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ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Nine of the next 10 games for the New Mexico baseball team are at Santa Ana Star Field as the Lobos prepare for two weeks in Duke City.
The Lobos (14-8, 5-3 MW) have won three straight Mountain West games to take a 2-0 series win over Nevada over the weekend. The series finale scheduled for Sunday has been postponed due to unfavorable weather forecast.
UNM now turns its attention to No. 22 Texas Tech, rolling into Albuquerque on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in a rematch on March 7. The Red Raiders won 6-3 at home. New Mexico then hosts San Diego State in a three-game conference this weekend, San Jose State next weekend in a three-game conference and two games at NCAA Division II Colorado State-Pueblo on April 11—a bye week. 12. The only road game during that stretch is April 4, when UNM heads down I25 for the second of four scheduled games against rival New Mexico State.
Lobo baseball weekly schedule
All times listed are Mountain Daylight Time – all games are at Santa Ana Star Field.
Tuesday, March 28 – 2 p.m. – No. 22 Texas Tech
Friday, March 31 – 6 pm – San Diego State
Saturday, April 1 – 2 p.m. – San Diego State
Sunday, April 2 – Noon – San Diego State
Mountain West stops: Entering the middle third of their 2023 schedule, the Lobos are ranked third in the Mountain West. UNM’s 5-3 record puts it just one game behind first place San Jose State (4-2), a half game behind this week’s opponent San Diego State at 4-3.
LOBOS ACHIEVE NCAA STAT RANKS: New Mexico continued to lead the NCAA in batting average, raising his mark to .342 with a big performance over the weekend in Reno. UNM also ranks 4th in hits with 285, No. 5 in triples per game at 0.59, No. 6 in triples with 13 and 7th in total offense with an average of 10.0 runs per game. The Lobos are 20th in the nation in runs (No. 18, 220), doubles per game (No. 18, 2.45) and slugging percentage (No. 18, .549). While the offense has made headlines this spring, the Lobo pitching staff is No. 5 in the NCAA in walks/9 innings at 2.88, and the defense ranks No. 11 with a .983 fielding percentage.
MW Pitcher of the Week Called Directly: Tristin Lively earned the Lobos’ fourth Mountain West Pitcher of the Week honor of the season. The senior right-hander was untouched against the Wolfpack, allowing just two hits and two walks in his seven innings of work. Lively had a season-high eight shutouts, throwing 110 pitches on the season for his fourth win of the season. He entered the week tied with Egloff and Gallegos for the most wins in the conference.
Beaten machine: Dylan Dietzenberger maintained the third-highest batting average in the NCAA last week, going 4-for-10 in the series against Nevada, including a 3-for-6 effort in Saturday’s first multi-double game of the year. Dietzenberger leads the Mountain West with a .473 batting average. He leads the NCAA in runs scored with 2.00, second in runs scored with 1.64, runs scored with 36, and fourth in goals scored with 44. He is one of the top defensive third basemen in the country. In 22 games this year, the senior has committed just one error and has a fielding percentage of .981. After reaching base in a 14-game hitting streak to end his career at Kansas last spring, Dietzenberger continued his streak by hitting all 22 games this season. He’s also on an 18-game hitting streak this week. Dietzenberger enters this week with 95 career RBI, five away from the triple-digit ceiling.
200 hits for Lenny: Lenny Jr. Ashby hit the 200-hit barrier last Friday at Nevada, bringing his total to 96 hits in his two-year career at Odessa College (2020-21) and 105 so far in his second season at New Mexico. Ashby drove in three runs in the first five innings of UNM’s 9-5 win to open the series, raising his season total to 27, second in the Mountain West. Ashby has a .337/.413/.483 slash line this spring. Ashby enters the week one away from hitting 50 in his collegiate career and is 11 bases shy of 200 overall.
David The MW RBI Leader: Jeffrey David picked up his 28th RBI of the season on Saturday, giving him the most runs scored in the conference. David is hitting .327 this spring, hitting at a .369 clip and slugging .515. He entered the week with 99 hits in his UNM career, needing one more to reach the century mark in his second season with the Lobos.
