MWC coaches forecast 3rd-place finish for New Mexico
Armbruester, Landers on all-league team
The University of New Mexico baseball team is picked to finish third in the seven-team Mountain West Conference, per the preseason coaches poll announced Thursday.
San Diego State earned six of seven first-place votes and is the preseason favorite, followed by Fresno State. UNM is tied for third with UNLV, then Nevada, Air Force and San Jose State.
Two Lobo seniors, right-handed pitcher Justin Armbruester and first baseman Kyle Landers, are named to the preseason All-MWC team.
The Lobos open the 2021 season at the College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona, first facing Gonzaga on Feb. 19. There is no word when or if UNM will play home games this season, which would depend on the state public health order and pandemic numbers locally.
In 2020, the Lobos bolted out to a promising 14-4 start before the pandemic brought the season to a halt.
Armbruester, 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds from Sammamish, Washington, had four appearances, all starts, in 2020 and led the team with a 1.14 ERA.
Landers, a 5-10, 175-pound lefty hitter from Flower Mound, Texas, led the Mountain West with a .417 average, going 25-for-60 with six doubles, a home run, and league bests in RBIs (18) and on-base percentage. He was named All-Mountain West and the league’s “Most Impressive Hitter” by DI Baseball.