OREM, Utah – The New Mexico State Aggies baseball squad opened their road series against Western Athletic Conference opponent Utah Valley on Friday night. The Aggie bats were red-hot all night scoring multiple runs in five frames to defeat the Wolverines by run-rule, 24-1, in seven innings.
How it happened
NM State (28-19, 12-4 WAC) trotted out sophomore
Kyle Bradish to the mound to start against Utah Valley (15-28, 8-8 WAC) left-hander Jackson Cofer. The scoring started early for the Aggies when
Dan Hetzel hit a laser over the wall in left center for a two-run home run in the top of the first.
In the second inning, NM State put more runs on the board after a tough outing in the field for the opponent. With
Marcus Still on second base,
Greg Popylisen laid down a bunt to the pitcher and an errant throw to first allowed Still to cross the plate. After an error at short put men on the corners, a sacrifice bunt by
Brent Sakurai brought in the team's fourth run.
Two batters later, a dropped third strike allowed
Austin Botello to reach first and score
Joey Ortiz from third with two outs in the second.
Mason Fishback then roped a single to left center to score the man from second base and give the Aggies a 6-0 lead. Adding to the lead,
Tristen Carranza crushed a three-run shot over the left field fence on a 3-0 count which put the squad out in front 9-0.
After Bradish held the Wolverines scoreless in the second, Popylisen led off the third with a hit to shallow right field which got stretched into a triple when the second baseman and right fielder both missed the diving catch. A sacrifice fly by Ortiz brought in Popylisen and then an infield error and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for the Aggies.
Utah Valley went to the bullpen and the reliever lost control of his pitch on the first batter allowing the man from third to score on a ball that went to the backstop. Fishback then mashed a ball to deep left for a three-run home run for a 14-0 advantage to end the half inning. In the bottom half, the opposition loaded the bases with only one out with hopes of cutting into the deficit, but a 6-4-3 double play got the team out of the jam.
With two outs in the fourth,
Mason Fishback added to his RBI total with a bases loaded single to score one and
Tristen Carranza then connected on a bases loaded double to the warning track in center which scored a pair. In the bottom half, Bradish continued to dominate on the mound tossing his second 1-2-3 inning to end the fourth.
After the first scoreless inning for the Aggies in the fifth, the Wolverines cut into the team's lead with a sacrifice fly to left center which put one run up on the board.
Leading 17-1 the Aggie offense continued to roll in the sixth, beginning with a bases loaded triple to left center by Still which brought home all three baserunners. Ortiz then singled up the middle to bring another run home. With two men on and no outs,
Brent Sakurai belted his fourth home run of the season to right field to put NM State up 24-1.
After a 1-2-3 inning for Bradish in the bottom of the sixth, NM State was held scoreless in the seventh.
Keaton Graf then came in to close out the game in the bottom half to secure the 24-1 victory for NM State, their third highest scoring total this season.
Bradish (7-1) picked up the win after an impressive outing which saw the hurler throw 6.0 innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts while only allowing one walk.
On a night which saw the Aggie offense explode, the team finished with 20 hits and all nine starters registered at least one base knock on the night. Fishback led the way at the dish going 5-for-6 with five RBI, followed by Carranza and Popylisen who each had three hits, while Hetzel, Still and Ortiz each added two.
Game two between New Mexico State and Utah Valley is scheduled for Saturday, May 6, at 6 p.m. MT. The game can be heard on 91.5 FM KRUX with Adam Young on the call.
