New Mexico State finally returned to the baseball diamond for the first time since COVID-19 put an end to their 2020 campaign and nearly mounted a comeback over Abilene Christian, but ultimately coming up short, falling 8-7 to the Wildcats.

Despite losing who was the 2020 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Year in Nick Gonzales to the MLB after last season, the likes of junior outfielder Noah Haupt, infielders Kevin Jimenez and Zach Smits, outfielder Zerek Saenz and catcher Jason Bush are returning to the crimson and white.

The Aggies raked in 11 hits that brought in 7 runs, with the majority of the action happening early on, but that would prevail not to be enough against ACU’s 10 hit game that brought in 8 runs that saw 6 of those runs coming in the first inning. 

NM State got things going earlier in the top of the first with two RBI’s from Ethan Mann and Tommy Tabak that gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead, but ACU had something to say about that, coming out swinging and getting seven hitters on base while taking advantage of a couple of walks to set up what ultimately turned into a 6-2 lead. 

Following a productive first inning from both sides, the Aggies added on to the score with an RBI in the 2nd by Connor Laux and two more RBI’s in the 3rd from Austin Duffy which brought the score to a one-point deficit 6-5. 

After the first inning, ACU was quiet for a little while, not scoring in any of the next few innings until getting an RBI in the bottom of the 6th adding on to a 7-5 lead. 

The Aggies tied the game up 7-7 at the top of the 7th coming off a walk score RBI from Brandon Dieter and an RBI from Noah Haupt, but ACU answered right back, scoring what would be the deciding run courtesy of a Cameron Cromer groundout that brought Bryson Hill home. Neither team scored in the 8th or 9th, dropping the Aggies to 0-1 to start the season.

NM State will be back in action in hopes to even the series against ACU tomorrow for game before closing things out Sunday in Abilene, Texas.