LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State baseball team was no short of offensive power on Saturday, outslugging Mount St. Mary's 31-7 in the doubleheader at Presley Askew Field.
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Kyle Bradish (1-0) picked up the win in the first game of the twin bill while
Matthew McHugh picked his first victory of the 2017 campaign as well.
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Bradish tossed a six strong innings, giving up a lone run on three hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. McHugh (1-1) went five innings for NM State in the second game and gave up just four runs and scattered 10 hits while walking just one with a career-high eight punch outs.
The 29 hits in the second game for NM State was just five shy of the program record.Â
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Game 1
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How It Happened
After fanning the first two batters in the second inning, Zach Hostetter sent Bradish's pitch flying over the left-field wall and gave The Mounts a 1-0 lead. New Mexico State knotted things up for its starter in the home half of the third when
Austin Botello scored
Jason Bush from second on a sharp single up the middle.
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Mount St. Mary's threated in the top of the fourth, drawing a pair of walks with two outs, but Bradish was able to get out of the Jam when he got Hostetter to fly out to center.
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Greg Popylisen gave NM State the 2-1 lead in the fourth frame when he singled to short, scoring
LJ Hatch from third. Hatch was able to score after drawing a lead-off walk and then advanced to second on a perfectly laid bunt from
Brent Sakurai. He then moved third on an infield single from
Joey Ortiz before scoring on the Popylisen single.
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The Mounts threatened once again in the fifth, putting runners on first and second but stranded both as Bradish worked his way out of the inning before his offense tacked on another run.
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After a scoreless sixth frame, Mount St. Mary's was able to some production against the Aggie bullpen and scored in the seventh and eighth inning –respectively. However, those runs were matched and then some by the Aggies as
Ruger Rodriguez came in to shut the door on The Mounts in the ninth, mowing all three batters in order.
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Game 2
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How It Happened
New Mexico State's bats were rolling early in the second game of the twin bill as they put up multiple runs in each of the first five innings.
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Mount St. Mary's registered two runs in the top half of the first, but the lead would not last long. The Aggies came out in the bottom half of the inning and put up four runs after a two-run jack by
Austin Botello. Freshman
Joey Ortiz then added an RBI triple and run of his own to close out the first.
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McHugh held the Mountaineers scoreless in the second inning and then the Aggies bats came out for their highest scoring inning of the game. The flurry began with Botello singling to right center, bringing home two runs to start the rally. The Mount then went to their bullpen two men on with no outs for the Aggies. Hatch then drove in one run, followed by Botello scoring on an error, as the flood gates opened and could not be closed. NM State tallied five more runs in the inning to hold a 13-2 lead through two innings.
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The visitors was able to put two runs on the board over the next two innings, but the Aggies answered each time, putting up five of their own.
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The Aggies teed off on the Mountaineers once more in the fifth as they went through the order at the plate. NM State ended up adding six runs on six hits with two men left on base to end the inning with a 24-4 lead.
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Roman Trujillo's towering homer to left field in the seventh was the final run of the game for either team and brought the Aggie lead to 25-4.
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The offensive production featured at least one hit from 10 Aggie batters, including nine with multiple hits. Botello and
Brent Sakurai led the way with four each, followed by
Marcus Still, Ortiz, Hatch and
Mason Fishback connecting on three.
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The two victories for NM State moves the team to 4-3 overall. On Sunday, Feb. 25 at noon, the Aggies will close out the weekend series against Mount St. Mary's at Presley Askew Field.
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