Rio Grande Rivalry needs extra innings on Tuesday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Not that it needed any help, but the baseball edition of the Rio Grande Rivalry between the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University ramped up a few notches on Tuesday night as regulation nine innings were not enough, and time of game was a mere afterthought for the long-time foes.
Ultimately the game would go 10 innings at a clip of about two innings an hour with the contest breaking the five-hour mark in total time. In the end it was NMSU that came out on top as they picked up an 11-8 win despite being out-hit by UNM, 18-13.
Scoring in the game started from the onset as the Aggies (26-9) scored a run in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly. The Lobos (16-20) responded with two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead. In that inning, Tyler Kelly had a RBI triple to score Justin Watari, who singled the glove off the Aggies’ third baseman to lead off the game. Two batters later, Connor Mang had a RBI double to score Kelly.
The Aggies then went on to score the game’s next six runs to take a 7-2 lead with two in the third and four in the fifth.
A second RBI double by C. Mang and a RBI groundout by Zack Doak in the bottom of the fifth made it a 7-4 game. The Lobos then went on to score four more runs over the next three innings to take an 8-7 lead through eight innings.
In the sixth, Jared Mang singled up the middle to score Watari and make it a 7-5 game. The Lobos then tied it in the seventh on a double to left field by Tanner Baker and an infield single off the pitcher by Brayden Merritt. In the eighth, Baker added another RBI as he grounded out to second base, scoring J. Mang and giving the Lobos the aforementioned lead at 8-7.
The Aggies pushed across a run in the top of the ninth to knot the game at 8-all. After the Lobos went quietly in the bottom of the ninth, the game pressed on to extra innings. It was the first extra innings game for both the Lobos and the Aggies this season.
In the top of the 10th, the Aggies struck for three runs (two unearned) to take an 11-8 lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Lobos threatened as they brought the tying run to the plate with one out and the potential winning run to the plate with two outs.
That last-ditch effort by the Lobos saw C. Mang pick up his fifth hit of the game on a single up the middle to lead off the inning. C. Mang became the first Lobo to have five hits in a game since Jack Zoellner did so vs. Air Force on May 6, 2017. Two batters later, Nick Atkins dropped a single to centerfield. Two batters after that and with two outs, Reese O’Farrell drew a walk to load the bases.
That brought Brayden Merritt to the plate representing the winning run. After falling behind 0-2, Merritt ripped a liner to right field that had potential to be trouble, but ultimately was the final out of the game.
The Lobos will remain out of conference play this weekend, but will remain at home to close out their seven-game home stand against UC Riverside. With Easter on Sunday, the series with UC Riverside will be played Thursday-Saturday. First pitch of Thursday’s game will be 6 p.m. out at Santa Ana Star Field.