March 13, 2007
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico State relief pitcher Dillon Smith threw an incredible game for the Aggies, rallying them from a 5-1 deficit and delivering a 9-6 win tonight at Isotopes Park. Smith allowed just three hits and one run over the final 6.2 innings, snapping New Mexico’s four-game win streak, sending the Lobos in the opposite direction of .500 at 10-12.
With two on and two out in the top of the second, Marcos Rosales singled to left, bringing home Leo Aguirre for the first run of the game.
In the bottom of the second, Aggie starter Bryan Robinson handed the lead over to the Lobos. Robinson walked the first two batters in the inning then gave up back-to-back singles for three runs. Juniors Matt Hibbitts and Ian Hollick each drove in a run in the third, increasing New Mexico’s lead to 5-1 and sending Robinson to the bench.
Smith, who held an 11.48 ERA heading into the game, relieved Robinson after Hollick’s RBI double. He forced the next two batters out and cruised from there. He fanned five batters, including two straight in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Rosales was still hitting for New Mexico State, leading off the two-run fifth with a single. In the sixth Ryan Gibson hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run inning that gave the Aggies the lead back, 6-5. In the eight, Rosales doubled and scored and Joseph Scaperotta blasted a two-run home run for three more NMSU runs.
The Lobos tried to rally in the ninth, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Senior Jay Russell slapped a grounder to short, sending sophomore Dane Hamilton home but that was all UNM could muster.
New Mexico State out-hit the UNM 14-8, allowing multiple hits to just one Lobo batter. Junior Jordan Pacheco finished the night 2-for-4 with a run scored. Junior Drew McDonald drove in a team-high two runs, going 1-for-4. Rosales went 3-for-5 with two runs and a RBI while Scaperotta was 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. NMSU’s Joe Leghorn pounded out a game-high four hits in five at bats.
Freshman Jarrad Watkins (1-1) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on two hits and two walks in 1.0 inning. Freshman starter Ryan Escarcega went 5.0 innings for seven hits, three runs, three walks and six strikeouts.
The Lobos head to the West Coast, visiting 29th-ranked UC-Irvine for a three-game series this weekend. Head coach Rich Alday, who missed tonight’s game due to an illness, hunts for his 500th win at the helm of the New Mexico program. He needs three wins for the mark.