Lobos coming in off of MWC sweep

[NMSooner'80]

(golobos.com)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Lobos completed a conference series sweep with a 16-4 victory over the Air Force Falcons Sunday afternoon at Lobo field.

This was the first and only game this season that UNM has played at Lobo field, so they made it memorable by posting some gaudy statistics. UNM's onslaught was apparent as the Lobos scored in every inning except for the first and seventh.

In true New Mexico baseball fashion, the Lobos came out firing on all cylinders by scoring 16 runs on 19 hits. The 19 hits are the most the Lobos have produced in any game this season, while the 16 runs matched the Lobos' season high set earlier in the season vs. Binghamton.

Even after such a dominating victory, head coach Ray Birmingham still expects more out of his players.

"The thing that I got on them about in the locker room is being consistent and playing the game the right way; and that is not happening," Birmingham explained. "I don't know if it is youth or whatever, but I'm going to demand it and they are going to do it."

Lobos' starting pitcher Richard Olson came into the game pumped up because his fellow game one and game two starters, Rudy Jaramillo and Jake McCasland, threw complete-game shutouts against the Falcons. Olson wanted to make it three straight shutouts for the Lobos, which is something that hasn't happened since 1973. Olson had a fine performance on the day, but unfortunately he couldn't get the Lobos three straight. When it was all said and done, Olson allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out three in seven innings of work.

"My ball was kind of up, so I got touched up for a couple of runs," Olson said. "I wasn't as good as Rudy (Jaramillo) or Jake (McCasland), but I went out there and gave my team a chance to win, and that was all we needed today."

Freshman first baseman DJ Peterson had himself a very nice afternoon. The Big right-handed hitter from Gilbert, Ariz., went 3-for-6 with a team-high five RBIs to go along with two runs scored. All three of his hits were doubles, giving him 25 on the year, which is tops in the Mountain West Conference and is also second best in the nation, depending on the outcome on all of today's games played in the Division I ranks.

"I saw some pitches up early in the game and I happened to put them into the gaps, hit some doubles and score some runs," Peterson explained.

Logan Lippert, who didn't play much earlier in the year, had a very nice game in his fourth consecutive start. The sophomore left fielder went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

With the victory, the Lobos improve to 16-32 (10-11, MWC) on the season. UNM is now in sole posession of third place in the MWC.

Next, UNM travels to Norman, Okla., to take on the No. 10 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in a four-game series, with the first game taking place at 5:50 p.m., MT on May 13.

[Sooner95]

Sweeping a 4 game set would be difficult, but we need to take 3 of them.

[NMSooner'80]

I heard Golloway on KREF (on-line, of course) today. He thinks the Lobos are more dangerous than that record indicates. I tend to agree, having seen them play most of their home games. They do have wins at TCU and at Texas Tech, but they are so young that they are amazingly inconsistent. For example, they swept UNLV here, but got swept in Vegas last weekend.

Last year's team, which was in a regional (first time since 1962 for UNM), could have handled this year's schedule a lot better. They actually won a series in Austin in March of '10, and it wasn't a mid-week version. They lost 8 of 9 position players - either to graduation or the draft, and the one returning position starter changed positions.

Besides inexperience, they also had some disappointing starts from guys who were either projected starters out of JC or were freshmen last year. UNM did find a few guys, including this freshman 1B D.J. Peterson, who have stepped it up since the start of the season. JC 3B Quay Grant is from Burkburnett and will have a few family members there this weekend, I'm sure - and he his an impressive line-driver hitter from both sides of the plate. I still think their best overall position player is sophomore C Mitch Garver. He came from a really good local high school program.

They don't have any fireballers on the mound, but they're probably better than what they had in '06 when OU knocked them around some in a mid-week game that was scheduled late. McCasland will probably be really good, but he's a true freshman. Jaramillo can be pretty crafty, but doesn't have a lot of velocity. Their closer, Gera Sanchez, is probably the closest thing they have to a power pitcher.

My best guess on their starting rotation will be Jaramillo on Friday, McCasland and Olson on Saturday (doubleheader), and either Bobby Mares (RHP) or Sam Wilson (the normal starting center fielder and a freshman) on Sunday.

[bcolston15]

They lost a ton of close games early in the season (Lost 8 of their first 20 games by 3 runs or less), I don't think they're a terrible team, and certainly not as bad as their record would indicate.

They're actually in third place in the MWC. Now, that probably says more about how bad the MWC is than anything, but they have a winning conference record.