LAS CRUCES, N.M. – 23 runs. 19 hits. Seven home runs. The NM State offense exploded in a huge way on Tuesday night for its first win of the 2023 season. The Aggies routed Ottawa (Ariz.) in front of the Presley Askew Field faithful for a 23-2 victory.
 
The Aggies got home runs from Mitch Namie, Christian Perez, Logan Gallina, Keith Jones II, and Nick Gore with Jones II and Gore both launching a pair of long balls. Eleven different Aggies worked their way into the hit column, led by three from Edwin Martinez-Pagani.
 
In the first inning, NM State jumped out to a 6-0 lead, powered by a trio home runs by Namie, Perez, and Gore. In the midst of the long balls, Cal Villareal added an RBI single to score Damone Hale. Coming into the Tuesday game, NM State had scored just four first inning runs before more than doubling it.
 
NM State got another trio of runs in the second inning with all three coming on bases loaded walks. After Hale was hit by a pitch to bring home a run, Villareal and Gore both drew free passes to push the Aggies' lead to nine.
 
Making his first start as an Aggie, Albuquerque native Darius Garcia held Ottawa hitless until the fourth inning. Garcia allowed just one run on two hits while striking out four on his way to his first victory at the Division I level.
 
After Gore homered once again in the fifth inning to push the NM State lead back to nine, the offense exploded once more. The Aggies sent 15 men to the plate in the sixth, scoring 11 runs. In fact, the 11-run sixth inning was a higher total that NM State had scored in any nine inning game this season.
 
Much like the first inning, NM State homered three more times in the sixth. Jones II got the long ball launching underway with a three-run blast to center field. Later in the inning, following a Logan Gallina pinch-hit grand slam, Jones II went yard for the second time in an inning. With the second blast, Jones II became the first Aggie with two home runs in an inning since Tristan Peterson did so against Texas Southern on February 17, 2019.
 
Ottawa got a run back in the seventh inning but a two-run single by Nolan Funke quickly pushed NM State's lead back to 19. The following inning, Saxon Marr made his collegiate debut on the mound. Marr worked a spotless frame, striking out the second hitter he faced.
 
Following the massive win, NM State will hit the road for three games against Utah Tech.
 
Quick Hits

• With seven home runs hit by NM State on Tuesday, the Aggies matched the second-highest single-game home run total by a team this season.
• The Aggies had not scored 23+ runs in a game since February 16, 2019 against Texas Southern.
• NM State had not scored 20+ runs in a game since a trip to Seattle on April 24, 2022.
• In the sixth inning, Keith Jones II became the first Aggie to homer twice in an inning since February 17, 2019.
• The victory was the first time that NM State led at any point past the fifth inning this season.
• The Aggies more than doubled their run total for the first 13 games of the season (42) on Tuesday night.
• Saxon Marr made his collegiate debut on Tuesday night, working a spotless eighth inning and picking up a strikeout.
• Adam Arroyo also made his first Division I appearance, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning