ABILENE, Texas - Junior outfielder Noah Haupt helped the NM State baseball team erase an early four-run deficit with his game-tying sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh, but Abilene Christian answered with the game's winning run in the home half of the frame as the Aggies dropped an 8-7 decision to the Wildcats Friday night at Crutcher Scott Field.

SCORING SUMMARY
T1 | With their layoff of nearly one full calendar year in the rearview mirror, the Aggies got right to work at giving starting pitcher Chris Barraza a lead to work with. Zerek Saenz's leadoff single was followed up with a Kevin Jiminez double to put runners at the corners, setting the table for the heart of NM State's order. Ethan Mann drove in the Aggies' first run of the season with an infield single before Tommy Tabak doubled the visitors' lead to 2-0 with a single through the right side of the Wildcats' infield.
B1 | The Aggies' lead proved to be short lived as Abilene Christian batted around in its first set of at-bats. Sandwiched around NM State starter Chris Barraza's first strikeout of the night were a pair of Wildcat singles. From there, Barraza walked three consecutive Abilene Christian batters to push two runs across for the home team. After notching another strikeout, Barraza surrendered a two-run single to Sebastian Randle before nine-hole hitter Cameron Cromer scorched a two-run double down the left field line. In all, the Wildcats put six runs on the board while generating four of their 10 hits in the frame.
T2 | Fortunately for NM State, it had plenty of time to mount a comeback. Two-out hitting helped the visitors chip away at the Wildcats' lead as Saenz smoked an 0-1 offering from ACU starter Spencer Chirpich into the gap in left center for his first triple of the season. Connor Laux picked up his first RBI in an Aggie uniform moments later when his single to left center scored Saenz and pulled the Aggies within three, 6-3.
T3 | More two-out hitting aided the Aggies in the top of the third. After Mann and Tabak reached on back-to-back singles to start the frame, Austin Duffy came up clutch by smacking a two-out, two-run triple down the left field line. NM State's second triple of the game scored two, shrinking the Wildcats' lead to 6-5.
B6 | A leadoff single by ACU, a stolen base and the Aggies' lone error of the game helped the Wildcats manufacture another run in the home half of the sixth. Cromer swiped second after his single to lead off the frame, and moved to third on an Aggie error. Colton Eager brought Cromer home with an RBI groundout which pushed the Wildcats' lead to 7-5.
T7 | It was the Aggies' turn to capitalize on free bases in the top of the seventh. Tyler Morgan issued a trio of walks to NM State, loading the bases with one one. Brandon Dieter made it a one-run game by taking a bases-loaded walk before Noah Haupt knotted matters a 7-7 with a sacrifice fly that scored Mann.
B7 | The Wildcats were able to push the game-winning run across in the home half of the seventh. Consecutive singles off of Aggie relief arm Josh Laukkanen started ACU's half of the frame before a walk by NM State's Rorik Maltrud loaded the bases. Cromer pushed in the game-winning run with his RBI groundout to short.

AT THE DISH
• A quartet of Aggie enjoyed multi-hit nights in the 2021 season opener with Laux's 3-for-5 performance leading the way. Mann, Saenz and Tabak each generated a pair of hits for NM State.
• The six-through-nine hole hitters for the Wildcats delivered all night, going a combined 6-for-13. Cromer drove in a game-high three runs while Randle pushed two across. Six of the eight runs driven in by the Wildcats came from the bottom of their lineup.

ON THE HILL
• Neither starter made it more than 3 1/3 innings through things, leaving the decisions to the bullpens. Laukkanen (0-1) suffered the setback for the Aggies by giving up just a single earned run in three frames of relief action.
• ACU's bullpen racked up 13 of its staff's 17 strikeouts on the night with Tanner Riley totaling seven across 2 2/3 innings of action. Riley improved to 2-0 while Morgan worked his way through three frames of hitless, six-strikeout baseball.

ON DECK
• Game two of the three-game set between the Aggies and Wildcats is set for 2:05 p.m. MT Saturday afternoon at Crutcher Scott Field. Southpaw Sammy Natera will get the starting nod on the hill for NM State while Abilene Christian counters with right-hander Genner Cervantes.

++NM State++