About a month ago, the UNM baseball team was playing good enough to sit atop the conference standings. But after a clash with UNLV, the Lobos have nose-dived thanks in part to a lack of consistency.
UNM hopes to reverse the trend when the University of Nevada at Las Vegas returns to Lobo Field for a three-game series this weekend.
The Lobos played the Rebels in March with a Mountain West Conference leading 5-1 record and a lot of confidence. But after a three-game series sweep by UNLV in Las Vegas, the Lobos (17-26 overall, 6-12 in conference) have fallen nine games under .500 and lost 13 of their last 15 games, including 11-of-12 in conference. They also are on a five-game losing streak.
UNM head coach Rich Alday said the Lobos need to regain some stability to build momentum going into the conference tournament.
"I think we need to take all three," he said. "Every game counts now and we're only three games out of second place. We need to find some consistency and get back on track."
Alday said the problem has not been at the plate, where the Lobos are batting .341. Todd Stroud leads the Lobos in hitting with a .412 average and Troy Cairns is second with a .383 clip. Cairns also had a 32-game hitting streak earlier this season, which is a Lobo record.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"Our offense has been good," Alday said. "Basically, we've been pretty consistent. We've been able to swing the bats and score enough runs to win most of our games."
Pitching has been UNM's weakness with a team-earned run average of 7.85, while opponents are batting .332 against Lobo pitching.
"We just haven't pitched consistently," Alday said. "We haven't been able to throw our second or third pitches for strikes or hit our spots. Our location just hasn't been there."
The Lobos also have been hampered by injuries. Team leader Donny Sevieri was batting .329 with six home runs when he went down for the season with a torn Achilles tendon March 20 against the Rebels.
"Donny's injury has definitely affected us as team," Alday said. "We miss him as a leader, and we miss his offensive production. Anthony Lovato has stepped up and taken on the role as leader, and he's doing a good a job."
Lovato, the designated hitter, has been on a tear the last seven games. He is batting .462 with three home runs, four doubles, and 12 runs batted in during that span.
One factor that may bode well for UNM is that it will be playing at home. The Lobos are 16-8 at home this season, and a dismal 1-16 away from Lobo Field, including 0-9 in conference play. UNM will play six of its last nine games at home.
"We've got to get ourselves playing consistently," Alday said. "We need to win the last four ball games of the year, which would mean winning the conference tournament. We need to try and win them all from here on out."
The first game is Friday at 3 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday's games start at 1 p.m.