Open season: UNM baseball hopes to cash in on large recruiting field

The search is on for new Lobos to fill out the University of New Mexico 2026 baseball roster, but this year’s hunt is more complicated than most.

Not only is UNM coach Tod Brown dealing with the NCAA transfer portal and the ever-shifting sands of NIL deals, he’s also juggling new roster limits and scholarships rules that will impact college baseball for years to come. It’s a good-news, bad-news scenario.

On the down side, UNM has several big sets of cleats to fill after finishing 30-23 last season and landing in third place in the Mountain West. All-Conference standouts Will Asby, Ethan Ott and Josh McAlister exhausted their eligibility and dominant junior DH Jordy Oriach entered the portal and recently committed to play at Georgia next season.

In addition, the Lobos are in dire need of pitching after finishing first in the MWC in most key hitting metrics but last in most pitching stats. UNM finished with an unsightly 8.08 earned-run average in 2024.

“Pitching is the priority,” Brown said. “We’ve had a lot of success adding bats to the roster and we’re confident we can do it again. But quality pitching is hard to find and that’s our biggest area of need.”

Fortunately for UNM, the recruiting pool is significantly larger than usual. The transfer portal is busting at the seams with roughly 6,000 baseball players from the Division I, DII and DIII ranks combined. Many of those players will not find landing spots.

The NCAA has reduced baseball roster limits from 40 players to 34 for next season, effectively eliminating around 1,800 positions from Division I teams. Roster limits were increased from 35 to 40 during the COVID 19 pandemic and remained there through last season.

Again, it’s good and bad news for UNM, which now has fewer spots to fill and more potential candidates from which to choose. Recent NCAA rules granting extra eligibility to former junior college players also figures into things. It will benefit the Lobos, who will get an extra season from two-time MWC regular-season batting champ Khalil Walker among others.

But the Lobos, like other teams, will also have less depth and “developmental” players on their roster, Brown said.

“It’ll be tricky,” he said, “especially if you end up with some long-term or season-ending injuries.”

All things considered, Brown does not expect his 2026 roster to be set until August. Baseball’s transfer portal remains open through July 2 and the MLB draft (July 13-14) inevitably sets off additional roster shuffling among college teams.

At the moment, however, UNM is facing less turnover than many teams. The Lobos have nine newcomers committed for next season, Brown said, and need roughly six more to fill out their roster.

FUTURE BULLDOG?: The departure of Oriach, who recently was honored as ABCWA District 8 Player of the Year, leaves a significant hole in UNM’s batting order. The left-handed hitter led the MWC in hits, doubles, runs scored and total bases, finished second in batting average (.388) and third in home runs and RBIs.

Brown wished his talented former DH well, whether he ends up playing at Georgia or elsewhere next season.

“Jordy had multiple offers and going to an SEC school is a good situation for him,” Brown said. “There’s a strong possibility he could be drafted in July and being on Georgia’s roster gives him more leverage.”

Oriach is one of just two UNM regulars who have entered the portal thus far. Cooper Brass, a redshirt freshman infielder who hit .284 in 37 games with a homer and 12 RBIs is the other.

SCHOLARSHIP INCREASE: The NCAA has changed its rules regarding baseball scholarship limits for next season and will allow schools to offer full scholarships to all 34 roster players. Baseball previously was considered an “equivalency” sport with teams limited to 11.7 scholarships that could be divided among roster players.

Few if any schools are expected to immediately offer full scholarships to all baseball players, which would require a dramatic increase in funding. Many schools, including UNM, bolster student-athletes’ partial scholarships with academic or lottery scholarships, or other types of financial aid. UNM has not yet determined its full and partial scholarship totals for baseball next season.