Lobos back home for conference series with the Rebels
The University of New Mexico baseball team is more than ready for a weekend of home cooking.
After surviving a crazy span that included 14 games in 18 days (11 of those games on the road), the Lobos (17-8, 7-2 Mountain West) host UNLV (9-15, 3-6) for a three-game series beginning tonight at Santa Ana Star Field.
“It’s so nice to be back in Albuquerque, New Mexico,” Lobos coach Ray Birmingham said. “The road just wears you out.”
UNM’s most recent excursion featured three games in San Diego and two in Sacra- mento, split up by an 8-hour bus ride on Easter Sunday.
“Yeah, not exactly an exciting holiday,” junior Chris DeVito said, “but it was nice to get some sleep.”
In addition to traveling and playing road games, the Lobos have spent a lot of hours doing coursework online. All things considered, Birmingham is happy with the way his players have handled the stretch.
“I’m way happy,” he said. “Considering who we’ve played and where we’ve played, being at the top of the Mountain West is great. But we’ve got to find ways to keep it going. In this league things can change in a heartbeat, and we’re pretty banged-up right now.”
Several Lobos have been playing through nagging injuries but the disabled list also is starting to grow. Outfielder Danny Collier injured a shoulder diving for a ball at Sacramento State and is not expected to return to action anytime soon. Inf ielder Michael Eaton missed most of UNM’s 14-game flurry with an abdominal strain and has not yet returned to practice.
“Some of our young guys have had to step up,” Birmingham said, “and they have.”
Freshmen Jared Mang and Erick Migueles have been logging significant playing time in the outfield and both have contributed. Mang is batting .273 with two homers and 12 RBIs, while Migueles is hitting .290 in 10 recent starts.
No Lobo has been hotter than DeVito, who is hitting .404 with seven homers and a team-best 34 RBIs, but both he and Birmingham credited pitching for much of UNM’s success. Weekend starters Carson Schneider, Tyler Stevens and Colton Thomson have failed to work five innings or more only once this season.