UNM baseball set to open
Lobos face NCAA qualifier Binghamton tonight
University of New Mexico baseball coach Ray Birmingham has been looking forward to 2017 for quite some time. Understandably so.
The Lobos recently moved into a shiny new clubhouse facility and Birmingham has assembled what looks like a formidable roster. UNM has a veteran core returning from last season’s NCAA Regional qualifying team and an unusually deep pitching staff. On paper everything looks good.
Starting tonight, however, glittering preseason expectations get put to the test. The Lobos open the regular season with the first of three home games against Binghamton, which is not the cushy, pad-your-record kind of series one might expect.
The Bearcats went 30-25 last season and, like UNM, advanced to NCAA Regionals before falling to Minnesota and Texas A&M. And, like UNM, Binghamton has a veteran core of returnees and high expectations for 2017. Coach Tim Sinicki’s team was a unanimous pick to repeat as America East champion.
“Binghamton is no joke,” Birmingham said. “They’re senior-loaded and used to winning. We better be ready to go.”
The Lobos will not have everything in place for opening weekend as a pair of recent injuries will impact the lineup. Junior outfielder/designated hitter Danny Collier will sit out the series
with an abdominal strain, and junior shortstop Andre Gregory, who was expected to start, is out with an ankle sprain.
Even so, UNM’s lineup will feature plenty of familiar faces and plenty of offensive pop.
The infield features senior Jack Zoellner at first base and 2016 Mountain West player of the year Carl Stajduhar at third. Freshman Justin Watari has earned the nod at second base, while sophomore Hayden Schilling will play shortstop. Schilling sat out last season because of injury but started at several positions, including shortstop, in 2015.
Outfield starters will be senior Andre Vigil in right, junior Luis Gonzalez in center and sophomore Jared Mang in left. Gonzalez picked up preseason All-American honors and this week was named to the Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. The Golden Spikes Award is given annually to the nation’s best amateur player.
Junior Daniel Herrera will open at catcher with sophomore Andrew Pratt at designated hitter.
“I’m very excited about our lineup,” said Stajduhar, who hit .331 with a team-best 18 homers and 66 RBIs last season. “Last year most of us went through spurts at the plate, really good for a while then really bad when we tried to do too much. But there’s a lot of ability there. We could actually have kind of a murderers’ row if everyone can stay consistent.”
UNM’s pitching staff could also have a familiar look this weekend as three returnees are expected to start. Right-hander Tyler Stevens will be followed by lefties Carson Schneider and Gonzalez.
But Birmingham and pitching coach Ken Jacome believe they have six legitimate starters and the other three, right-handers Johnathon Tripp, James Harrington and Justin Slaten, could all see action this weekend. Right-hander Christian Tripp, Johnathon’s younger brother, will anchor a deep UNM bullpen.
“Even with a couple guys injured, our lineup looks solid,” Birmingham said. “Last year I thought we were a little ahead of schedule, but this group has a chance to be special. We’ll see if it plays out that way.”