MESA, Ariz. – The No. 3 New Mexico State baseball team took on No. 4 Seattle U in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday night at Hohokam Stadium. A strong showing both on the mound and at the plate led the Aggies to an 11-1 victory over the Redhawks in seven innings to advance to the conference championship.
NM State's (39-19) offense produced early with a multi-run first inning to get ahead of Seattle U (34-22).
Marcus Still led off the frame with a single to left field and a sacrifice bunt moved the senior to second base.
Caleb Henderson then laced a double down the left field line to bring in Still for the first run of the ballgame. Two batters later,
Tristen Carranza knocked a single to left that scored Henderson and the Aggies led the Redhawks, 2-0, at the end of the first.
This lead for the Crimson & White was added to in the bottom of the third.
Joey Ortiz led off the inning with a flare single just over the glove of the Redhawk shortstop and the sophomore proceeded to steal second and third base. Standing 90 feet from the dish, Carranza added an RBI single to right that scored Ortiz to put NM State ahead 3-0.
At the end of the third, NM State held a streak of throwing 25 scoreless innings in the WAC Tournament that dated back to May 26, 2017. That streak ended in the top of the fourth when Seattle U sent a sacrifice fly to right field that brought home a runner from third to cut into the Aggies lead that stood at 3-1.
The Aggies continued to produce at the plate as they expanded their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Ortiz opened the scoring with a single up the middle to bring in runners from second and third. Then with the bases loaded, Carranza added to his RBI total with a single through the left side that scored two more and gave NM State a 7-1 advantage.
NM State's bats again exploded in the sixth to put the team ahead by 10 runs. With runners on first and second,
Nick Gonzales laced a single up the middle that brought in the first run of the frame. Then in the next at-bat,
Mason Fishback delivered with the Aggies first home run of the tournament that scored three and put NM State on top 11-1.
Pinedo then came to the mound in the seventh and shut the door on the Redhawks with a pair of strikeouts and a great snag at first by
Caleb Henderson was the final out as the Aggies wrapped up the 11-1 win in seven innings.
The NM State offense combined for 13 hits with
Tristen Carranza leading the way going 4-for-4 with four RBI. Pinedo (5-3) picked up the win after tossing 7.0 innings with seven strikeouts. The outing was the first complete game for an Aggie starter not named
Jonathan Groff since Ryan Beck did it on May 4, 2013 against San Jose State.
New Mexico State now advances to its first WAC title game since 2009, with a matchup against the winner of the Sacramento State versus Seattle U game, at Hohokam Stadium on Saturday, May 25, at 8 p.m. MT.
