ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Lobo baseball kicked off their home schedule for the 2020 season on Friday, playing host to Northern Colorado.

It would be a back and forth battle but the University of New Mexico would pull off a 7-6 victory in their home opener. UNM is now 3-2 on the year and game three of four with Northern Colorado will be on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Sticking with baseball, UNM’s starting pitcher on Friday is not only a great arm on the mound, but Aaron Makil is a guy that had to work to get to where he is now. Makil was not highly recruited out of high school and worked his way up through a junior college in Arizona to get to Division I baseball.

Makil is very humbled to be playing with the Lobos, but he is also very proud to represent his Native American heritage at the Division I level.

“A lot of people think that I am of other ethnicities but I have to tell them every time that I am Native American because I want to be known as that and I just have a lot of pride with that and hold it with a lot of honor,” said Makil.

Makil is from the Salt River Reservation in Arizona and he hopes that by fulfilling his dream of playing baseball at a high level, he can give back to his community in the future.

“Being able to come out here and get the exposure, like I have already though, about just being able to go back to the community where I am from and just be able to like share the knowledge with them and be able to just hopefully start some camps of something. Just to be able to work with the youth and all that,” said Makil.

Meanwhile, the 2020 New Mexico Activities Association State Wrestling Tournament started up on Friday at the Santa Ana Star Center. Quarterfinal and consolation matches were held on Friday afternoon.

Finals for the State Wrestling Tournament will start at 5 p.m on Saturday at the Santa Ana Star Center.

Lastly, UNM men’s basketball will look to snap a three-game losing skid on Sunday against Boise State and will be shown on CBS Sports Network.

Lobo women’s basketball will be in action at home on Saturday. UNM is looking to bounce back from an overtime loss on Wednesday to Nevada, as they take on Boise State on Saturday at 2 p.m inside DreamStyle Arena.