Pair of Home Runs Not Enough Against LA Tech

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- NM State scored four runs on two electric home runs as the Crimson & White hosted LA Tech on Saturday. Unfortunately for the home side, they failed to muster up any runs outside of the four-baggers. Desirae Spearman returned to action with a three-run blast in the third inning, and Jessica Carreon turned on the jets with a thrilling inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the seventh. The comeback fell short, however, dropping NM State to fourth place at 11-9 and 26-21 overall. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Bulldogs notched a two-run double in each of the first two innings, pulling ahead 4-0. In the first, Brooke Diaz brought in two Bulldogs to take the early lead. In the second inning, Kylie Neel added a pair of her own on a double to left center.

After being held scoreless for two innings, Desirae Spearman emphatically got Aggies on the board. Jessica Carreon led off the frame with a single up the middle and Jillian Taylor followed her up with a hit to left. In her first game as designated player, Spearman belted a 2-1 pitch over the center field wall, scoring Taylor and Carreon. The Aggies did not score for the remainder of the stanza, but managed to cut the deficit to 4-3. 

LA Tech responded in the top of the fourth inning as an Alexi Gilio sacrifice fly scored one run. One of Jaileen Mancha’s two strikeouts on the day ended the frame, holding the Bulldogs’ lead to two runs.

While Devin Elam doubled to left field in the home half of the fifth, NM State went scoreless for three straight innings. The Aggies were down to their final three outs with senior second baseman Jessica Carreon leading off the home side of the seventh. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Carreon sent a ball to deep left-center, dropping past two colliding Bulldogs. By the time the ball was thrown back into the infield, Carreon was already rounding third base. In her final regular-season series at home, the senior tallied a solo inside-the-park home run, setting the score at 5-4. Carreon had just one career home run prior to Saturday, coming when she played for UT Arlington. The next three ensuing at-bats failed to produce baserunners for NM State, finalizing the contest.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

• Devin Elam extended her hitting streak to 11 games, past her previous best of six games. The April 15th CUSA Player of the Week recorded two hits, improving her batting average to .435.
• The Aggies are now 6-2 on Saturdays in CUSA games. Before today, their lone loss came in a doubleheader versus UTEP. Therefore, today was the first Saturday in league play in which NM State did not record a win. 
• Four of the last six NM State games have been decided by one run. In their last five games, the Aggies have lost by one run three times. 
• Jaileen Mancha recorded her team-high eighth complete game of the season. In the final five innings, the Las Cruces native allowed just one run.
• The Aggies are on their second three-game losing streak of the season, and the first since losing five straight in a stretch that started 57 days ago.They have yet to be swept by a CUSA opponent.

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs and Aggies will meet again tomorrow for Senior Day as NM State attempts to salvage a win as it honors eight graduating Aggies. Sunday’s contest was rescheduled to 11:00 AM MT to accommodate LA Tech’s 1:30 PM drop-dead time. The series finale will air on 91.5 FM KRUX and will be available to follow via nmstatestats.com. 

For complete coverage of NM State Softball during the 2024 season, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of the Aggies – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Softball), Twitter (@NMStateSoftball) and Instagram (@NMStateSoftball).