The New Mexico State Aggies baseball team found themselves in a slump very early in the season. Starting the year 0-6 is never ideal, but it is much too early to call the season lost at this point. The 6-7 Benedictine Mesa Hawks traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico on Tuesday to face the Aggies at Presley Askew Field. NM State sought their first win of the season, while the Hawks look to improve to an even .500 record, continuing a three-game win streak.

The Benedictine Mesa Hawks showed no mercy to enter the game with a T. Reaves single to center-field on a full count, followed by a two-run home run by K. Fitzgerald over the right field wall, giving them a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning. NMSU would respond with a score themselves however, as an R. Ballesteros walk, followed by an advance on a fly-out and a single by N. Funke led to a score for the Aggies, concluding the first with a 2-1 score for the Hawks. The Hawks came out swinging once again, in the top of the second inning. An RBI double by R. Curran, an RBI double by T. Reaves, and an RBI single by K. Fitzgerald added another 3 points to the score for the Hawks. The Aggies would go three-up and three-down in the bottom of the second, giving the Hawks a commanding 5-1 lead after just two innings.

The third and fourth innings would see just two base hits by the Hawks, and no score for either team, maintaining the 5-1 score entering the fifth. Benedictine Mesa would find the board once again, after an opening double by O. Lorduy, followed by an RBI single by J. Hernandez. The Hawks would hold the Aggies scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, and would capitalize once again in the top of the sixth. Two walks and a bunt would set up an RBI double by K. FItzgerald and a two-RBI single by O. Lorduy. Two big innings by Benedictine Mesa would put the Hawks in a very comfortable position, leading the Aggies 9-1 with three innings left to play.

NM State begin their attempt to rally back into the game in the seventh and eighth innings. A walk and a double play emptied the bases with two outs, but NMSU’s K. Koerper would slap his first pitch over the left-center field fence, notching an RBI into the stats column. The Aggies would hold the Hawks scoreless once again in the eighth, and would look to continue their rally right after. With runners on second and third base, M. Namie would score from third on a wild pitch, inching them closer to the lead at 9-3. However, both teams would remain scoreless throughout the final inning, concluding the contest at 9-3 for a statement victory by the Benedictine Mesa Hawks.

Now 0-7 to start their season, this Aggie campaign is far from the opening weeks that they had anticipated. They will look to finally notch a mark into the win column in the coming week, as they host the Pacific Tigers in a three-game series at Presley Askew Field the weekend of March 3-5th.