It was a tough weekend for the Lobos (6-4), as they got swept by Dallas Baptist in a three game series at Santa Ana Star Field. Friday, the Lobos lost a close 5-2 game with a little bit of drama, when the Lobos appeared to tie the game at 3-3 when Dalton Bowers was called out at home, because the umpire said he did not touch home plate while sliding past the plate. It looked like Bowers had touched the plate and if he had scored, there is no way of knowing how the game would have played out. Saturday and Sunday’s games will be ones the Lobos will want to forget and move past. In the game Saturday, the Lobos couldn’t get the DBU hitters out, letting DBU put up video game numbers with 33 runs scored in a 33-8 game. While that was a really bad game, these type of games tend to happen in college baseball and in my opinion, Sunday’s game was the loss that hurt the most. After five innings in the game on Sunday, the Lobos had an 11-2 lead with Colton Thomson cruising, but the last four innings was all DBU, as they outscored the Lobos 10-0 to beat the Lobos 12-11.
Pitching Performances:
There were very few bright spots on the weekend the Lobos pitching staff, and considering the team gave up 50 runs over the three games, this isn’t surprising. The Lobos did get good starts on Friday and Sunday, from Carson Schneider and Colton Thomson.
Carson Schneider (2-1): Schneider suffered his first loss of the season, but it wasn’t because he didn’t pitch well. Over 7 1/3 innings he allowed 4 runs (3 earned), with 3 strikeouts, allowing 8 hits and 1 walk. The Lobos will win a lot of games that Schneider starts if he continues to pitch like this.
Colton Thomson (1-0): Thomson’s line doesn’t show how good he was for the first five innings, when he was on cruise control, but got into trouble in the 6th inning. Thomson ended up going 5 + innings, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) with eight strike outs, while allowing 12 hits and 2 walks. He dominated DBU in the first five innings and the view on this weekend would have been different if he didn’t run into trouble in the 6th and if the Lobos won.
Lobo pitching as a whole needs to find a way to become a constant force for the Lobo team. I hope that this is a blip on the radar, instead of a sign of things to come. Something to keep an eye on is how the weekend rotation ends up if there is inconsistency among the starters. In particular, I will be watching to see how Tyler Stevens responds after his rough start on Saturday.
Hitters:
The Lobo line did have some good production over the three games to score 21 runs, including 19 the last two games. The biggest bright spot for me was the continued production from senior shortstop Dalton Bowers, which saw him move up to the number 2 spot in the lineup instead of his customary 9 spot. Chris DeVito also continues to put up good numbers at the plate.
Dalton Bowers: Went 5 for 8 on the weekend with 4 walks, 2 doubles and a homerun. Bowers scored 4 runs and had 2 RBIs and on the base paths he was 2 for 2 on stolen bases.
Chris DeVito: Went 7 for 11 with a walk to improve his batting average to .500 on the season. DeVito had a double and a homerun, scoring 3 runs and driving in 3 runs.
Jared Mang: Went 3 for 7 with a walk, 4 runs scored, and 2 RBIs. Mang didn’t have any extra base hits this weekend, but was 3 for 5 in the last two games.
Danny Collier: Went 3 for 10 in two games this weekend. Collier saw his first two starts of the season and went 3 for 5 on Saturday with 4 RBIs and a run scored.
Luis Gonzalez: Went 5 for 8 with a walk and a double in two starts this weekend, with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Gonzalez was also 2 for 2 on stolen bases.
Erik Migueles: Saw his first action Saturday and was rewarded with a start on Sunday. Migueles went 3 for 7 with a walk, a double, a triple, and drove in 3 runs. Don’t be surprised if you see Migueles get more at bats in the near future.
Up Next:
The Lobos will take on NMSU (7-6) Tuesday Night in El Paso, Texas. It is weird scheduling this year in this four-game series, with all of the games played during the midweek and with one game in each of El Paso, Roswell, Albuquerque and Las Cruses. The Lobos should have the edge in this game, with James Harrington on the mound and able to go his normal workload. It will be interesting to see how the Aggies will approach this game on the mound. I have the Lobos winning this game 12-4, with the Lobos offense showing their power.
Game Info:
Who: New Mexico Lobos 6-4 vs. New Mexico State Aggies 7-6
Where: Southwest University Park (Home of the El Paso Chihuahuas), El Paso Texas
When: Tuesday March 8th, 6:30 PM MT
Stream: No Steam for the game
Stats: golobos.com