Welcome to our new web site!

To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.

During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.

Late Grand Canyon rally dooms NM State in series finale

Posted

The Basics 

Game Twenty-Five 

Score: NM State 6, Grand Canyon 7 

Records: NM State (11-14, 3-9 WAC); Grand Canyon (18-11, 10-2 WAC) 

Location: Phoenix, Ariz. (GCU Ballpark) 

PHOENIX, Ariz. –  With a series win within sight, the NM State baseball team looked to slam the door shut on Grand Canyon. NM State built a 5-0 lead before the Lopes began to claw back into the game, eventually taking down the Aggies 7-6 in nine innings.  

Ryan Grabosch laced a double to left field, scoring Kevin Jimenez to put the Aggies on the board in the first inning.  

In the fourth inning, the Aggies posted three runs, cashing in on a pair of two-out errors by the GCU infield. Kyle Westfall ripped a double down the left field line, scoring Cal Kilgore from second base. With two away, Kevin Jimenez reached on an error by the second baseman, eventually reaching third and allowing Westfall to score on the play. The following batter, Nolan Funke, also reached on an error, allowing Jimenez to score the third run of the inning.  

Logan Gallina led off the Aggies half of the fifth inning with a solo shot to left field, pushing the NM State lead to five. In the bottom half of the frame, GCU began chipping away at the lead with two runs to cut NM State’s lead to three.  

In the sixth inning, the Aggies once again capitalized on a defensive miscue from GCU. Grabosch reached on an error by the shortstop, allowing NM State shortstop Brandon Dieter to score from second.  

Grand Canyon added four runs in the seventh inning to tie the game. The Lopes big inning was highlighted by a two-run double to right-center. Brendon Rodriguez ended the inning with a strikeout of the first batter he faced. 

The Lopes plated the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly to center field. After Lyle Hibbits walked the lone hitter he faced, Alex Bustamante induced a foul out to the first baseman to end the inning.  

Chasing a run in the final inning, the Aggies looked to string together a few base runners to push some runs across. That was not the case and the NM State lineup went down in order in the ninth.  

Quick Hits 

  • After taking the loss on Sunday, Brendon Rodriguez falls to 0-3 on the season with his third bad-luck loss. 
  • Brandon Dieter and Kevin Jimenez combined for five hits at the top of the lineup for NM State. Jimenez led the way for the Aggies with three hits.
  • Dieter, Jimenez, Ryan Grabosch, and Logan Gallina all recorded multiple hits in the game.
  • Jimenez ripped a pair of NM State’s four doubles on Sunday. 
  • Ian Mejia came up just one strikeout shy of his career-high on Sunday afternoon. 
  • Noah Estrella, Lyle Hibbits, and Alex Bustamante all worked scoreless appearances in the ballgame. 
  • The Aggies outhit GCU 11-9 on Sunday.

On-Deck 

Tuesday night will be the second meeting in the Rio Grande Rivalry this season between the Aggies and New Mexico. NM State will look to bounce back after falling in the first meeting between the in-state rivals. First pitch from Presley Askew Field in Las Cruces will be thrown at 6 PM and all of the action can be found on the WAC Digital Network and 91.5 FM KRUX with Adam Young on the call.  

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). 

++NM Stat


X