Lobos Look to Stay Hot in Rematch with Aztecs at Home April 26-28

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Baseball returns home to host San Diego State at Santa Ana Star Field this weekend, with the Lobos looking to snap a streak of three straight MW weekend series losses in their second meeting with the Aztecs (11-29, 5-13 MW) this season.

UNM is fresh off a successful midweek road trip after defeating Texas Tech (29-14, 12-9 Big 12) on the road for the first time since 2015 with the largest margin of victory against the Red Raiders since 1985 and largest ever in Lubbock. The Lobos have now won four of their last six since snapping their longest losing streak of the season at eight games last Sunday, with three of those wins against teams that rank in the Top 150 in the nation by RPI – they sit in a tie for fourth place in the MW standings with Nevada (10-10). After Tuesday’s win, the Lobos improved to 7-0 in games in which they hold opponents to three runs or fewer — three of those have come in the Lobos’ last six.

Meanwhile, the Aztecs head to Albuquerque on a six-game skid that has put them 2.5 games out of sixth place in the league standings – their series win over the Lobos in March is the only conference weekend series in which they’ve taken two of three this season. If UNM — currently tied for fourth in the league standings — were to win two or three games this weekend, it would go a long way towards solidifying the Lobos’ chances at holding on to that No. 4 spot for their first MW Tournament appearance since 2017.

Should the Lobos win a game this weekend, it’ll be the first time that UNM takes two from the Aztecs in the same season since 2019.

Heading into this weekend, UNM is batting .319 on the season as a team with an OPS of .936 while averaging 8.89 runs and 11.87 hits per nine innings to lead the league in batting average, slugging, on base percentage, runs, hits, RBI, total bases and walks. Khalil Walker (.394) and Jake Holland (.391) have the two best batting averages in the Mountain West — Holland also leads the league in slugging (.882) while ranking second in RBI (46) and HR (13), while Walker leads the league in OBP (.500). Reed Spenrath leads the league in triples (4) and ranks sixth in slugging (.664). Tye Wood ranks third in OBP behind Walker at .480 with the second-most stolen bases (12).

UNM also ranks No. 14 in all of D-I college baseball in batting average (.319), No. 18 in team on-base percentage (.424), No. 18 in doubles per game (2.41), No. 19 in total hits (430), No. 27 in total double plays (35), No. 29 in DP per game (0.90),  No. 37 in slugging (.512), No. 45 in runs scored (322) and No. 67 in base on balls (208). 

Friday’s series opener is set for a 6 p.m. start time, with Saturday’s Game Two at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale at 12 p.m. (all times MT). All three games will be streamed via the MW Network, with live stats available via GoLobos.com/BSBStats. Follow @UNMLoboBaseball on socials for promotional/marketing and gameday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 – Lobo Baseball Keychain Giveaway / Laguna Burger Coupon Promo
SATURDAY, APRIL 27 – Poster Giveaway
SUNDAY, APRIL 28 – Kids get to run the bases postgame

vs. San Diego State (11-29, 5-13 MW)
April 26-28 | Albuquerque, N.M. | Santa Ana Star Field

PROBABLE STARTERS
Game 1 – 4/26, 6 p.m. MT
SDSU: RHP Jacob Riordan
UNM: RHP Dayne Pengelly
Game 2 – 4/27, 2 p.m. MT
SDSU: RHP Omar Serrano
UNM: RHP Brett Russell
Game 3 – 4/28, 12 p.m. MT
SDSU: RHP Xavier Cardenas III
UNM: TBA

MOUNTAIN WEST IMPLICATIONS
Friday’s Game One kicks off a stretch of four consecutive conference weekend series to close out the regular season for the Lobos (20-19, 9-9 MW) – all four of which against teams they’ve already faced in a weekend series earlier in the season. Currently in tied for fourth place in the league standings with Nevada (10-10) with both 3.5 games behind first-place Fresno State, they need to stay in the top four over the next four weeks to secure their first MW Tournament berth since 2017.

