Timely hitting in the late innings lifted the NM State baseball team in their series finale with Dixie State. The Aggies pulled off a 9-7 road victory on Sunday afternoon, backed by a stellar start by Ian Mejia and a trio of home runs.
Sunday's have been the Aggies day throughout the 2022 season as NM State moved to a perfect 5-0 in Sunday contests.
The Aggies scored in each of the first three innings to build an early six-run lead. Almost immediately, the Aggie offense got going with three straight hits from Kevin Jimenez, Nolan Funke, and Ryan Grabosch. After a Jimenez triple to left field, Funke knocked in the first run of the game with a single to the shortstop.
With two runners on in the second inning, Brandon Dieter picked up a single through the right side, playing Tommy Tabak and Kyle Westfall. In the third inning, Edwin Martinez-Pagani doubled to get the offense rolling once again. Just three pitches later, Tabak left the yard with a home run to right-center to push the NM State lead to five. Later in the inning, Westfall came around to score on a throwing error to give NM State their sixth run of the ballgame.
The two teams remained at a 6-0 standoff until the middle of the sixth inning when a 48-minute weather delay caused Mejia's day to end prematurely. Through 5.0 innings of work, Mejia had allowed just three hits while fanning five Trailblazers. Mother Nature decided to take means into her own hands and swung the momentum back to the Dixie State dugout during the delay.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Dixie State added six runs to tie the ballgame. Noah Estrella had retired the first two Trailblazer hitters before the Dixie State offense exploded for a two-out rally against a pair of pitchers, highlighted by a three-run home run.
Martinez-Pagani decided to take matters back into his own hands in the seventh inning. The third baseman for NM State launched his third home run of the season to break the deadlock and put the Aggies back on top.
Jimenez picked up his third hit on the day to officially put Dixie State on cycle watch. After a first-inning triple and a fourth-inning double, Jimenez added an RBI single in the eighth to score Westfall and put NM State up by two.
Dixie State refused to go down easily and brought the game back within a run on an RBI double in the eighth inning. Alex Bustamonte worked out of a bases-loaded jam with just one out by inducing a pair of swinging strikeouts to end the inning.
Leading off the top of the ninth inning, Ryan Grabosch decided to add an insurance run for the NM State closer. Grabosch took a 2-1 pitch and drove it over the wall in left-center and gave NM State a 9-7 lead.
With two away in the ninth inning, Dixie State scored a run on a double to cut the deficit to just one run. Two pitches later, Bustamonte got the Trailblazer to bounce out to Dieter at shortstop and gave the Aggies a win in the series finale.
Quick Hits
- NM State stays perfect at 5-0 in Sunday games this season.
- Kevin Jimenez put Dixie State on cycle watch on Sunday afternoon. The Aggie second baseman finished just a home run shy of the feat.
- Five Aggies tallied multi-hit games, led by the three-hit day by Jimenez.
- Cal Kilgore tallied a pair of accomplishments at the plate in the series finale. The freshman picked up his first collegiate hit in the game and added a second for good measure and his first multi-hit game.
- Lyle Hibbits earned his first win of the season and now boasts a 1-0 record. Alex Bustamonte notched his second save in 1.2 innings of work.
- A 48-minute lightning delay was the first delay of the season for NM State.
Next weekend, the Aggies will be back at Presley Askew Field in Las Cruces to take on California Baptist. Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network while Saturday's contest can be found on ESPN+, Bally Sports Arizona, and Comcast New Mexico.
For complete coverage of NM State baseball throughout the Aggies 2022 campaign visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Baseball), Twitter (@NMStateBaseball), and Instagram (@NMStateBaseball).
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