NM State Baseball wins game two, 19-10

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The NM State Aggies dominate the Northern Colorado Bears 19-10 in game two of the series at Presley Askew Field. The Aggies set season highs in hits (20), runs scored (19), at bats (42) and RBIs (19).  

Action started early as the Bears would score three runs in the first inning. This would be their highest scoring inning in the game. The first run of the game was on an RBI single, followed by a sacrifice fly hit by Caden Wagner for the second run. The third and final run of the inning was scored on a throwing error.  

In the bottom of the first the Aggies were not able to score a run, ending the inning with a score of 3-0 in favor of the Bears. The Bears managed to notch one more run in the top of the second on an RBI double hit by Kai Wagner.  

The Aggies got busy in the bottom of the second, scoring four runs to tie the game. Sheehan O'Connor, Romeo Ballesteros, Keith Jones II and Damone Hale all earned RBIs in this inning. The Bears managed to notch two more runs in the top of the third to lead the game once again.  

The Bears extended their lead in the top of the fourth to four runs. The two runs that the Bears scored in the fourth came from a two-run home run hit by Northern Colorado's Garrett Fisher.  

The bottom of the fourth featured a lot of drama as Jones managed to tie the game on a Grand Slam. This Grand Slam came directly after Jones thought he was hit by a pitch, however, the umps disagreed. After Jones hit the grand slam, he celebrated fashionably with a bat flip. The Bears first baseman took offense to this bat flip and was then thrown out by the umpires, resulting in a heated conversation between Mike Anderson, Northern Colorado's head coach, and the umpiring crew.  

In the top of the fifth, the Bears, once again, took the lead on a groundout that scored Brandon Sanchez resulting in an unearned run.  

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies took their first lead of the game, this was the last time there was a lead change in the ball game. Jones hit a two-run double that put the Aggies at 10 runs. Nick Gore managed to give the Aggies another run in the fifth as he hit an RBI single scoring Jones.  

After the fifth the score stood at 11-9 in favor of the Aggies. The Aggies held the Bears scoreless in the top of the sixth. Ballesteros extended the Aggies' lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single.  

In the top of the seventh the Bears scored one run to shorten the lead to 12-10. Hale answered the one run that the Bears scored in the top of the seventh with a solo home run that was hit about two feet to the left of the right field foul pole in the seventh.  

In the bottom of the eighth, the Aggies scored six insurance runs on a Jones single, a two RBI single hit by Hale and a three-run home run hit by Gore. These were the final six runs scored by the Aggies in the ball game.  

The Aggies used six different arms on the mound to secure the victory. Left-handed pitcher Connor Wylde earned the win in the game pitching for two innings and only allowing one run.  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: 

• Jones had four hits in the game, the last time an Aggie had four hits in a game was back in April 2022. The two Aggies who recorded four hits in April were Kevin Jimenez and Gunner Antillon against UTGRV. 
• Gore recorded six at-bats in the game, the last time an Aggie had six at-bats in the game was the fourth game of the season. 
• Jadon Arakaki had four runs in the game, the last time an Aggie had a similar statistic was Antillon in April 2022 against UTRGV. 
• Jones recorded eight RBIs in today's game, his highest of the season.  
• Ballesteros was perfect at the plate recording three hits, one walk and one hit-by-pitch.  

UP NEXT: 
The NM State Aggies will face off against the Northern Colorado Bears in game three of the four game series Sunday at 2 p.m. MT.  For complete coverage of NM State Baseball, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics – and follow us on Twitter (@NMStateBaseball), Instagram (@NMStateBaseball) and like us on Facebook (NMState Baseball)