After this weekend wraps up, the Lobos face sixth-place UNLV (9-12) in Las Vegas May 3-5 and fourth-place Nevada (10-10) at home May 10-12 before closing out the regular season against third-place San Jose State (11-10) on the road May 16-18. UNM swept the Rebels (7-6, 31-15, 6-5) and took two of three from the Spartans (13-16, 7-5, 17-4) at home in their first meetings, but dropped two against the Wolf Pack on the road (2-13, 3-4, 10-8).

MOUNTAIN WEST STANDINGS (as of 4/24)

ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM is 85-134 against the Aztecs in an all-time series that dates back to 1960 – they’re 24-56 against them as WAC opponents (1978-1998) and 61-75 as members of the Mountain West (1999-present). Entering the 2024 season, the Lobos had an 11-game losing streak to SDSU that was snapped with 5-2 win in the series opener at Tony Gwynn Stadium on March 28. The win was Coach Brown’s first against SDSU — the Aztecs were the only team the Lobos faced this season that Brown had yet to defeat at least once in his coaching career.

They’ve dropped six weekend series to the Aztecs since the last time they took two out of three in 2019 – also in San Diego. UNM was 0-6 against the Aztecs last season but lost four of those games by two runs or less.

FIRST MEETING (March 28-29)
The Aztecs swept a DH (8-6, 13-0 [7 Inn.]) on March 29 to take the three-game set in San Diego after the Lobos snapped an 11-game losing streak to SDSU with a 5-2 win in the series opener the day prior. On the weekend, Reed Spenrath led the Lobos with a .333 batting average, connecting on a double and a homer while driving in three runs. Akili Carris also finished with three RBI on the weekend on a pair of doubles and Jake Holland drove in a team-high four on two hits — a single and a homer. Entering the weekend with a league-best .332 average, UNM batted .206 in the first two games but was held to .155 batting on the weekend — their lowest average in a three-game span all season — after getting no-hit for seven innings in a 13-0 run-rule victory in the second leg of the DH. UNM lost six more in a row after dropping two in a row at Tony Gwynn Stadium, eventually righting the ship with a 6-2 win over league-leading Fresno State at home April 14.

LAST TIME OUT
UNM dictated the tone of its midweek matchup with Texas Tech (29-14, 12-9 Big 12) on the road at Rip Griffin Park the whole way on Tuesday, racking up 21 hits and slamming four homers behind a complete effort from the bullpen en route to a 17-3 win — the first for the Lobos in Lubbock since 2015.

NOTABLES

• UNM’s 14-run margin of victory was its largest against Texas Tech since a 15-0 win in Albuquerque on Feb. 10, 1985 and the largest ever in a game between the two teams in Lubbock.
• The Lobos have now beaten TTU in each of the last three seasons — the first time they’ve done so since 2017 — and split the two-game season series in the last two.
• It’s also the second win against a Power 5 team on the road this season for the Lobos, who downed Arizona State 6-4 in Phoenix in midweek action on March 12. They’ve now won four of six since snapping their longest losing streak of the season at eight games last Sunday, with three of those wins against teams that rank in the Top 150 in the nation by RPI.
• The loss for Texas Tech was only their fourth this season at home — they are 23-4 in games played at Rip Griffin Park in 2024. UNM snapped a streak of 11 straight wins at home for the Red Raiders.

“Had a great start from Barnhouse and the bats got going early,” said UNM Head Coach Tod Brown, who improves to 3-5 against Texas Tech in his three seasons at the helm in Albuquerque and has won three of the last five meetings.  “Steinkamp, McBroom, Jackson and Bannister came in and did a great job throwing strikes and getting out of jams.

“The bats were hot today and we really put some quality at-bats together and didn’t miss on mistake pitches — hoping this can be the game that gets us hot as we head into a big weekend of conference play.”

