MESA, Ariz. – The No. 3 New Mexico State baseball team battled No. 2 Sacramento State in the winner-take-all Western Athletic Conference Championship game on Sunday afternoon at Hohokam Stadium. In dramatic fashion, the Aggies held off the Hornets late to win their first ever WAC Tournament title with a 4-3 victory in Mesa, Ariz.
NM State (40-20) ace
Kyle Bradish got back to the mound on three days' rest, which Sacramento State (35-25) looked to take advantage of early. In the opening frame, the Hornets leadoff hitter reached on a fielding error by the Aggies. Then a single into left field put runners on the corners and allowed a fielder's choice to bring home the runner and put the Aggies behind 1-0 in the first.
The Aggies threatened to get on the board in the bottom of the third.
Braden Williams was the first baserunner after a walk and then
Marcus Still and
Joey Ortiz each added a base knock into left that loaded the bases with one out. Unfortunately, the Hornets escaped the jam forcing a 6-4-3 double play in the next at-bat to hold the Crimson & White scoreless.
NM State again loaded the bases in the home half of the fourth and this time the offense was able to bring a runner home. With one out and the bases juiced,
Trey Stine lofted a sacrifice fly into right field that was dep enough to score
Logan Ehnes and knot the game up at one apiece through four innings.
Then the lead shifted in favor of the Aggies in the fifth.
Caleb Henderson laced a one-out double down the left field line before moving to third on a fly out to center.
Tristen Carranza knocked a single that was hard to handle at third base and scored Henderson to give NM State the 2-1 lead.
After leading off the sixth with a single to right, the Hornets looked to bring the runner home to tie the game up. A deep fly ball to left field looked to provide an extra-base hit to score the run but Carranza leaped up to make a catch at the fence for the first out of the scoreless frame that saw the Hornets leave two runners in scoring positon as Bradish shut them down.
In the bottom half of the same inning, the Aggies capitalized on their chances and put one more run up on the board. With two outs in the sixth, Still sent a flare single out to right field to move a baserunner 90 feet from home. Ortiz knocked a single up the middle that brought the Aggie across the plate and gave the team a 3-1 lead.
This lead expanded for NM State in the seventh inning when
Logan Ehnes led off the frame. The junior turned on the first pitch of his at-bat that was hammered over the fence in left center to put the Aggies up by three runs, 4-1.
Sacramento State chipped away at this deficit in the eighth to put the Aggies on their heels. The Hornets had the bases loaded with no outs and a ground out double play brought in the first run of the inning. This was followed by a single to center that scored the runner from third to put the NM State lead at just 4-3.
Then in the ninth inning, the Aggies clutch closer
Brock Whittlesey came in and shut the door on the Hornets. The final frame saw a foul out, ground out and then a fly out to seal the 4-3 win as NM State won the 2018 WAC Tournament title.
This marks just the second conference tournament title in program history as the Aggies only other win came back in 2002 as a part of the Sun Belt.
New Mexico State has now punched its ticket to the 2018 NCAA Regionals, June 1-4. This is the first appearance in the NCAA Regionals for NM State since 2012.
2018 WAC All-Tournament Team
Zach Malis, Grand Canyon
Cameron Sterne, Seattle U
Ian Dawkins, Sacramento State
Andrew McWilliam, Sacramento State
James Outman, Sacramento State
Austin Root, Sacramento State
Kyle Bradish, NM State
Jonathan Groff, NM State
Marcus Still, NM State
Brock Whittlesey, NM State
Tournament MVP
Tristen Carranza, NM State
WATCH PARTY
NM State finds out where they are heading and who their opponent is on the NCAA Selection Show, Monday, May 28, at 10 a.m. MT on ESPNU. Aggie fans can join them for the show at the Danny Villanueva Country Club on the top floor of the Fulton Center. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. MT.
