LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State could not have anticipated the month of February finishing with a zero still in the win column, however, after a 9-3 home loss to Benedictine Mesa on Tuesday night, that is exactly the predicament that the Crimson & White find themselves in.
 
From the start, the Aggies knew they were going to get more than they bargained for from the Redhawks as the leadoff man for the visitor's reach base on a single to center field before the No. 2 hitter belted a home run over the right field wall to put the Redhawks ahead 2-0.
 
The Aggie offense did respond in the home half of the first as Nolan Funke placed a ball down the right-field line to bring Romeo Ballesteros in to score after the Arizona native reached base via a walk and advanced to second on a Logan Gallina flyout.
 
With the score at 2-1 in favor of Benedictine Mesa, the Redhawks tacked on three additional runs in the second inning while giving up a pair of doubles to allow themselves an unexpected-to-most 5-1 lead after just two innings.
 
Twelve of the next 13 NM State batters would fail to reach base with a wild pitch on a swinging third strike to thank for the only Aggie base runner. Meanwhile, Benedictine Mesa added an insurance run to its tally in the fifth inning – putting the Aggies down five runs.
 
The Redhawk batters continued to find success in the sixth inning as a one-out walk was immediately followed by a double and a single to bring in another three runs and put the score at 9-1 after six.
 
Karl Koerper gave the Aggies a glimpse of hope in the bottom of the seventh inning as he hit a bomb over the wall in left-center to record his first home run of the season and the Aggies' second run of the night. NM State would eventually add one more run as Xaige Lancaster came in from third on a wild pitch.
 
Quick Hits

• Logan Gallina, Nolan Funke and Karl Koerper combined for the Aggies' only three hits of the contest.
• After tallying his first hit and RBI in the Aggies' last outing, Karl Koerper recorded his first home run while donning Crimson & White.
• Nine Aggie pitchers joined forces to throw nine innings with Hayden Johns' 2.0 innings of work being the longest any Aggie pitcher was on the mound.
• Tuesday marked the first time in program history that the Aggies lost to Benedictine Mesa – moving their record against the Redhawks to 5-1 since first meeting in 2017.
• NM State moves to 0-7 on the season.