CLERMONT, Fla. - It was tough sledding for the NM State softball team Saturday, as they fell to #12 Kentucky (10-1) and to Florida International (11-5). The two losses drop the Aggies to 2-9 on the year.

In both games, the Aggies struggled in the field committing three errors against Kentucky and seven errors against FIU. Against Kentucky, the three errors led to seven Wildcat runs while the seven Aggie errors against FIU led to four Panther runs.

Against Kentucky, redshirt freshman Matalasi Faapito only allowed two earned runs in her two innings pitched to keep the Aggies in the game early. While the Wildcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead, junior Kayla Bowen knocked in a run to get the Aggies on the board in the fourth inning before the Wildcats ripped off six runs in the fifth inning. The Aggies mustered just three hits against the Wildcats.

In game two, the Panthers capitalized off three Aggie errors to post a five-run second inning. The Aggies responded with two runs of their own when redshirt freshman Hailey Tanori doubled to score freshmen Jayleen Burton and Jillian Taylor. The Panthers would get one run back in the third inning, but the Aggies would once again respond with two runs thanks to a Panther error and a Burton sacrifice fly. Down 11-4, the Aggies tried to put together an incredible rally in the final inning, but they could only bring across one run off redshirt senior Nikki Butler's sacrifice fly.

Tanori was a bright spot for the Aggies, as she recorded three hits and two RBIs between the two games. Butler, Burton and Bowen also recorded RBIs for the Aggies.

NM State will be back in action bright and early Sunday morning, as they will face the Stetson Hatters at 8 a.m. The game can be streamed live on FloSoftball with a paid subscription.

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