LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Known throughout the southwest as a hitter's ballpark, Presley Askew Field was certainly that Friday night, but unfortunately for NM State that extra-base power helped out the wrong team.
Hoping to start a new winning streak, NM State struck for three runs in the first innings but was limited to just four hits the rest of the way and visiting Grand Canyon blasted a pair of multi-run homers to claim a narrow 5-4 win in the first of four WAC contests between the two squads.
The loss was just the second one at home the Aggies have suffered under head coach Mike Kirby.
SCORING SUMMARY
B1 | Wasting no time in giving Maltrud some run support, the Aggies tagged GCU starter Zach Barnes early. Brandon Dieter and Kevin Jimenez started the hosts' four-hit frame with consecutive two-baggers to each outfield gap. Pushing his hitting streak to seven games, sophomore Ethan Mann pushed the hosts' lead to 2-0 by punching a 2-2 offering from Barnes up the middle for an RBI single. Connor Laux concluded the Aggies' big inning when he chopped a 2-1 pitch through the right side to drive in Mann for a 3-0 lead.
T5 | One of the only bad pitches Maltrud made during his outing came with two down in the fifth. The Lopes' leadoff man Channy Ortiz turned on the first offering he saw from the Aggies' right-hander and blasted it out beyond the fence in right field. That two-run shot trimmed the hosts' lead to 3-2.
T7 | The long ball again proved to be a friend to the Lopes in the seventh. Maltrud started the frame by issuing a walk and giving up the last of his four hits before getting yanked in favor of left-hander Frank Dickson Jr. Though Dickson Jr., did finish off the inning, the lone hit he gave up was a three-run homer off the bat of nine-hole hitter Johnny Weaver. His fly ball kept carrying until it just cleared the fence in right, giving the visitors a 5-3 lead in the process.
B9 | Things got interesting in the Aggies' last set of at-bats as Ronnie Allen Jr., clobbered a leadoff homer to straightaway center. That solo bomb trimmed the Lopes' lead to 5-4, but it also proved to be the Aggies' last hit of the game.
AT THE DISH
• Mann's two-hit day led the way for the Aggies who dropped their third-straight game. Allen Jr., Dieter and Jimenez each generated one of their team's three extra-base hits in the series opener.
• Ortiz led the way for the Lopes with a 2-for-5 night. He reached base a team-high four times on the night after drawing two of the seven walks issued by Aggie pitching.
• Grand Canyon turned two of its seven free bases into runs.
ON THE HILL
• Maltrud (2-2) was hit with the loss after getting charged with the Lopes' go-ahead run in the seventh. Through seven innings, the sophomore struck out four while giving up four runs on four hits and a trio of walks.
• Dickson Jr., worked the rest of the game for NM State, letting up just one hit. The lefty registered the final two strikeouts of the night for the Aggies, too.
• Settling down in a major way after his first-inning troubles, Barnes improved to 4-5 by working six frames of three-run baseball. The Lopes' righty racked up six punch outs while surrendering six of the Aggies' eight hits.
• Frankie Scalzo worked around Allen Jr's leadoff long ball in the ninth to record his fifth save of 2021.
COMING UP NEXT
• The Aggies and Lopes continue their four-game series Saturday at Presley Askew Field with a doubleheader. That twinbill is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. with senior right-hander Chris Jefferson climbing atop the bump to start things off for the hosts.
++NM State++
