Courtesy: Richard Chavez
LAS CRUCES - The New Mexico State baseball team fought back to defeat Binghamton 9-6, Friday, March 25, after falling behind for the first time in six games. The Aggies take their winning streak to six and go to 17-5 on the year after the win at Presley Askew Field.
The Aggies were down 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases loaded when senior first baseman Ryan Aguayo picked up an RBI on a walk to tie the game. Sophomore designated hitter Zac Fisher had the go-ahead RBI as he followed Aguayo with a walk of his own. The Aggies came into the game with 142 walks on the year, which is second best in the nation.
It looked like the Aggies were going to pick up where they left off in game one of the series when NM State posted five runs in the first two innings of play, which included a two-run blast over the right field wall by senior Wes Starkes. It was his third home run of the season and the 18th of the year for the team.
After holding the Bearcats scoreless in the first two innings, the Aggies gave up three runs in the third and three more in the fourth to fall behind 6-5. The Aggie bullpen came in to settle things down with junior left hand pitcher Trey Ross picking up his fifth win of the year. Junior closer Scott Coffman earned save No. 4 of the year and the ninth of his career to put him in a tie for the No. 3 spot on the all-time saves list at NM State. He tied with Brian Gausman who pitched for the Aggies from 2004-07.
"Tyler (Mack) was good the first two innings and was actually pretty good after that but we booted a couple of balls that we shouldn't have that gave them some momentum," head coach Rocky Ward said. "Coffman is a kid that just keep doing it for us and it is cool that he moved into the No. 3 spot in saves."
The starter, sophomore Tyler Mack, finished his day working 3 1/3 innings, coming up with four strikeouts, while Ross threw four innings and dropped his ERA to 3.54 after not allowing a run to score.
Senior catcher Chuck Howard saved two potential runs from scoring in the top of the fifth when he picked off a runner at second base and again when he made a great block at the plate as a Binghamton runner tried to score on a squeeze bunt.
The Aggies added two insurance runs in the seventh and eighth on RBI singles from Starkes and junior third baseman Zach Voight to put NM State up 9-6 for good.
The Aggies conclude the four-game series with Binghamton with a double header starting at 1:05 p.m. (MT), Saturday, March 25 at Presley Askew Field. Both games will air over the radio at KSNM AM 570. Fans are invited to come out and join legendary basketball coach Lou Henson cheer on the Aggies as he is scheduled to throw out the first pitch.
