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MWC Baseball Enters Last Two Weekends of Season With Much In Doubt
Sorry about the lateness but here it is anyway. Well, here we are at the last two weekends of the baseball season. Much is still in doubt as New Mexico, Fresno State, and now, Nevada are all within shouting distance of the regular season championship. The championship is worth no more than a bucket of spit as only the tournament champion will get the automatic bid and there will be no at large bids. But you all know that.
Nevada (16-8) at New Mexico (17-7)
This should be a good one. Nevada is hot and the Lobos just got cooled down a bit by UNLV over last weekend. We'll see if New Mexico will rue the day they lost two of three to the Rebels which came as a shock to me. Then again, the Rebels have been surprising teams all year long; just ask Texas and Arizona State. Back to business. Look at the records. The Wolf Pack is only one game behind the Lobos so a two out of three series win for the Pack will change the whole dynamic. Looking forward to this one.
Fresno State (19-8) at UNLV (12-12)
Fresno State is within catching distance of the front running Lobos (see above) but they can't let down against the Rebels as they can only play a spoiler's role this weekend and those of you who have been in such a situation know that is incentive enough. The Dawgs also have to be especially careful as this is their last conference series. A lot is riding on this series. Folks should be scoreboard watching.
San Jose State (16-33) at Long Beach State (28-18)
The Spartans are taking a weekend off from conference battles to take on a very good Dirtbags club. They had been ranked recently and I don't know if they still are. They have split their last four with the two losses being to UCLA and Hawaii. Anyway, a little about the Dirtbags. OK, at best, hitting at .263 with three .300 hitters. They would be Daniel Jackson (.343 and 4), Garrett Hampson (.320 and 1), and David Banuelos (.346 and 3 in limited time). Pitching is the strength of this team and they're led by Darren McCaughlan (7-1 and 2.33), Tanner Brown (6-3 and 3.47), and Chris Mathewson (6-4 and 3.60 with 94 strikeouts in 85 IP). Hmm, I wonder who decided to pitch him his name? Mom or Dad? The Spartans have struggled all year with pitching but hitting has come around. I'll leave it at that.
Air Force (10-14) at San Diego State (7-17)
A team that was riding high until recent losses against one that has not found the winning recipe all year. These two will be playing five games as two were snowed out in Colorado Springs earlier in the conference season. One was suspended and one was played Friday. They split and I'll cover that later. Three more to go. None of these games figure in the final outcome of the regular season title.