Home schedule begins today
Ray Birmingham knew the season-opening College Baseball Classic would be something of a trial by fire for the UNM baseball team.
The Lobos’ 11th-year coach wasn’t all that surprised to see his youthful squad come away a bit singed, finishing 1-3 against a talented field that included No. 2 Oregon State.
“We should have won two ball games and could have won three,” Birmingham said. “We didn’t play like the team we know we are, but we got baptized and we learned a lot. I’m actually pretty pleased with what I saw.”
UNM opens its home schedule today with the first of four games against Central Michigan at Santa Ana Star Field. The Chippewas are 2-2 with two wins over Stephen F. Austin and two losses to UTRio Grande Valley during a tournament last weekend in Edinburg, Texas.
The series figures to give fans a chance to see plenty of new Lobos in action, but perhaps not quite as many as Birmingham employed in Surprise, Ariz., last week. UNM took 29 of its 36 roster players on the trip and all 29 saw action. That included 11 freshmen making their Lobo debuts during the tournament.
“You have to put guys in the fight to see what they’re about,” Birmingham said. “We need to give young guys opportunities now so we’ll know who can help us later.”
Birmingham was encouraged with the way his pitching staff performed in Arizona. Lobos pitchers allowed 10 combined runs in their first three games before Oregon State battered them in a 15-3 blowout Monday.
Right-handers Chad Smith, Nathaniel Garley, James Harrington and Malachi Emond did not allow an earned run in 14⅓ combined innings, while late relievers Christian Tripp, Brian Coffey and Hayden Schilling also pitched scoreless baseball.
UNM’s normally potent offense was not as impressive in Arizona, managing just 11 runs and a combined .202 batting average in four games. Preseason All-Mountain West selections Jared Mang and Danny Collier went a combined 3-for-30.
“Part of it is the quality pitching we faced,” Birmingham said, “but some of our top guys were pressing. Our hitters will eventually handle guys like that. They just have to relax and trust what they’re doing.”
First baseman Jeff Deimling had the best offensive numbers in Arizona, hitting .353 with a double and four RBIs. Five freshmen collected their first UNM hits during the tournament.