ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – University of New Mexico baseball coach Ray Birmingham always wanted to host the Mountain West Tournament. He and his second seeded Lobos are getting that opportunity this week.

The league tournament starts Wednesday at Santa Ana Star Field in Albuquerque. San Diego State and San Jose State have an 11 a.m. start time Wednesday. The Lobos and top seed Fresno State get a first round bye and will be in action against other teams Thursday.

Coach Birmingham anticipates a large crowd, not only from participating teams but, all throughout the state of New Mexico. “There’s some people coming from Hobbs, Roswell and Carlsbad and Farmington,” said Birmingham. “There are people coming from all over the state to watch this tournament and watch the Lobos, which you couldn’t have said eight years ago. That’s the cool thing for me. Now we just got to put up.”

The Lobos more than likely need to win the tournament and the automatic bid to guarantee themselves a return to regional.