Spenrath strikes again: Reid Spenrath hit a Mountain West-leading eighth home run of the season on Saturday, matching his season-high three hits to help the Lobos to a 12-1 victory. Spenrath increased his RBI count to 24 with a solo shot, and 13 of his 21 hits this year have been home runs or doubles. Spenrath carries a 1.061 OPS on the week and he also leads the conference with 20 walks. Defensively, the first baseman was perfect in 206 innings and was 19 innings short of reaching 600 in his college career. Spenrath is five RBI away from 150 in his career and 14 total bases away from reaching 300.
MCBROOM Unsuccessful again out of the “pen”: Brian McBroom pitched two shutouts in UNM’s win at Nevada on Friday, extending his scoreless inning streak to 6 2/3 frames over his past four road games. The right-hander has given up just five hits in that span, striking out four and issuing zero walks. McBroom has a 3.66 ERA and a WHIP of 1.22 this spring. McBroom is one strikeout short of reaching 50 in his collegiate career this week.
RUNION stores total bases: Two of Brayden Runyon’s four hits last week went for extra bases, raising his season total to 56, which tied him for second in the Mountain West. Runyon had his second double-double of the season on Saturday, going 4-for-10 overall in a win against Nevada to raise his average to .389 on the season. Runion has 24 RBIs this spring, with seven doubles, a triple and four home runs to complement his .622 slugging percentage.
More ground for Pigford Dylan Pigford doubled and tripled in Saturday’s win over UNM, giving him 11 extra base hits among his 29 hits on the season. A productive middle-of-the-order catcher, Pigford carries a .367/.474/.595 slash line while starting all 22 games this spring. His 28 runs scored were second in the Mountain West, along with eight stolen bases.
Mr. Holland Ops: Jake Holland has a 1.089 percentage this season, which ranks third in the Mountain West. The Lobos’ starting catcher had a 2-for-5 performance at Nevada on Friday, raising his RBI count to 21 on the season and raising his batting average to .383. Holland has been perfect behind the defense this spring, handling 88 chances without an error.
Dixon on board: A 4-for-9 weekend for Devon Dixon capped a Nevada series high of the year by going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, raising his batting average 27 points to .273. Dixon was busy on defense over the weekend, matching his season high with four tackles on Friday and making 12 total tackles over the two games at Reno.
Seven strong for EGLOFF For the second time this season, Riley Egloff pitched seven complete innings to help UNM pick up a series-opening victory over Nevada on Friday. The right-hander added four hits to his tally this week, 11 shy of 200 strikeouts in his 2019 collegiate career at Yavapai College. Egloff leads the Mountain West with 36 2/3 innings pitched this spring. Fourth with 33 strikeouts.
There are many things in the head of the father. Three of Connor Kinkade’s six hits this spring have been doubles, the most recent of which came in Saturday’s pinch-hit, RBI-touchdown. Despite just 14 at-bats this spring, Kinkade is hitting .429 and hitting at a .556 clip as UNM’s primary option off the bench.
Gallegos’ turn nixed. Cold weather in Reno on Sunday forced the postponement of the series finale between the Lobos and Wolfpack, meaning junior right-hander Isaac Gallegos missed a chance to pitch for his fifth straight win. Gallegos has been lights out in his first season at UNM, ranking 18th in the NCAA this week with a 0.86 WHIP. Gallegos has 26 strikeouts in 29 innings, allowing just 27 baserunners in that span.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
2023 Record: 18-7, 2-4 Big 12
Head Coach: Tim Tadlock, 11th season
Series history: TTU leads 80-48-1.
At Albuquerque: UNM leads 28-25-1.
First meeting: 4/19/1962
Last meeting: 3/7/2023
The Red Raiders’ 6-3 win over New Mexico on March 7 in Lubbock, Texas lifted the team to No. 15 in the NCAA rankings with seven wins in nine games. Three losses at Texas over the weekend, however, dropped Texas Tech to No. 22 on Monday.UNM prepares to face its second-ranked opponent of the year.
Like the Lobos, the Red Raiders are one of the top offensive teams in the country with a team average of .318 and a 9.52 earned run average. Gavin Cash leads the team with a .437 batting average, nine home runs and 38 RBIs. Austin Green is hitting .364 with six home runs and 35 drives, and Dillon Carter has five long balls for a team-high 38 this spring.
On the mound, TTU holds a team ERA of 4.08 and opponents are hitting .248. Mason Molina, Brendan Girton and Taber Fast are the most trusted starters, with Molina owning a 2.93 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings. TTU has used a variety of relievers, with one reliever used by three different pitchers this season.
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