MIDLAND, Texas – The New Mexico State baseball team traveled to Security Bank Ballpark, home of the Oakland Athletics Double-A affiliate Midland Rockhounds, to take on No. 11 Texas Tech on Tuesday night. After taking a 2-1 lead into the middle of the third, the Red Raiders put up five unanswered runs on the way to a 10-5 loss for the Aggies.
 
For the midweek clash, NM State (22-9) sent junior transfer Mitchell Allen to the mound for his first career start with the Crimson & White countering Texas Tech (22-9) southpaw Mason Montgomery. Each side got on the board in the opening frame to quickly erase a scoreless contest.
 
In the top of the first, Joey Ortiz led off the game with a double off the wall in left before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Nick Gonzales was then issued a base on balls to leave runners on the corners. The man standing 90 feet from home plate was then able to score on a sacrifice fly sent to right by Tristan Peterson for a 1-0 Aggie lead.
 
Then in the bottom half of the first, the opposition answered with a run of their own. The leadoff batter sent the first pitch he saw off the fence above the wall in centerfield for a triple and an infield groundout in the next at-bat scored the man to tie the game up 1-1 that lasted into the third.
 
Designated hitter Bruno Teramoto led off the frame with the biggest hit of his career to date. Teramoto turned on a pitch that he sent over the wall in left center for the first home run of his career with the Crimson & White that gave the team a 2-1 lead.
 
This lead did not last long, however, as TTU answered in the bottom half of the third. The Red Raiders leadoff hitter took advantage of a bad bounce off the wall in center as he stretched the hit  into an inside the park home run that tied the game up at two runs apiece. Then as runners stood on second and third with one out, an infield groundout brought in the go-ahead run for the opposition and the Aggies trailed 3-2. The NM State deficit expanded when an RBI single through the right side put the Aggies in a two-run hole, 4-2, after three innings.
 
The hole grew larger for NM State in the bottom of the fifth. A single up the middle led off the frame to get one runner on. For the next at-bat, the Red Raiders saw a ball sent over the wall in center for a two-run homer and the Crimson & White fell behind 6-2.
 
NM State then cut into this deficit in the top of the seventh inning. Logan Ehnes led off the frame with a base on balls and then an infield groundout put the Aggie in scoring position. With two outs, this gave Braden Williams the opportunity to drive in the run against his former team when he sent an RBI base knock through the right side that put the score at 6-3 in favor of the opposition.
 
Texas Tech then got back on the board to again put the Aggies behind by a larger margin. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases with two outs before another base on balls brought in one run for the Red Raiders and the Aggies trailed 7-3. This was followed by a fielder's choice that saw a questionable call on a collision at third bring in one more run for TTU and then a two-run single to left put NM State down 10-3.
 
The Crimson & White did not go quietly as the team looked to mount a comeback in the ninth. A walk and single to lead off the top half saw one runner brought home on an infield groundout to put the score at 10-4 with a runner on third and one out. The man from third was then scored in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly sent to left field but that was the final score of the game as the Aggies fell to the Red Raiders 10-5.
 
The New Mexico State baseball team now returns home for a three-game Western Athletic Conference weekend series against Northern Colorado, April 12-14, at Presley Askew Field.