Lobos Travel To No. 17 Texas Tech

LUBBOCK, Texas – The University of New Mexico baseball teams hits the road for a two-game midweek series at No. 17 Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday and Wednesday. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 5:30 p.m. (MT) and for noon on Wednesday.

This is the Lobos’ third ranked opponent they have faces so far this season, as they played then-No. 11 (now-No. 5) Oregon State on Feb. 18 and 20 and No. 16 Arizona on March 8.

HEAVY HITTIN’ ASHBY

• Lenny Junior Ashby leads the Lobos with five home runs this season, hitting three in just the past week.
• He was named the MW Player of the Week on March 8 after hitting three jacks and a double for a .444 batting average this week.

LAST WEEK FOR THE LOBOS

• New Mexico fell to No. 16 Arizona, 12-5, on March 8. This marked the Lobos’ first midweek matchup of the season. This was also the Lobos’ second ranked opponent they faced this season (No. 11 Oregon State on 2/18 & 2/20).
• Despite the score, a few Lobos got their chance to shine. Lenny Junior Ashby went 2-for-4 and hit his third home run of the season and Miguel Reyes Jr turned in a solid outing as he went 2.1 innings and allowed just one run while striking out two.
• New Mexico took its first conference series of the season, taking two of three games against Fresno State at home on March 11-13.
• The team took the first game by a score of 7-5. Riley Egloff went 6.0 innings as he struck out three to earn his third win of the season. Ashby hit his second home run of the week and went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
• The Lobos dropped the second game, 12-3, but came back to win the rubber match, 9-8, in exciting, walk-off fashion. Tristin Lively put in an impressive 6-inning, six K’s start for the Lobos. Ashby went 2-for-5 with three RBI, a run and his third home run of the week. Chase Weissenborn hit a single with a tied 8-8 game, two outs and two strikes in his at-bat in the bottom of the 11th to drive in the winning run (Jeffrey David).

SCOUTING THE RED RAIDERS

• New Mexico is trailing Texas Tech 47-76-1 in the all-time series
• The Red Raiders have a 14-3 record so far this season.
• 17 Texas Tech swept Rice over the weekend with a 10-1 win on Friday, a 3-2 win on Saturday and a 7-4 win on Sunday. They also split a midweek series to Mississippi State, falling 11-5 on March 8 and winning 7-2 on March 9. This makes the Raiders’ record 14-3 going into this mid-week two-game series.
• Parker Kelly leads Texas Tech with a .364 batting average with 20 hits, three doubles and six homeruns, 22 RBI and 14 runs.
• The Red Raiders’ Brandon Birdsell has been named the Big12 Pitcher of the Week this week. He holds a 1.80 ERA and 2-1 record in four starts.

AROUND THE CONFERENCE

• With 10 triples so far, New Mexico leads the conference.
• The Lobos are tied for first with five sacrifice flies.
• Willie Cano leads the conference with two triples.
• Braydon Runion leads the conference with two sacrifice flies.
• With three wins on the season, Riley Egloff is tied for first in the conference

SEEING DOUBLE

• The Lobos lead the nation in turning double plays with 21 DP’s this season.
• The middle infield duo of Kamron Willman and Cole Posey account for 38 putouts and 83 assists combined.

DONT RUN ON THE LOBOS

• Over last weekend at San Jose State, catcher Cody Holtz threw out three Spartans runners trying to steal second base. He threw out another this past weekend against Fresno State.
• During the Holy Cross series, Johnny (Shane) Podsednik also threw out a Crusader at second base.
• The Lobos have caught six stealing so far this season.

A BROWN NEW ERA

• In July of 2021, Tod Brown was hired as the Lobos new head coach to fill the role of 14-year former UNM coach Ray Birmingham, who retired at the conclusion of the 2021 season.
• A native of Arizona, Brown returns home to the southwest after spending the past 14 years as North Dakota State’s head coach, earning a 341-350 record during that time

LANDERS ON BOBBY BRAGAN WATCH LIST

• Senior first baseman/designated hitter Kyle Landers was named to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List prior to the start of the season.
• He held a .293 batting average with 11 doubles, a triple and a homerun for a .467 slugging percentage last season (2021).
• He was the conference batting champ with a .417 batting average and .567 slugging percentage in the shortened 2020 season.

SOMETHING TO PROVE

• Coming off a 16-25 record, the Lobos finished sixth in the conference last season, preceding only San Jose State
• The squad was voted to finish sixth in the preseason conference poll
• With an almost completely new coaching staff and roster, the Lobos are hoping to turn things around

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

• New Mexico’s 2022 squad includes 18 newcomers – three DI transfers, 12 JUCO transfers, and three true freshmen.
• Kamron Willman (K-State transfer) leads the starters with a .304 batting average and 14 hits.
• Lenny Junior Ashby (Odessa College transfer) leads the Lobos with five homeruns and 13 RBI.
• Owen Loesch (Seminole State JC transfer) and Brian McBroom (Howard College transfer) have been assets out of the bullpen for New Mexico, combining for 23 innings and 16 strikeouts.

LIVELY UP THE PLACE

• Tristin Lively was named to the nine-player Preseason All-Mountain West team on February 10. The all-conference team is voted on by coaches around the league.
• Lively has the second-best ERA of returning starting pitchers for the Lobos (4.59 ERA in the spring of 2021.
• In 33.1 innings of work last season, he struck out 36 batters and held opponents to a .186 batting average.

I’M THE CAPTAIN NOW

• Prior to the start of the season, the 2022 squad voted on the team captains.
• The captains were selected solely by the student-athletes.
• Newcomers Kamron Willman and Cody Holtz, along with returner Adam Schneider, were named the 2022 team captains

ON DECK

The squad heads to Wichita State for a three-game set from March 18-20 in Wichita, Kansas.

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