NMSU baseball took a loss versus the University of Arizona Tuesday night.
For the first time since 1954, Arizona came to meet NMSU on its home turf. While this could have been an advantage for NMSU, it proved not to change the outcome, putting the Aggies at a four-game losing streak against the Wildcats.
Arizona filled Presley Askew Stadium with home runs, despite a stadium that was filled to the brim with NMSU fans.
The game started with no scores for the first two and one half innings, which went by quickly. NMSU took the lead in the bottom of the third with a home run by Cal Villareal. Arizona quickly responded with two home runs by Daniel Susac and Garen Caulfield in the top of the fourth, leaving the score at 3-1.
This momentum drove Arizona into the following inning, leading to one more home run in the fifth from Nik McClaughry. The hits continued through the next couple of innings resulting in an 8-4 lead for the Wildcats in the bottom of the seventh.
The Aggies were more productive in the eighth inning as Kevin Jimenez scored off an error. This proved to be insufficient in securing a lead, as Arizona responded immediately with a single from Tommy Splaine, making the score 9-5. A single and double followed, driving Splaine home with Chase Davis following, putting the Wildcats at an 11-5 advantage.
Tanner O’Tremba put an exclamation point on this with a grand slam in the top of the ninth, adding four runs to the Wildcats’ six-point lead, resulting in a final score of 15-5. The Wildcats improved to 29-13 overall, while the Aggies fell to 16-22.
The game was well attended by supportive NMSU fans who “wooed” and “booed” accordingly, with a notable amount of NMSU softball players coming to support their fellow athletes.
