic in Florida.
Offense was the key for the University of New Mexico baseball team. The Lobos (2-3), who scored nine runs in the first inning alone, defeated Central Michigan, 20-9, at Santa Ana Star Field on a cold Thursday evening. UNM’s home opener saw a plethora of hitting, with five or more Lobos adding two or more hits to their stat line. Of the five, junior Hayden Schilling was most impressive. He had four hits on five at-bats, a double, three runs and four RBI.
On her first 3-point attempt this season, junior post Jaisa Nunn nailed it with confidence — and off of the backboard, of course. But that shot wasn’t enough. Wyoming — who had an answer for the Lobos at every corner — was already up by four points with just two seconds to play. The shot was, in essence, meaningless as the Lobos fell, 63-62, at the Pit on Wednesday evening.
After a disappointing showing in the College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona last weekend, the University of New Mexico baseball team has the chance to right its wrongs starting Thursday when they host Central Michigan at Santa Ana Star Field in a four-game series. The Lobos (1-3), who played the likes of Oregon State, Gonzaga and Cal Poly last weekend, dropped three of their four games, including two to the Beavers. Their lone win came on Saturday in extra innings against Cal Poly — a game they won 3-1.
The University of New Mexico baseball team was not able to close out its final game on Monday afternoon in Surprise, Arizona. Instead, No. 2 Oregon State walked away with a dominating 15-2 defeat in the two teams’ second matchup over the weekend. The Lobos dropped their season opener to the Beavers, 5-2, Friday while also dropping their game to Gonzaga on Sunday. They did, however, pick up a win on Saturday against Cal Poly.
The University of New Mexico men's basketball team has a pair of big games ahead of it as the team will square off against two squads the Lobos are currently tied with in the conference standings. New Mexico (13-14, 8-6 MW) will get to host UNLV this weekend, but will first be faced with a road test against the Wyoming Cowboys (17-10, 8-6 MW). Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo.
Solutions by The State News
