The Lobos (31-16, 16-5) continue their seven-game road trip with a key three game series against UNLV Rebels (20-24, 10-11). The Lobos are holding on to a 1.5 game lead in the conference over Fresno State, who the Lobos hold the tiebreaker over. If the Lobos win each of their remaining three series, the Lobos should be in good shape to win the MWC Regular Season Title. In the first series against the Rebels, the Lobos won the first two games, 15-3 and 10-5, before falling in the finale 6-5. It is important for the Lobos to take care of business these next two weeks so they can rest players and get ready for the conference tournament, and then hopefully the NCAA Tournament.

Scattered Thoughts:

• This weekend we will see a slightly different rotation from the Lobos simply because Carson Schneider will be unavailable, as the Lobos look to keep him fresh for the conference tournament. Colton Thomson will be getting the start on Friday night, instead of his Sunday role, Stevens will get his normal Saturday start, and look for James Harrington to get the start on Sunday.
• The Lobos finished their midweek games on Tuesday with a 3-2 win against NMSU, which gave them a 3-1 series win against the Aggies. With the Lobos being done with midweek games, look for Harrington to become a key factor in the bullpen, or potentially being the third weekend starter if they decide to give Thomson and Stevens a weekend start off.
• Look for freshman catcher Andrew Pratt to get a couple of starts behind the plate in this series. While his numbers won’t jump off the page, he has given the Lobos great at bats and has had some bad luck on hard hit balls. The thing that has impressed me the most so far with Pratt is how well he has done behind the plate, both with his defense and his management of the game. He has given the Lobos a shot in the arm and given Coach Birmingham the chance to DH Chris DeVito as he deals with a hamstring injury.
• The Lobos need to find consistent production from the right field and left field positions, if they’re going to make a run in the postseason. If the Lobos are able to get solid contributions from two players at those positions, it will allow Coach Birmingham to have a deep bench late in games.

Conference Standings:

1. UNM 16-5
2. FSU 17-7
3. Nevada 13-8
4. UNLV 10-11
5. AFA 9-13
6. SDSU 5-14
7. SJSU 6-18

UNLV Rebels:

Here is a look at the Rebels in our first series preview, and the first series recap.

The Rebels have just two players that are hitting over .300 on the season, but are led by Payton Squier, who is hitting .365 with 8 doubles and a homerun. The Rebels won’t blow you away with their offense, having hit only 15 homeruns on the season, so it will be important for the Lobo pitching staff to not allow free passes this series.

The Rebels have struggled on the mound this season and are without a pitcher with an ERA under 4. D.J. Myers could potentially give the Lobos the most trouble this series, as he is the pitcher with the most strikeout potential, but he could just as easily have a short game and be knocked out in the fourth inning. If the Lobos are able to get to the Rebel bullpen early in the series, I really like the Lobos chances for a sweep.

Series Prediction:

The Lobos are the favorites to win this series, but the Rebels have been playing better ball as of late. That being said, I really like the Lobos to win the series and keep control of conference lead. I puts the odds of the Lobos winning two games at 58% and 25% to sweep the series. This should be a fun series to watch how it plays out.

Game Information:

Who: New Mexico Lobos (31-16, 16-5) at UNLV Rebels (20-24, 10-11)

Where: Earl E. Wilson Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada

When: Friday May 6^th 7:05 PM, Saturday May 7^th 3:05 PM, Sunday May 8^th 2:05 PM

Stream: MW Network