By Marshall Mecham
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The New Mexico State baseball team (16-19, 7-8 Conference USA) cruised to a 6-1 victory over the University of New Mexico (22-13-1, 8-3-1 Mountain West) at Presley Askew Field at Johnson Stadium in round two of the Rio Grande Rivalry Tuesday, April 14.
NMSU first baseman Steve Solorzano started the evening strong in the first inning, doubling on the first pitch and later coming home on an RBI single from Aidan Taclas to take an early 1-0 lead. The Aggies kept the momentum going, as Chris Daniels hit an RBI single. Easton Rulli capped off the inning with an RBI double to give NMSU a 3-0 advantage heading into the second frame.
The second inning saw no teams score, but the Aggies added to their lead in the third. Camden Kaufman started the frame by getting on base and later scored on an RBI double by Jonatan Clough. Rulli followed this up with an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-0.
Both teams went scoreless in the fourth inning, but Daniels hit a solo home run in the fifth to give the Aggies a 6-0 advantage.
The Lobos did not get into the scoring act until the eighth inning, when Caleb Herd hit a solo home run to cut the deficit to five. This was Herd’s first home run of the season and the only run UNM scored all night.
Aggie pitcher Hazen Wright allowed no hits or runs through three innings of relief to earn the win. He said it was a great feeling to get the win to be 2-0 against the Lobos this season after having a rough time against them last year.
“It felt good,” Wright said. “They came in and swept us last year, so it feels good to get these two and just hopefully carry it on and take the next two from them.”
The Aggies will be back in action against Sam Houston State University (14-23, 4-11 CUSA) at 6 p.m. Friday, April 17, at home. This is the first of a three-game series.
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