New Mexico State baseball launched three home runs as it took down UTRGV 9-5 at Presley Askew Field on Friday night.
For the first time in an Aggie uniform, Treyjen Meza picked up the win as he worked 6.1 innings and struck out seven while allowing just three earned runs.
The long ball lifted the Aggies on Friday night as the team scored six runs via the home run. The team fell a grand slam shy of the home run cycle as Mitch Namie hit a solo shot, Christian Perez launched a two-run blast, and Nick Gore hammered a three-run bomb.
NM State got off to a slow start at the plate, striking out nine times over the first four innings. Everything changed in the fifth inning when Nolan Funke and Keith Jones II led off the frame with back-to-back singles. From there’ Gore’s blast tied the game at three before Namie put the Aggies in front with a solo shot.
From there, NM State and UTRGV would trade blows for the next four half innings. UTRGV would tie the game at four in the sixth inning before Perez answered with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to retake the lead.
In the seventh, the Vaqueros answered with another run to cut the deficit to one. Wasting no time, the Aggies quickly pushed the lead to four following the seventh inning stretch. After Romeo Ballesteros tripled for the first time in an Aggie uniform, he scored on a throwing error by the third baseman. Tuesday’s hero Cal Villareal and Perez delivered with run-scoring hits in the inning to put the Aggies ahead 9-5.
Quick Hits
· Treyjen Meza picked up his first win in an Aggie uniform on Friday, striking out seven.
· Noah Estrella lowered his season ERA to 0.55, which would be the third-lowest in the nation among qualified pitchers.
· Eight of the nine hitters in the NM State lineup recorded a base hit. Christian Perez, Nolan Funke, and Nick Gore each had multi-hit nights.
· With the win, the Aggies move to 2-5 in WAC play
