Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Cal Baptist erupts in 7th inning to beat NMSU baseball

NMSU Athletics

The Basics
Game Twenty
Score: California Baptist 9, NM State 4
Records: California Baptist (15-6; 4-4 WAC); NM State (10-10; 2-6 WAC)
Location: Las Cruces, NM (Presley Askew Field)

LAS CRUCES, NM – A big seventh inning by California Baptist doomed the Aggies on Saturday night. Locked in a 1-1 pitcher’s duel, the Lancers posted a five-spot in the seventh before winning 9-4 on Saturday.

The two teams were locked into a scoreless pitcher’s duel for the first four innings of action. Pablo Cortes fanned three and induced a pair of double plays through the first four innings.

NM State had a slow offensive day through the first four innings. Cal Villareal ended the California Baptist starters bid for perfection with a walk to leadoff the fifth inning. After a throwing error by the pitcher to moved Villareal to third, Preston Godfrey tied the game when he bounced out to first. Ryan Grabosch picked up NM State’s first hit of the day and the Aggie offense finally showed some signs of life.

To start the fifth inning, California Baptist launched a home run to take a 1-0 lead over NM State. After a double, Cortes once again found his rhythm and retired six of the next seven Lancer hitters he faced.

The Lancers exploded for five runs in the seventh inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead. The first crooked number on the scoreboard was highlighted by a three-run home run with two outs in the inning.

California Baptist added another run in the eighth inning when Michael Carpentier launched a solo shot to right. The blast was Carpentier’s second of the ballgame and third hit of the game.

Tommy Tabak picked up the second run of the night for NM State when he hit an opposite-field homer to left and brought the Aggies back within six. Back-to-back singles from Brandon Dieter and Kevin Jimenez kept the Aggie offense rolling before Logan Gallina ripped an RBI double down the right field line.

In the ninth, the Aggies needed some late game heroics to have a fighting chance. The last inning started with back-to-back singles from Godfrey and Grabosch before Tommy Tabak reached on a fielder’s choice, before a throwing error scored Grabosch. A strikeout tallied the final out of the game for the Aggies as the team fell to .500 for the first time since February 19 – the second game of the season.

Quick hits
• NM State notched eight hits on Saturday night with Preston Godfrey and Ryan Grabosch combining for half of the teams knocks.
• Pablo Cortes threw 6.0 innings of one run baseball to open the game for NM State.
• NM State falls to 1-5 on the season when the opponent scores first.
• The Aggies have not lost in a Sunday game this season, posting a perfect 5-0 record thus far.

on deck
NM State looks to pick up their first win of the series on Sunday against California Baptist. First pitch from The ‘Skew will be thrown at 12 pm All of the action can be found on the WAC Digital Network and 91.5 FM KRUX,

For complete coverage of NM State baseball throughout the Aggies 2022 campaign visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of Aggie athletics – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Baseball), Twitter (@NMStateBaseball) and Instagram (@NMStateBaseball).

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