TEMPE, Ariz. – The New Mexico State baseball team traveled to take on undefeated No. 9 Arizona State at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Wednesday night. In a battle of the top-two offense in the country, each team was held relatively quiet only posting single digits as the Aggies fell to the Sun Devils, 7-3.
For the midweek clash, NM State (14-4) sent out usual Saturday starter
Justin Dehn to take on Arizona State (16-0) right-hander Sam Romero. After the Aggies could not get on the board in the top of the first, the Sun Devils did just that in the bottom half. With the bases loaded, a single to centerfield brought in a pair of runs to put the Crimson & White behind 2-0 at the end of one.
This deficit was then cut in half in the top of the second by the Aggies. With two outs and no one on,
Noah Haupt turned on a pitch that he sent soaring over the wall in right field for a solo home run as NM State only trailed 2-1.
The one-run hole did grow, however, in the bottom half of the second inning. ASU followed up with a two-out solo homer of its own to put the Crimson & White behind 3-1 heading into the third.
In the top half of the inning, the Aggies had two runners on and forced the Sun Devils to go to the bullpen. The next at-bat for the Aggies saw a ball launched to center but a leaping catch at the wall robbed NM State of a potential three-run homer.
To add insult to injury, that ASU centerfielder then led off the bottom of the third and hit a solo shot over the wall in the middle of the outfield to put the Crimson & White down 4-1. The Sun Devils then looked to threaten with runners on the corners but Chris Jefferson got the batter to strike out swinging and
Braden Williams tagged out the runner trying to take home to end the frame.
Arizona State then increased the NM State deficit in the fourth. There were runners on first and second with two outs as the Aggies brought in a reliever. The first batter for the new pitcher knocked an RBI single to right that put the Aggies behind 5-1.
After a pair of scoreless frames for each side, NM State got back on the board in the top half of the seventh. The Aggies had two runners on when
Nick Gonzales sent a scorcher up the middle that scored the runner from second and put the deficit for the Crimson & White at just 5-2.
Then ASU also added to its total in the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on second and two outs, a ball was knocked into right field to score the runner and NM State was now behind by four at 6-2.
In the next half inning, the Aggies were able to cut the Sun Devil lead in half. A runner stood on second with
Daniel Head at the plate and the designated hitter laced a single through the right side to score the man and put the ASU advantage at just 6-3.
The three-run hole grew in the bottom of the eighth, however, when ASU added one more to the board. On a 3-2 count, the first batter of the frame for the Sun Devils sent a solo home run to right and the Aggies now trailed 7-3.
NM State looked to mount a comeback down four in the ninth, but that was not the case. The opposition kept the Aggies off the board as they fell on the road to the nationally-ranked Sun Devils, 7-3.
