LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Just like that, another year of NM State Softball is in the books. On Saturday, the Aggies closed out their season with an 11-2 (5 innings) victory over Abilene Christian after an 11 hit, 11 run performance by the Aggies offense.
Seven of the 12 Aggies who stepped up to the plate today recorded a hit, with the same number of Aggies recording RBIs in the game.
Kayla Bowen had herself another exceptional performance after going 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Similar to Bowen,
Paige Knight continued her Friday success into Saturday's game after going 2-2 with a double and an RBI.
Emily Dix had one of her best outings of the season, pitching 4.2 innings while allowing just two hits and no earned runs.
Despite doubling their win total from a season ago, the Aggies came just short of making the WAC Tournament this year after UT Arlington and California Baptist secured the last two spots on Saturday. This marks just the second time the Aggies have failed to make the conference tournament in the last decade.
First Inning
Abilene Christian led off the game with a double to left center field which was immediately followed by a two-run home run by Olivia Taylor. After walking the next batter, Aggie starter,
Felicia De La Torre, was replaced by
Emily Dix in the circle. After loading the bases, Dix escaped the jam with a fly out to center, keeping the score at 2-0.
Kayla Bowen represented the first baserunner for the Aggies, hitting a single right up the middle of the diamond. A wild pitch allowed Bowen to reach second, putting an Aggie into scoring position. With two outs in the inning,
Hannah Lindsay grounded a ball to the third baseman – a play that should have been routine, but wound up being wide of the bag, allowing Lindsay to reach and Bowen to score.
Second Inning
After allowing two runners to reach to start the second,
Emily Dix escaped the inning unscathed, bringing the hot Aggie bats back up.
Jessica Carreon reached on an error to the second baseman, allowing her to advance to third base.
Jayleen Burton then taped a bunt single to score Carreon, evening the score at two. After loading the bases, the Aggies were able to tack on two more, thanks to a pair of wild pitches.
Paige Knight brought in the final run of the inning to give NM State a 5-2 advantage.
Third Inning
The Aggies added another run in the bottom half of the third inning thanks to another
Jayleen Burton bunt single and a
Jillian Taylor double to left center, extending the Aggie lead to four runs.
Fourth Inning
Hannah Lindsay knocked a ball into 'No-Man's land' between the infield and the outfield in right, allowing her to reach first safely.
Savannah Bejarano came in to pinch run for Lindsay, taking second on a wild pitch.
Paige Knight came up to bat next, drawing a four-pitch walk to put two on the base paths with one out. This brought up
Gabby Aragon, who sent a sharp line drive down the left field line for a one-out, one RBI double.
Jessica Carreon followed that with a single up the middle to help extend the Aggies' lead to six runs.
After a plethora of changes by both sides, the Aggies kept the foot on the pedal as they added three more runs in the inning after an error, double, and single extended the Aggies lead to nine runs.
