Written by: NMSU Athletic Dept.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The New Mexico State baseball team scored the most runs since the 2006 team set the Aggie record for runs in a game with 37, but fell to Ball State 26-25 at Presley Askew Field, Sunday, March 2.
On a windy afternoon, NMSU put up all 25 runs in the first five innings of play, but were shut down in the final four innings. The Cardinals just kept chopping away at the Aggie lead and topped it off with a five run ninth inning to take the lead and win the game.
The balls kept flying out of the yard with a total of seven home runs hit on the day. Senior Joseph Scaperotta (San Diego, Calif.) hit the first bomb of the day over the right field wall for two RBI.
The Cardinals scored six runs in the second, six in the third and three in the fourth before the Aggies would put up nine in the bottom of the fourth to take a 20-15 lead.
Junior second baseman Bryan Marquez (Bonny Lake, Wash.) hit a solo shot to start off the fifth inning, which was followed by a bomb from senior Marcus Quade (Littleton, Colo.), who was a substitute for Scaperotta. The Quade's two run shot was the third blast of the day and the second of the inning. Junior Richard Stout hit a two RBI double down the right field line before Quade went yard. With those five runs, the Aggies went up 25-15, but that wouldn't be enough as Ball State scored in each inning from there on out, and blanked NMSU in innings six, seven, eight and nine.
Right hander Erik Nyquist (Fairfield, Calif.) was credited with the loss as he was in the game in the ninth inning when the Cardinals took the lead. He is now 1-1 on the season but has a team leading seven strikeouts on the year.
The Aggies split the series with Ball State and fall to 4-3 in 2008. They now look forward to the Alumni game, Saturday, March 8, before heading to Fresno, Calif. for a tournament. The Fresno Invitational will start Monday, March 10 and got through Friday, March 15.
