The Lobo Women’s soccer team looks to build on year one of the Heather Dyche era, where they finished 10-8-2 overall and 7-3-1 in Mountain West play. One of the more surprising things from last year was how much they struggled at the Lobo Soccer Complex, where they went 3-5-0, but they showed great resolve on the road, where they finished 6-3-1, including an unbeaten 5-0-1 in conference play. It will be important for the Lobos to continue the great play on the road and find a way to play better at home if they’re going to build on last year’s successes. To that point, the Lobos will only play one non-Conference home game against NMSU, meaning the Lobos will be on the road for the first month of the season, including games at Texas Tech and California. The Lobos need to keep their head afloat in that first month and find their top form in time for the conference tournament.
Author: Zach
2016 UNM Men’s Soccer Preview
After two straight disappointing seasons, the Lobos men’s soccer team looks to bounce back, get back to the NCAA Tournament, and once again be a national title contender. This is a very important year for the program, since perception of a program can change very quickly and hurt scheduling and recruiting. A good thing for the Lobos is they have been young and unlucky the last two season, which shouldn’t be the case anymore. Although they can’t control the luck aspect, they will be an experienced squad. The Lobos will have multiple-year starters, key transfers, and a highly regarded recruiting class this year. All that makes me think that if the team can come together to fulfill their potential, it could be a very exciting and special season.
Baseball Season Awards and Wrap-up
With the end of the College Baseball season, in which Coastal Carolina became the National Champions, it is as good a time as any to look back at the fun and exciting season that the Lobo baseball team had. While the ending of the season was a disappointment, it showed us how close we are to breaking through to Omaha. Beyond that, Coastal Carolina’s championship shows that college baseball is a much flatter landscape than basketball or (especially) football, where teams from smaller conferences and fewer resources can still compete with the big boys.
Mountain West Baseball Conference Tournament Preview
At last, the long, slow grind of the Mountain West baseball regular season is behind us, and the joy and agony of postseason play is about to begin. On Wednesday morning, here in Albuquerque at Santa Ana Star Field, the conference tournament kicks off with the 6/7 play-in game between San Diego State and San Jose State and won’t stop until a champion is crowned over the weekend. It is pretty simple for all but maybe one or two teams (Fresno State and possibly New Mexico): win the tournament or your season is over.
To Rest or Not to Rest? That’s Lobo Baseball’s Question
(Ed. Note: This article was meant to go up before the series started, so we already have a bit of an idea of what the team is planning on doing. Thanks to their 23-2 blowout win against Air Force today, the decision might be a little different, now that they only need two more wins to clinch a share of the regular season title. Hopefully they can keep it rolling tomorrow.)
The Lobos (33-20, 18-9) have a very interesting decision to make in their series against the Air Force Academy (27-23, 11-16) this weekend: should they play for the chance to be co-champions for the regular season, or should they rest some of their players to get ready for the Mountain West Tournament? There are pros and cons to both options, and I am sure that this is something the coaches are thinking about. The Mountain West will be a one-bid league again this season, meaning that the only way to make the NCAA Tournament field, which is absolutely the main goal for the Lobos, is to win the conference tournament. This wouldn’t have been a question if the Lobos hadn’t slipped the last few weeks, having lost their last three weekend series and winning only two of the nine games, as they were in decent shape for an at-large bid before that. But, seeing how things look right now, it might be worth losing a couple of battles to win the war.
Lobo Baseball vs Nevada Series Preview
The Lobos (32-18, 17-7) look to get back on track after dropping the last two weekend series. This will be the last home series for the Lobos this season, but not the last games played at Santa Ana Star Field, as it will play host for the Mountain West Conference Tournament in two weeks. The Lobos are still in first place in the Mountain West, but at this point will likely have to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. This weekend, the Lobos will host third place Nevada (28-20, 16-8) in a key matchup for seeding for the MW Tournament. If the Lobos are able to sweep the series, they will most likely win the Regular Season Title, but if they don’t, next weekend’s games become even more important.
Lobo Baseball at UNLV Series Preview
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.
Lobo Baseball at ASU Series Preview
The Lobos (30-13) head to Phoenix this weekend to play a key non-conference series against Arizona State Sun Devils (23-15). This is a huge series for the Lobos, as they look to lock up an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, which would take away some of the pressure to win the Mountain West Tournament in Albuquerque in a few weeks. While the Sun Devils aren’t as strong as they normally are, they are still a very good college team and wins against them will look good on your resume for the NCAA Tournament. The Lobos were able to win one out of three against Texas Tech this season, which helps their at-large case, but they do probably need a couple of wins against the Sun Devils to really feel good about their chances to make the tournament. However, the Lobos can’t worry about the NCAA Tournament too much right now, as thye just need to focus on each game and series that is in front of them for the next few weeks. At the end of the day, this series will be a good test for the Lobos, and I think that it could give them great confidence going into the last three conference series.
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Lobo Baseball vs. SDSU Series Preview
The Lobos (27-12, 14-4) are coming off a great win Wednesday against Top-10 Texas Tech and will look to build on that this weekend. They return to Mountain West play with a three game home series against San Diego State (11-23, 4-8), which could give them an opportunity to expand their lead in the conference. In the first series between the two teams, the Lobos won the first two games, 5-3 and 4-2, before falling in the finale, 11-6. The first series was during Easter weekend, which meant that the games were played Thursday through Saturday, so the Lobos didn’t have their normal weekend rotation and Colton Thomson didn’t pitch in the series. The Lobos will have a huge advantage at the plate during this series, as the Aztecs only have one player hitting over .300, so it should be a good weekend for the Lobos and should keep their lead in the conference standings.
Lobo Baseball at SJSU Series Preview
The Lobos (24-10, 12-3) will look to continue their great play in the Mountain West when they face SJSU in San Jose. The Lobos currently have a 2.5 game lead in the conference halfway through the conference season, which puts them in a good position for the home stretch. They’ll start the back half of conference play by looking to sweep the season series against SJSU (10-22, 3-12), after winning all three games in Albuquerque last month by scores of 9-6, 3-2 and 11-1. It will be hard to sweep all six games from the Spartans, but the Lobos do have an edge in every aspect of the game. The most important thing for the Lobos in this series is for the pitching staff to continue having the great outings we’ve started to become accustomed to. In the first series meeting with the Spartans, the Lobos had great performances from Tyler Stevens and Colton Thomson, while Carson Schneider had his one rough start of the year. I think that the Lobos should be able to jump ahead of the Spartans early and dominate this series.