Lobos split season series with Aggies
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Lightning in the seventh inning shortened a one-sided contest at Presley Askew Field on Tuesday evening, as host New Mexico State claimed an 8-0 victory over the New Mexico baseball team.
In the final meeting of the year between the in-state rivals, the Aggies managed to even the season series at 2-2 while improving to 20-35 overall. New Mexico moved to 26-22 with the defeat, with the game being called after the top of the seventh inning due to inclement weather.
Justin Olson went 3-for-3 on an otherwise quiet night for the Lobo offense, which managed just five hits against NMSU starter Cade Swenson. The right-hander was dominant in pitching the full seven innings, striking out one and walking one while keeping the Lobos off the scoreboard.
UNM starter Benjamin Baker-Livingston allowed three runs on five hits in two innings of work, before three relievers combined to toss the final four frames. In his second appearance of the season, Trent Dewyer pitched a shutout sixth inning with a strikeout.
Each starter pitched around a baserunner in the first inning, using their defense to put up zeroes to start the ballgame. A hit batter and a single by Olson gave the Lobos a pair of baserunners in the top of the second, but the Aggies turned a key double play thanks in large part to a smooth back-handed pickup by shortstop Romeo Ballesteros.
The Aggies also threatened in the second inning, but Baker-Livingston covered the bag quickly on a ground out before using his first strikeout of the day to keep the game scoreless.
Lenny Junior Ashby ripped his 16th double of the year to right-center in the third, but was stranded in scoring position as Swenson avoided trouble. NMSU broke through in the bottom of the third, when Ballesteros roped a double into the left-field corner and Keith Jones II drove him in with a double to the left-center gap. Kevin Jimenez then followed with a big two-run double, putting the hosts ahead 3-0 and driving Baker-Livingston from the game.
Reliever Adolfo Iturralde did well to limit the damage in the third, picking up his first strikeout and then alertly throwing to catcher Kyle Smith on an attempted delayed steal of home by Jimenez to end the inning.
The Aggies took advantage of a Lobo error in the fourth to push across another run, supplying Swenson with a 4-0 cushion. Damone Hale then led off the fifth with a double, and after Jimenez drew a walk Preston Godfrey made it a 6-0 ballgame with a two-run double into the right-field corner.
Mitch Namie led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and Jones II drove a two-run home run over the fence in left-center to make the score 8-0.
Swenson finished his outing by retiring the Lobos in order in the top of the seventh, before a lightning strike prompted a delay on the field. The two coaching staffs ultimately agreed to conclude the contest due to unplayable conditions. After a double by Gore and with the run-rule in effect, the Aggies had the winning run at the plate when the game ended.
Jones led the team going 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs. Hale and Gore had two hits apiece, while Jimenez and Godfrey each drove in two runs. NMSU totaled 13 hits, while leaving six runners on base.
LOBO NOTES: The Lobos are now 166-93 all time against NMSU and are 63-50 in road games against the Aggies…Ashby’s double in the third was the 68th of his collegiate career…the Aggies won the first game of the year between the teams 2-0 on March 21 in Albuquerque, before UNM won 13-0 on April 18 in Las Cruces and 14-6 on May 2 at home.
UP NEXT: New Mexico wraps up the regular season this weekend, with a three-game road trip to San Diego State. The Lobos need to win all three games against the Aztecs to clinch a berth into the 2023 Mountain West Championships.