LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State baseball team took on Yale in a doubleheader on Saturday at Presley Askew Field. Strong offensive play continued to roll for the Aggies in game one as they won 14-6, but strong pitching from the Bulldogs in game two saw the Crimson & White fall 4-2.
GAME ONE
In the first game of the Saturday doubleheader, NM State (6-1) sent out senior hurler
Justin Dehn to the mound against Yale (1-2) right-hander Alex Stiegler. Each pitcher cruised in the first inning allowing zero hits.
Then in the second inning, the Aggies got on the board. With two outs and no one on,
Tristen Carranza stepped to the plate and belted a solo home run over the wall in left field to give the Crimson & White and early 1-0 advantage.
Both teams left a runner in scoring position in the third, as the score remained a one-run affair. In the bottom of the fourth inning, this score changed when
Nick Gonzales continued his hot start to the season with a solo homer to right field to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
NM State's lead got cut in half in the top of the fifth. Yale got a one-out single through the left side to put one runner on base. The next at-bat saw a double to left field score the man from first and the Aggies lead stood at 2-1.
The lead for NM State increased in the bottom half of the fifth when the team had its most productive frame of the day. With one out, a pair of walks and a base knock loaded the bases.
Joey Ortiz then stepped to the dish and roped a double to the wall in left center that cleared the bags and gave the team a 5-1 advantage. The next batter, Gonzales, then continued to pile it on with his second home run of the day to plate two more runs.
With two outs in the fifth,
Caleb Henderson beat out an infield single to third. Carranza then stepped in the box and crushed a two-run homer over the wall in centerfield to close out the scoring for the Aggies in the fifth with the team leading 9-1.
After Dehn tossed another one-two-three outing in the top of the sixth, the NM State offense added to its advantage in the next half inning. With two outs,
Logan Bottrell stole third on a base on balls that put runners on the corners. Each runner then reached home when Gonzales laced a double to right to push the Aggies lead to 11-1.
NM State got into a jam in the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, the team went to the bullpen looking to escape the jam. The first batter for the new pitcher sent a sacrifice fly to right field that plated one run. Back-to-back walks followed to score one more for the Bulldogs. Then a single to center plated two more runs and an RBI double rounded out the scoring for Yale, but the NM State lead still stood at 11-6.
The Aggies looked to add some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth when the team had runners on first and second with one out. Ortiz proceeded to rip a double off the wall in right center that brought home another run and left two men in scoring position. The next two batters added a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to bring in two more runs and give the Aggies a 14-6 lead.
In the top of the ninth, any comeback hopes were thwarted by a quick one-two-three inning to seal the 14-6 win for NM State. After tossing 6.1 innings and allowing just six hits, Dehn (2-0) picked up the victory.
At the plate, the Crimson & White produced 14 runs on 13 hits, led by Gonzales who went 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI, Ortiz added four RBI of his own going 2-for-4 and Carranza added three RBI with one homer.
GAME TWO
The second game of the doubleheader pitted NM State righty Chris Jefferson against Yale ace Scott Politz. A real pitcher's duel opened with a scoreless first and Jefferson tossing a quick one-two-three outing in his first two half innings.
In the bottom of the second, the Aggies took the lead. With runners on the corners and two outs,
Eric Mingus laced a single through the right side that scored the man from third. The next batter,
Logan Bottrell, followed up with an RBI single of his own to give the Crimson & White a 2-0 lead through two.
Each hurler continued to deal tossing a pair of scoreless innings heading into the fifth. Then in the top half of the inning, Yale put up its first run. A Bulldog runner stood 90 feet from home and a double to left scored the man to put the NM State lead at just 2-1 through five.
This lead then disappeared in the sixth inning. Back-to-back singles and a base on balls led off the frame to load the bases with no outs. This forced NM State to go to the pen and the reliever walked the first batter to plate one run and knot the game up at 2-2. With the bases still loaded and no outs, a sacrifice fly brought in one more run to put the Aggies down 3-2, but that would be all the Bulldogs put up as the Aggies escaped the jam down by just one run.
A scoreless seventh kept the deficit at one for the Crimson & White, but then Yale added an insurance run in the eighth. The Bulldogs put runners on first and second with two outs with a single through the right side in the next at-bat plating one more run that put NM State down 4-2.
Solid pitching and defense from Yale stifled the Aggie offense to hold them scoreless with NM State falling in game two, 4-2.
The New Mexico State baseball team looks to secure the series win over Yale in the series finale on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 12:05 p.m. MT inside Presley Askew Field.
