PHOENIX – NM State may not have gotten the day started the way it wanted, however, that all turned around in the second contest of the day as it collected its eighth win of the season. After falling to Utah Valley 6-4 in the morning, the Aggies turned around to knock off a solid Grand Canyon team, 4-1 inside GCU Softball Stadium on Friday.
In the circle, Head Coach
Kathy Rodolph leaned on the arms of
Emily Dix and
Jaileen Mancha who were the only two Aggies to throw pitches against the Wolverines and Lopes. Dix, who served as the Aggie starter in both games threw eight and a third and struck out six total batters while Manch recorded the other 5.2 innings in the circle while allowing just three earned runs.
The Aggie offense was fueled by
Jillian Taylor who finished the day 4-6 with an RBI while coming around to score three times.
Kendal Lunar and
Dezianna Patmon also tallied three RBIs each while the bat of
Riley Carley was responsible for the Aggies' other RBI on the day.
GAME ONE | NM State 4, Utah Valley 6
After the Aggie defense worked through a scoreless first inning that included a pickoff at first, Utah Valley tallied the game's first runs as Rachael Brown hit a two-run home run to left field – putting the Aggies in an early hole. Following a scoreless third inning,
Kendal Lunar got the Aggies going in more ways than one. She first she gunned out a baserunner to end the top half of the inning on the defensive end before recording a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to help the Aggies score their first run of the day in the bottom half of the fourth inning.
With the deficit reduced to one run, Utah Valley quickly rebuilt their lead as Megan Gibbs hit a solo home run to lead off the fifth inning, putting the Aggies behind 3-1 while forcing a pitching change. The change brought in Las Cruces native
Jaileen Mancha who was able to get out of the inning without allowing another run.
Mancha then got support from the Aggie offense as
Dezianna Patmon's third hit of the day left the yard for a two-run home run while capping off a three-run inning that gave the Aggies a 4-3 lead through five. The Wolverines then knotted things up in the top half of the sixth and the score would remain even at four until the top of the seventh when UVU added another two runs to leave them in line for the win.
GAME TWO | NM State 0, Grand Canyon 1
The Aggies' second game of the day got off to a slow start as both teams were held scoreless during the first two innings of play. In her second start of the weekend, Dix started strong as she struck out four of the first six GCU batters. The Lopes' batters eventually got going as they drove home a run in the third inning and threatened to bring home more, however, a stellar leaping catch from
Jillian Taylor in centerfield denied Kristin Fifield of an extra base hit while ending the inning and keeping the Aggies within one run.
The Aggie defense shined once again in the bottom of the fifth as the glove of
Jessica Carreon eliminated a run-scoring opportunity for the Lopes by making a diving stop before flipping the ball to
Kawehi Ili at second base.
NM State took full advantage of its newly found momentum as the Aggie bats came to life in the top of the sixth as Carreon, Taylor and
Dezianna Patmon recorded back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with just one out away and
Kendal Lunar coming to the plate. The preseason all-conference honoree did her job and delivered a single through the middle of the infield to bring home both Carreon and Taylor, giving the Aggies their first lead of the game and chasing the GCU starter. The ensuing at-bat also produced an Aggie score as
Riley Carley smacked a sac fly into deep center field to put NM State ahead 3-1 after six innings.
Later, the Aggies added an insurance run as
Jayleen Burton picked up her first RBI of the season by way of a single through the right side to bring home
Kristen Boyd from second base. A pair of GCU hits in the bottom of the seventh made things interesting, but
Jaileen Mancha ultimately sealed the deal for the Aggies as she tallied her second strikeout of the game and closed out the game while picking up her second win of the season.
##NM State##
