NMSU baseball falls to New Mexico, 15-10
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - NM State returned to action for a midweek tilt against rival New Mexico, falling 15-10 in a high-scoring contest. Junior infielder Bryce Campbell had one of his best performances at the plate for the Aggies, posting a career-high four RBIs on a pair of hits.
NM State and UNM will play in two more matchups before the end of the season, once at home on Tuesday, April 15, and once in Albuquerque on Tuesday, April 22.
Facing high-velocity wind and heavy dust that caused a half-hour delay, the Aggies allowed the Lobos to tally a trio of runs in the top of the first.
The Aggies would put themselves on the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame, with Joey Craig notching an bases-loaded walk that plated Brandon Forrester to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
Jake Carvajal recorded the first start of his collegiate career, recording back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the second inning.
Singles by Sheehan O’Connor and Aidan Lombardi began the top of the second inning, setting up Mitch Namie for an RBI double through the right side, pulling NM State within one run.
With Lombardi at third and Namie at second, Campbell launched a three-run home run over the wall in left center to give the Aggies a 5-3 advantage.
The Lobos responded with a run in the third before logging four more runs in the fourth inning to retake a lead that they would never relinquish. UNM’s offense would continue to do damage in the sixth, posting its second four-run inning of the night to move in front 12-5.
NM State eventually applied some resistance with a trio of runs in the bottom of the sixth as Campbell continued his big night with a double to left that brought home O’Connor. Following a balk that brought in Namie, Austin Corbett produced a sacrifice fly to allow Campbell to score, pulling the Aggies back within four runs.
The Aggies had a chance to make things interesting in the seventh, however, a pop fly would leave the bases loaded, allowing no runs to score.
UNM would then push its lead back to seven runs before a pair of two-out ninth-inning Aggie runs brought the score to its stopping point at 15-10.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
Jake Carvajal tallied the first start of his career and managed season highs in both innings pitched (3.0) and strikeouts (4).
NM State logged 17 combined strikeouts against the Lobos on Tuesday night. This is the most strikeouts in a single game by the Aggies since March 11, 2022, when they recorded a program-record 20 strikeouts against Seattle U.
The 10-run effort marked the eighth time that the Aggie offense has produced double-digit runs. In total, the Aggies are now 5-3 when recording 10 or more runs.
Despite not starting the game, Sheehan O’Connor finished the night with three hits to represent his second three-hit outing of the season and ninth multi-hit game of the year. O’Connor also extended his hitting streak to six games.
Brandon Forrester saw just one plate appearance on Tuesday, however, he recorded a single to extend his hitting streak to a team-high nine games while pushing his reached base streak to 21 games.
Sheehan O’Connor (3 hits), Aidan Lombardi (2 hits), Mitch Namie (2 hits) and Bryce Campbell (2 hits) accounted for nine of the Aggies’ 11 hits.
Bryce Campbell tallied his second home run of the season and his sixth multi-hit game in just 12 games played during his debut year with the Aggies. His four RBIs also match the most in a single game by an Aggie hitter this year.
Matthew Yarc made his first appearance as a reliever and tossed 2.1 innings while recording a career high five strikeouts.
