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The UNM baseball team is no stranger to tough schedules. In fact, head coach Ray Birmingham prefers them.
As far as he’s concerned, playing against the top competitors is the best way to punch a ticket to the College World Series, held each year in Omaha, Neb.
On Sept. 13, Birmingham released the UNM 2013 baseball schedule, which features games against 11 teams that reached the NCAA Regionals in 2012.
“It’s no different than the schedule I’ve made the last four years,” said Birmingham, whose Lobos went 37-24 last season. “I want to go to Omaha, and the only way to do that is to toughen your kids up and play good people.”
UNM has recently been considered among the country’s best baseball teams. Twenty-five teams clinched spots in the NCAA Regionals consecutively over the last three years — including the Lobos.
“That’s a big deal. That’s huge deal,” Birmingham said. “We were one of the best 25 teams in the last three years. That’s because we play this kind of schedule every year.”
The Lobos are slated to play eight teams — five of whom had top-40 RPI — in 2012. Those teams are Arizona State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri State and New Mexico State. The RPI, or ratings percentage index, ranks teams based on wins, losses and strength of schedule.
In 2013, UNM will face four nonconference teams it played last season — Oklahoma, NMSU, ASU and Texas Tech. The Lobos went 2-7 against those teams a season ago with wins against the Sun Devils and Red Raiders.
The Lobos battled Nevada and Fresno State in nonconference games last season, but those opponents will be MWC foes in 2013.
“When you get to play big-time Division I baseball, you want to play against the name schools,” Birmingham said. “You want to play against the schools that you have a chance to do something special. You don’t want to play somebody you beat up on all the time.”
UNM’s season gets tough right from the start, hosting Oklahoma State for in a season-opening three-game home stand Feb. 15-17, 2013. Birmingham called Oklahoma State one of the premier teams in the nation.
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The Lobos follow that series up with the Whataburger Classic Feb. 22-24, featuring Oklahoma, Iowa and host Texas-Corpus Christi, and a three-game road series at Nebraska on March 1-3.
The Rio Grande Rivalry games with NMSU are scheduled for April 1 in Las Cruces and April 16 at home.
UNM will also face La Salle, UC Riverside and Arkansas in nonconference action.
MWC play begins March 15, with a road trip to UNLV, with the regular season wrapping up at San Diego State on May 18.
The MWC tournament is scheduled for May 22-26, 2013, in Fresno, Calif.
“I have to go after the big dogs and get my team tough,” Birmingham said. “If we win the conference and win the tournament, we move on. If we get 40 wins with this schedule, we’ll be in quite a good shape.”
For the complete 2013 UNM baseball schedule, visit: Golobos.com highlight the sports tab and click baseball. Then click schedule/results.
