In their first away series of the season, the New Mexico State baseball team was swept in a four-game series against the McNeese State University Cowboys at the Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The first two games were close contests with the final scores of 2-1 and 7-6. In the third game, the Aggies led 8-5 after posting seven runs in the top of the eight, but the Cowboys responded with six of their own to secure the 11-8 win.
In the final game of the series, the Aggies kept it close as they had been for the entire series. In the top of the first inning, the Aggies came out swinging when senior Keith Jones II nailed a solo homerun to score the first run of the evening. After a swinging strikeout, senior Damone Hale hit a single to left center field and made it to first base and would go on to steal second. Unfortunately, the Aggies were unable to capitalize on a runner in scoring position but held onto the 1-0 lead.
The Cowboys put one man on base after the first batter was hit by a pitch in the bottom hald, but he was caught attempting to steal second by senior Nick Gore. The Aggies starting pitcher junior Cade Swenson started hot as well, striking out a batter and forcing a ground out to end the first inning. The second inning was quick and scoreless from both teams, with quick strikeouts from each.
The Aggies didn’t put up any runs in the third inning and turned it over to the Cowboys with a man on base. In the bottom of the third, the Cowboys gained their first lead with a three-man home run blast. After the Cowboys scored again off an RBI double in the fourth, the Aggies swapped pitchers, subbing in junior Kade Benavidez for Swenson. The Aggies started to retaliate in the top of the fifth and with another run after junior Sheehan O’Connor got his first hit of the season and Jones followed up to hit an RBI bringing O’Connor home, making it 5-2.
Neither team scored until the top of the sixth inning, when O’Connor hit a home run that resulted in three runs for the Aggies and tied it up 5-5. In the bottom half, the Aggies switched pitchers once again, this time to sophomore Saul Soto after Benavidez kept the Cowboys to two hits and zero runs. The Cowboys would then get two outs and score a single run to retake the lead at 6-5. Soto was then swapped for junior Zack Zwaschka who quickly got the final out.
The Aggies switched pitchers one last time at the bottom of the eighth, bringing in freshman Steve Solorzano who only allowed one hit. In the final inning and the Aggies last chance to tie the game, O’Connor batted first, smacking a single and making it to second base. However, the Aggies were unable to bring him home or piece together any runs and dropped the final game of the series 6-5.
With the four losses, the Aggies fall to 2-6 overall in their season and will be looking for redemption when they return home to face the Northern Colorado Bears in another four-game series. The first game will kick off on Friday, March 1 at 6 p.m. and finish on Monday, March 4 at 11 a.m. The series will be aired on KRUX 91.5 FM and all updates will be posted on the official NMSU Athletics website.
