The Lobos (10-6, 2-1) return to home for their first conference home stand of the season where they’ll face the SJSU Spartans (6-10, 2-3). It has been a few weeks since the Lobos have played at home and they would like to get the taste of the last home stand out of their mouths. The Lobos have won four of their last five, including a 2-1 series at Nevada and a midweek sweep of Grand Canyon, so they seem like they’re back to where they were at the start of the season. It will be important for the Lobos to have a good start to the weekend. I think that they should be able to, with Carson Schneider on the mound and the currently-hot lineup facing SJSU’s Friday night starter. If the Lobos are able to get to the Spartans starter early and force the Spartan bullpen to throw a lot of innings, it will only benefit the Lobos. If the Lobos want to be in a good position to win the conference after this early portion of the conference schedule, they need to at least win this series, and hopefully get the sweep.
Scattered Thoughts:
- Chris DeVito has had a monster start to the season. Spending time as both the Lobos catcher and DH, DeVito has been a force in the middle of the Lobo lineup. Last season, we saw some flashes of greatness from DeVito, but I think this could be a very special season for him. So far this season, DeVito is hitting .421 with a .486 OB%, he already has 20 runs batted in, and he has 6 doubles and 5 homeruns.
- Carson Schneider (3-1) has been fantastic for the Lobos in the Friday night role so far this season, and I expect that to continue. Schneider isn’t a strikeout pitcher, with only 15 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings, but he limits the hard contact he allows, giving up only 9 extra base hits (all doubles). Schneider probably has the most amazing stat for the Lobos: he’s walked only 5 batters all season, meaning that he has walked only 4.6% of batters he has faced.
- So far this season, the Lobos have had 13 position players start at least 3 games, with only DeVito and Stajduhar starting every game. Jack Zoellner only missed the game last weekend when the Lobos had a number of players miss the game because of illness, but otherwise he’s also been a constant in the lineup. It is starting to become clear that Birmingham is willing to play a lot of players and will go with the players that are hitting well at the time.
San José State Spartans:
The Spartans are led by fourth-year Head Coach Dave Nakama and are coming off a really hard year in which they went 13-44 overall, including 6-24 in Mountain West play. The Spartans look like a much improved team from last year, but the question will be if they are able see great improvement in the win column. Coach Nakama has had a long, successful career as an assistant coach at both Stanford and Washington, so he comes with a good pedigree that could help mold the SJSU program into something really good. It will be important for the Spartans to become a solid program to help the profile of the Mountain West to improve.
The Spartans lineup is led by sophomore Shane Timmons, who is by far their best hitter. Expect the Lobos to pitch around Timmons to make sure that he isn’t the one that beats them. The Spartan lineup isn’t great, but they are a team that will put the ball in play and make it where you have to make plays in the field. Still, the Lobos will have a huge advantage when it comes to their offensive attack.
The Spartans do have decent pitching, though. Josh Nashed has been their Friday night starter so far this season and has had mixed results, so the Lobos could either see the good version of him, which could make Friday’s game a tough one, or the bad one, in which case we might get to see some fireworks. Logan Handzlik has been their Saturday starter and hasn’t seen good results this season, but I think he could turn it around soon. Their best pitcher so far has been Matt Brown, who will probably start on Sunday. The Spartans do have some good options in the bullpen, but it doesn’t appear that they have much depth.
Conference Standings:
- AFA 3-1
- FSU 2-1
- UNM 2-1
- UNLV 2-1
- SJSU 2-3
- SDSU 1-2
- Nevada 1-4
Series Prediction:
The Lobos are playing good ball again after struggling for a week, and I think we will see the good play continues this weekend. The Lobos should be able to show the strength of their lineup and put themselves in a position for a series sweep. I have the Lobos sweeping this weekend’s series, with the starting pitchers having a great weekend.
Game Info:
Who: New Mexico Lobos (10-6, 2-1) at San José State Spartans (6-10, 2-3)
Where: Santa Ana Star Field, Albuquerque New Mexico
When: Friday March 18th 5 PM MT, Saturday March 19th 2 PM MT, Sunday March 20th 1 PM MT
Probable Starters:
Game 1: Carson Schneider (3-1, 3.29 ERA) vs. Josh Nashed (0-3, 6.26 ERA)
Game 2: Tyler Stevens (2-1, 6.33 ERA) vs. Logan Handzlik (1-0, 6.00 ERA)
Game 3: Colton Thomson (1-1, 5.52 ERA) vs. Matt Brown (1-1, 2.66 ERA)
Stream: MW Network/ Campus Insiders