In the 55th Battle of I-25, New Mexico State baseball traveled to Albuquerque to face the University of New Mexico Lobos and fell 14-4 in a short, seven-inning matchup. Two of the Aggies’ four runs came from redshirt senior Preston Godfrey who posted two RBIs off two hits, but his effort wasn’t enough to rally his teammates. Despite losing five of their last six games, the Aggies remain the third seed in Conference USA standings.
After a scoreless first inning, the Lobos got the ball rolling in the bottom of the second when Gene Trujillo bashed one to deep left field to get into scoring position. After a pop fly to advance Trujillo, Akili Carris then stepped up to the plate and delivered an RBI single to give the Lobos an early 1-0 lead.
After giving up a run, the Aggies retaliated in the top of the third when senior Keith Jones II hit a line drive down the third base line for a double. Following Jones’ hit, junior Titus Dumitru brought a run across the plate with his own RBI single to even the score at one apiece. The offensive effort continued when sophomore Mitch Namie grounded out to the pitcher bringing Dumitru home for the 2-1 lead. With a runner on second, Godfrey put the finishing touches of the third inning with an RBI triple, giving the Aggies a 3-1 lead.
Despite giving up three runs, the Lobos got their revenge. Following a double from Will Asby and a flyout from Kyle Smith, the Lobos scored again on an RBI single from Reed Spenrath. After the Lobos brought in a run in the bottom of the third, Aggies’ starting pitcher Connor Wylde had a talk with catcher Nick Gore before continuing. The mound visit looked to be effective after retiring the second batter of the inning, but the Lobos offense went on to score seven more runs before ending the inning up 8-3.
Following the eight-run inning, the Lobos took the field defensively and did not allow the Aggies to score. Going into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lobos offense took a step back. The Aggies retired the first two batters, but a solo homerun from Devon Dixon extended the Lobos lead to seven runs. The Aggies scored their final run in the top of the fifth inning as Namie crossed home plate following an RBI double from Godfrey.
The Lobos scored one run in the bottom of the sixth, and the final three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the Lobos up 14-4 at the end of seven innings and the Aggies unable to respond, the game ended due to the mercy rule being applied.
The Aggies will now travel to Lincoln, Nebraska and take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a three-game series from March 22-24. All updates will be posted on the official NMSU Athletics website.
