LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State baseball team hosted Harvard for a doubleheader on Saturday at Presley Askew Field. After winning game one on a 10^th inning walk-off home run to win 11-9, the Aggies dropped game two when the Crimson has a three-run eighth inning to fall 5-4.
 
Game One
The opener of the Saturday doubleheader saw NM State (7-4) trot out Justin Dehn to take on Harvard (2-5) righty Simon Rosenblum-Larson. Game one saw the teams put up at least one run in eight of the 10 innings.
 
The scoring opened in the bottom of the second. The first two Aggie batters of the inning advanced to first after being hit by a pitch. Then with one out in the frame Logan Ehnes doubled to center field to bring home one run and put another runner 90 feet from the plate. A Nick Gonzales single loaded the bases and the next batter, Marcus Still, took a free pass to first to bring in the second run of the inning.
 
Logan Bottrell then came to the plate with the bases juiced and only one out. Bottrell then knocked a sacrifice fly to left field to score Ehnes and give NM State a 3-0 lead through two.
 
After a quiet third, the Aggie bats got going again in the bottom half of the fourth. Gonzales led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Still proceeded to lay down a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt to put Gonzales into scoring position.
 
Bottrell then tried to get the runner home with another sacrifice bunt, but he was tagged out at home and the sacrifice attempt turned into a single for the left fielder. Then the next batter, Joey Ortiz stepped to the dish and delivered on a 1-2 pitch which he turned on for a two-run homer, the first of his career.
 
Trailing 5-0, Harvard looked to answer in the fifth. With the bases loaded the Crimson saw back-to-back hitters get hit by a pitch to bring in the oppositions first two runs of the game. Following a pitching change, Harvard was again able to connect on a two-out single to right to bring in a pair of runs and put the Aggies lead at 5-4.
 
The Crimson bats were able to strike again in the top of the sixth when a double to left center and base on balls put two men on with no outs. Two batters later, Crimson third baseman Hunter Bigge singled to left field to bring home one runner.
 
Following a fly out to right field, Harvard saw a double to right center bring two more baserunners across the plate and put NM State behind 7-5.
 
The Aggies were able to chip away at the deficit over the next two half innings. In the bottom of the sixth, with runner on the corners, Ortiz grounded into a double play but it scored Marcus Still and NM State trailed by just one.
 
Then in the seventh inning a double to left center by Trey Stine scored Caleb Henderson to tie the ballgame up at seven apiece. Ehnes singled to left field in his next at-bat, but an errant throw moved him to second scored Stine to put the Aggies back on top 8-7.
 
This lead did not last long; however, when a bases loaded single for Harvard brought two runners home for another lead change as the Aggies now trailed 9-8. This deficit lasted until the bottom of the ninth inning.
 
In the ninth, Stine led off with a walk and Bruno Teramoto came in as a pinch runner. Termaotro advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then with one out David Bellamy sliced a single to right field to bring the runner home and tie the game up at 9-9 and send it to extras.
 
The Aggies held the Crimson scoreless in the top of the 10^th and knew all the tie could be wiped away with one swing of a bat. Following an infield single from Ortiz, Mason Fishback stepped to the plate and did just that.
 
On a 2-0 count and no outs in the 10^th, Fishback crushed the next pitch he saw which carried over the wall for a two-run walk-off homer. This was NM State's first walk-off of any sort since Greg Popylisen did so on May 27, 2016 against Sacramento State in the WAC Tournament.
 
The Aggies finished the first game with 14 hits, which saw five players record multiple base-knocks. Chance Hroch (1-0) earned his first win of the season after throwing one inning of shutout ball.
 
Game Two
The second game of the day featured NM State southpaw Alex Pinedo on the mound for his first start of the year against Harvard's Kevin Stone.
 
Harvard jumped out to an early lead in the first two innings. The top of the first saw the game's first batter, Ben Skinner double to left center, followed by Matt Rothenberg reaching on an error to put runners on the corners. Two batters later, Crimson designated hitter Buddy Hayward had an RBI single to put the Aggies down 1-0.
 
Then in the top of the second, Harvard added to its lead. With men on first and second and just one out, a single to left field brought home the Crimson's second run of the game to put the Aggies down 2-0.
 
Despite being held scoreless for the first three innings, the Aggies found some pop in the next two frames. Joey Ortiz was hit by a pitch to start the fourth inning. Mason Fishback then knocked a single through the left right side, but an errant throw advanced each runner and a subsequent error at second base brought home Ortiz for NM States first run of the contest.
 
The fifth inning saw the Crimson & White rattle off a multi-run frame to regain the lead. With two outs in the fifth and a pair of runners on base, Ortiz connected on a 2-1 pitch which he sent over the wall in right center for a three-run homer to give NM State a 4-2 lead.
 
The pitchers from each side settled down over the next three innings throwing scoreless frames heading into the ninth. Then in the top of the ninth, Harvard led off the inning with back-to-back singles. A sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat put both runners in scoring position with just one out.
 
Harvard's next batter was struck out swinging to put NM State just one out away from the win. However, Crimson shortstop Chad Minato singled up the middle to score both runners and put the Aggies behind 5-4.
 
The one-run stood as the final with NM State being blanked in the bottom of the ninth to split the doubleheader on Saturday.
 
New Mexico State and Harvard close out the four-game weekend series on Sunday, March 3, at 12 p.m. MT on Presley Askew Field.