ON DECK
UNM heads back to Las Cruces, N.M. on Tuesday for their third midweek meeting with in-state rival New Mexico State (17-23, 4-11 C-USA) — the Lobos took the first matchup at home in seven innings (14-4) on March 19 but fell 2-10 in Round Two on the road on April 9.

LOBOS SWINGING HOT BATS
JAKE HOLLAND: Holland already has three games with multiple homers this season and 10 games with multiple RBI – he’s batting .391 with an absurd 1.302 OPS. He’s picked up a hit in 10 straight games now, including a career-high five against Fresno State on April 13. At the midseason point, Holland was ranked as the No. 29 catcher in the nation by D1Baseball.com. Leads the team in 2B (14), HR (13) and RBI (46).
WILL ASBY: Asby hadn’t hit a homer in his last 13 games prior to UNM’s second game against Air Force last Sunday – he’s now hit three in his last three games, with multiple hits in four of his last six. With his third grand slam of the season, Asby has now matched a single-season program record set in 1995 by Mark Wulfert and is up to five games this season with four or more RBI. He and Holland have combined for 91 RBI, 23 HR and 27 2B.
KHALIL WALKER: Walker just keeps producing at the plate – he now not only leads the Lobos in average (.394) and on base percentage (.500), but the entire Mountain West. He’s hit safely in 10 straight, with three multi-hit games while connecting on two of his seven doubles on the season in that span.

WIL BANNISTER: THE CLOSER
There’s been no more reliable arm out of the pen than RHP Wil Bannister in the month of April — through his last nine appearances dating back to the last time the Lobos faced the Aztecs on March 28, he’s posted a 1.72 ERA over 15.2 IP, collecting three saves and holding opponents to a .098 batting average. The only outing in which he’s allowed an earned run in that span was against Air Force in which he held the Falcons hitless until they mashed two homers in the ninth (3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) – he still earned the save that day. Those two HR are the only extra base hits he’s allowed in his last nine. Bannister closed out the Lobos’ win over Texas Tech emphatically, striking out the first two he faced to cue a 1-2-3 inning.

SEEING DOUBLE
The Lobos have excelled at getting two for one this season, ranking No. 27 in NCAA D-I in total double plays (35) and No. 18 in total doubles (95). They rank No. 29 in double plays per game (0.9) and No. 18 in doubles per game (2.41).
Jake Holland ranks No. 10 in the NCAA D-I in doubles per game (0.47) and he and Reed Spenrath both rank No. 77 in NCAA D-I in total doubles (14)
UNM ranks No. 3 in the MW in assists (364) and leads the league in DP — Spenrath has been a part of 34 double plays (No. 1 in the MW), while Dixon has helped stitch 27 (No. 2 in the MW).

LONG BALL LOBOS
The Lobos found a penchant for the long ball in the month of March and haven’t looked back since – after homering four times in their first eight games, they’ve connected on 44 for a total of 90 RBI since March 1. UNM is 12-3 in games this season in which the Lobos hit multiple homers – they’ve hit three or more in a game six times (5-1 in those games)
UNM is 15-9 in games in which the Lobos go yard at least once. The Lobos are slugging a MW-best .512 as a team after mashing seven HR in their last four.
11 different Lobos have hit a homer this season for a total of 49 through 39 games – 32 have been at Santa Ana Star Field.
Jake Holland leads the Lobos with 14 homers (No. 2 in MW) and Will Asby (10) and Reed Spenrath both (9) — all of Spenrath’s have come since he hit his first of the season on March 10 against UNLV. Chase Weissenborn and Khalil Walker hit their first of the season — and only the second of Weissenborn’s career — back to back against TTU on Tuesday. Devon Dixon hit his first homer of the season against Arizona State in Phoenix two weeks ago and followed with his second exactly a week later against NM State at home to join four other Lobos – Tye Wood, Kyle Smith, Gene Trujillo and Josh McAlister – that have at least two each on the season.