by Phil Parker
Daily Lobo
The Lobos look to end a tough four-game losing streak when San Diego State University comes to Albuquerque this weekend for an important three-game series.
After three narrow losses to Mountain West Conference leader UNLV, followed by another close defeat at the hands of New Mexico State University on Wednesday, the series against the Aztecs is suddenly crucial for a team looking to boost itself back to the top of the MWC.
"This is definitely a big series for us," head coach Rich Alday said. "[SDSU] is in second place, but we could very easily get into second place ourselves depending on how we do this weekend."
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The Lobos (23-14, 7-5 MWC) closely trail the Aztecs in the standings (15-19, 8-4 MWC). UNLV is in first place with a conference record of 10-2.
After capping a strong early season with a non-conference win over 9th-ranked Arizona State University, UNM could not pull out three close games in Las Vegas, losing each by one run.
Against NMSU the Lobos led 5-2 in the seventh, but watched their lead vanish once starter Aaron Smith came out of the game. The final score was 10-7.
"We've played very well these last four games," Alday said. "We didn't pitch well out of the bullpen and that hasn't happened all year. We just weren't making good pitches, but hopefully that will change this weekend."
Shortstop Dusty Young said he has confidence that the bullpen will come around.
"The bullpen was picking us up a lot at the beginning of the year when we weren't hitting as well," Dusty Young said. "So I'm sure those guys know that they are the ones that need to start coming through."
The losing skid has not fazed the Lobos and they're looking forward to righting the ship against SDSU.
"We're confident right now," Young said. "In baseball there's always peaks and valleys and you're going to get a losing streak every once in a while. We just have to put it behind us and look forward to this weekend."
Outfielder Sean Murray agreed.
"Baseball is kind of a finicky game sometimes," Murray said. "In all four games, we've just had couple of plays that didn't go our way. This team is very responsive to difficult situations. Our confidence is going to be high heading into this series."
James Vermilyea (4-1) will get the start on the mound Friday, followed by Kris Gross on Saturday and Darren Coltrinari in the finale on Sunday.
Young is looking to extend his UNM-record 35-game hitting streak, which has garnered enough local media attention that his teammates now call him "Hollywood."
First-year head coach Tony Gwynn, a former Major League Baseball All-Star with the San Diego Padres, leads SDSU.
Game times are set for 2 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Lobo Field.
