LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Chris Jefferson came to Presley Askew Field to do two things Saturday afternoon: locate the strike zone and win a baseball game.
The senior right-hander checked off both of those items on his to-do list, tossing a complete-game, four-hit shutout in NM State's 6-0 win over Northern Colorado in game one of a WAC doubleheader.
SCORING SUMMARY
B3 | With Jefferson dealing balls and strikes (mainly strikes), the Aggies didn't necessarily need to generate a ton of run support. NM State's first run of the game came as a result of some two-out hitting. Tristan Stacy ripped a two-bagger to deep right field before Saenz continued his hot streak by punching an RBI single up the middle to hand the home team a 1-0 lead.
B4 | A pair of Northern Colorado miscues allowed NM State to double its lead. Ethan Mann and Austin Duffy reached on a pair of separate throwing errors and six-pitch walk by Tommy Tabak loaded the bases. Jason Bush did his job from there, lofting a fly ball to deep center for a sacrifice fly which plated Mann and made matters 2-0.
B5 | More offense pushed the hosts' lead higher in the fifth. The top of the Aggies' order came up big again with Saenz starting the frame with another single up the middle before Brandon Dieter followed with a hard double down the left field line. Kevin Jimenez and Mann came up with productive outs from there, generating sacrifice flies to push NM State's advantage to 4-0.
B6 | Making his first start in an Aggie uniform, Mark McNelly made sure to keep his team's run total moving in an upward direction. His RBI single scored Bush who won a 12-pitch at-bat to lead off the frame by stinging a double down the right field line. A double off the stick of Saenz and a six-pitch base on balls by Dieter set the table for Jimenez who punched a sacrifice fly to center to account for the final 6-0 score.
AT THE DISH
• Saenz's show at the plate continued as the Las Cruces, N.M., product led a 10-hit Aggie attack by going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Jimenez was the only player in the hosts' lineup who didn't record a hit, but he did plate two NM State runs in the win.
• No Northern Colorado player generated more than one hit and Garrett Fisher's double was the team's lone extra-base hit against Jefferson.
ON THE HILL
• Jefferson allowed just one runner to get into scoring position for the game and racked up nine strikeouts in order to move to 3-1 on the season.
• Northern Colorado starter Sam Leach's (1-3) day on the bump came to an end after 5 2/3 innings of work. Through that span, he surrendered six runs (five earned) on nine hits, a trio of walks and a hit-by-pitch.
COMING UP NEXT
• The Aggies wrap up their Saturday doubleheader with Northern Colorado at 3:30 p.m. Right-hander Josh Laukkanen will head to the hill for NM State as it seeks its second-straight WAC series victory.
++NM State++
