Here is the preview of the series for this weekend in the Mountain West:
Nevada (35-11, 18-6 MW) vs New Mexico (24-19, 13-8 MW)
The Wolf Pack travel to Albuquerque for a three game series against the Lobos. Nevada has a chance this weekend to clinch at least a share of the Mountain West regular season title if they win two out of three against New Mexico and if the Aztecs lose twice to UNLV. Nevada can win the conference outright if they sweep the Lobos and the Aztecs lose twice to the Rebels.
The Wolf Pack lead the nation in runs scored as they average eight runs per game and lead the nation in on-base percentage at .416. Mountain West player of the week Jordan Pearce contributed to those number last weekend against San Jose State when he batted .800 while getting eight hits and five RBI.
The Lobos have won at least a share of the Mountain West title for the last three years and for the Lobos to maintain their crown, they'll need to sweep the Wolf Pack. The Lobos come into the series banged up but they do get Preseason All-MW second baseman Sam Haggerty back and they lean on their freshman studs third baseman Carl Stajduhar( who is currently 13th in the nation with 18 doubles) and catcher Cory Voss ( who is second in the nation among freshman with a .620 slugging percent ).
Also, Lobos freshman pitcher Tyler Stevens leads the Mountain West with an ERA of 2.78 and two way player Hayden Schilling has an ERA of 1.42 in 13 relief appearance .
UNLV (20-23, 6-15 MW) vs San Diego State 30-16, 16-8 MW)
The Aztecs are in second place and look to keep pace with the first place Wolf Pack as they host the Rebels this weekend. The Aztecs have four players batting over .300 and junior outfield Seby Zavala leads the team with 44 RBIs. Aztecs pitcher Bubba Derby will get the start this weekend and leads the team with 95 strikeouts.
The Rebels are led by their bullpen and their two closers Zach Hartman and Brayden Torres both have three saves apiece. Senior Erik VanMeetren leads the team with five home runs and is hitting .303 with 23 runs batted in.
Fresno State (21-24, 11-10 MW) vs San Jose State (11-34, 4-17)
The Bulldogs go on the road, where they have struggled going 2-7 against Mountain West teams on the road, to face the last place Spartans. Fresno State is currently in fourth place in the Mountain West and are looking to end a three game losing streak and get back to .500 and what better way to do that then to play a San Jose State team that the Bulldogs swept back in March. The Bulldogs are lead on offense by senior outfield Taylor Temple as he leads the team with a .357 batting average and is on a six game hitting streak.
Air Force (19-23, 10-14 MW) vs Army (20-24, 6-14 Patriot League)
The Falcons travel east to face the Black Knights in an out of conference series. This is the first trip ever the Falcons have made to West Point and the Falcons hope to come away with a series win. Last weekend, the Falcons dropped two games against UNLV and their midweek game against Northern Colorado was canceled due to weather and no make-up date will be set.