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Saturday, February 14, 2009
Bats Will Stir UNM's Drink in 2009 MWC Chase
By Ken Sickenger
Journal Staff Writer
A sneak attack appears out of the question for the 2009 University of New Mexico baseball team.
The Lobos nearly pulled one off last year. In a Mountain West Conference preseason poll, they were picked to finish fourth. They wound up a win away from the league's tournament championship and a trip to NCAA regionals.
With less than a week remaining until the 2009 season opener, UNM is likely to appear on a lot more radar screens this spring. The Lobos moved up just one notch — to third — in the '09 MWC poll, but they have as many preseason all-conference players (four) as any team in the league.
Coming off a 34-25 season with the heart of a potent offense returning, New Mexico even received votes in Collegiate Baseball's preseason Top 40 poll. Expectations, from outside the program and within, have changed.
"There's a different confidence level about exactly what we can accomplish," said UNM outfielder Brian Cavazos-Galvez, who joined first baseman Kevin Atkinson, second baseman Mike Brownstein and catcher Rafael Neda on the preseason all-conference team.
"I think last year's guys were kind of surprised at how much they could accomplish in just one year," Cavazos-Galvez said. "If we could do that, there's no reason we can't take another big step."
Atkinson agreed, adding that last season's run to the MWC tournament finals can serve as a lesson.
"Just the experience of being so close," he said. "When we were playing TCU, there were some nerves. Now we've been there. We know you've got to play the last game of the season just like first game. You can't let the hype get to you."
If nothing else, New Mexico figures to hit well enough to contend for an NCAA run in 2009.
The loud ping of aluminum bats echoed through the stands at Isotopes Park on Friday as the Lobos worked through an intrasquad scrimmage. Second-year coach Ray Birmingham expects the sound to be common when his club is batting.
UNM returns its top three batters (Cavazos-Galvez, Brownstein and Atkinson), according to average from a season ago. The top four are back if you include outfielder Max Willett, who was hitting .348 when a broken hand ended his season after 12 games.
"We can swing it," Atkinson said, "hands down better than last year."
That's not good news for rival Mountain West Conference pitching staffs, because UNM led the league in batting average, slugging, on-base percentage and finished second in runs, hits and total bases during conference play last season.
Could the 2009 offense really be more potent?
"We don't have one guy in the lineup who's just in there for defense," Cavazos-Galvez said. "It's gonna be fun."
New Mexico also led the MWC in fielding percentage in 2008 but has a few defensive holes to fill. Most notable are the vacancies at shortstop and third base.
Birmingham said both holes have been effectively filled. Las Cruces High graduate and El Paso Community College transfer Daniel Gonzalez will play shortstop, while senior Dane Hamilton moves into third base.
Few might be surprised to see UNM hit and field on contending levels this season. The question, as it has been for years with Lobo baseball, will be: Is the pitching good enough?
The Journal will take a closer look at UNM's pitching prior to Friday's opener against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. For the moment, suffice it to say the Lobos' everyday players think the staff could sneak up on people.
"We lost some experienced guys," Cavazos-Galvez said. "But we've got more guys who can get the job done."
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