Aggies Stymied in Sunday Defeat at FIU

MIAMI, Florida (KVIA) -- NM State closed their weekend series against FIU with a 9–2 loss on Sunday afternoon as the Aggie offense struggled to find its groove at FIU Baseball Stadium. The loss handed the Aggies their first road series defeat in Conference USA play this season.

The Aggies (18-18, 6-6 CUSA) looked poised to strike early after leadoff hitter Brendan Forrester worked a walk and advanced all the way to third base on a pair of passed balls in the top of the first. However, three straight strikeouts stranded him and kept the game scoreless.

FIU (22-13, 6-5 CUSA) pushed the first run across in the second after a balk moved two runners into scoring position and a sacrifice fly made it 1–0. NM State had an opportunity to respond in the third with singles from Austin Corbett and Forrester, but a double play ended the threat.

The Panthers tacked on another run in the third before opening things up in the fifth. A two-out rally, highlighted by a two-RBI double and an RBI double down the line, pushed the FIU lead to 5–0.

NM State showed some fight in the sixth and after loading the bases on three walks, Boston Vest drew a bases-loaded RBI walk to get the Aggies on the board. Unfortunately, that would be all they could manage from the rally, as a strikeout and two outs on contact ended the inning with the bases still full.

FIU answered immediately, with Keshon Frett launching a solo home run in the bottom half to make it 6–1. They broke it open for good in the seventh, scoring three more runs, including a two-run home run and another solo shot to extend the lead to 9–1.

Joey Craig added a late highlight for the Aggies with a solo home run in the top of the ninth, but the deficit proved too large to overcome.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

• Sunday marked just the fifth time this season that the Aggies failed to score more than two runs and the first time in back-to-back games since their series against then 14th ranked Texas A&M.
• The loss marks just the second Sunday loss of the year for NM State. The Aggies are now 7-2 on Sundays this season.
• Mitch Namie extended his hitting streak to nine games and now has a hit in all but five games this season.
• Joey Craig’s home run was his second of the weekend and his sixth of the season. Craig now ranks second on the team in home runs behind only Sheehan O’Connor who has eight.
• Boston Vest finished the day as the only Aggie in the lineup not to strike out.
• Hazen Wright finished the game on the mound for the Aggies and tossed one scoreless inning. With this appearance, he has now allowed no earned runs in each of his last six outings and in eight of his nine collegiate appearances in total.

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