Aggie Baseball Gains Two Wins on the Road By Justine Gaskamp Hobbs, N.M. — OPSU Head Baseball Coach Steve Appel was very happy with the Aggies offensive performance against the University of the Southwest Wednesday afternoon, as the Aggies increased their overall record to 8-20 after winning two seven-inning games against the Mustangs (6-3, 14-7). Josh Casillas started game one on the mound for the Aggies and held the Mustangs scoreless through two innings. USW brought in three RBI over the next two innings to take a 3-0 lead over the Aggies. At the top of the fifth with two runners on base, Nick Crosswhite came in to pinch hit for Dylan Dudley and knocked a single up third base to bring Peyton Osbon in for the Aggies first run of the day. The Mustangs failed to get a hit in the fifth and the Aggies came back ready to rally, scoring five runs in a big sixth inning. Robert Montoya led off with a single to left field, advanced on a fielders choice followed by a Ruben Aguirre single; Montoya crossed home plate off an error by third base moving the Aggies to within one point of the Mustangs. Nick Crosswhite then stepped up with a big triple and three RBI which gave the Aggies the 6-3 lead. Casillas struck out three to end the sixth giving zero runs to the Mustangs. Both teams made pitching changes in the seventh, and with neither team scoring, Casillas grabbed his first win as an Aggie with six hits, three runs, and six strikeouts. The Aggies were hungry for more in game two, knocking in three runs in the second inning and leaving USW scoreless. Sam Moreno drove a triple to center field with bases loaded in the third which brought in three RBI and put the Aggies up 6-0 with zero outs. Montoya hit a single to right field for another RBI in the third adding another run to the scoreboard for the visiting team. The Mustangs answered with two runs in the third, but the Aggies held back nothing, bringing in three runners each in the fourth and fifth innings and allowing zero runs for USW. After five innings the score was 13-2 in favor of OPSU. The Aggies went three-up/three-down to open the sixth inning which gave the Mustangs the boost needed to put up five runs in the sixth. With bases loaded at the top of the seventh, Chris McClendon took a sac-fly to bring in the final run of the game and give the Aggies the 14-7 win. Junior pitcher Zach Tingen led off for the Aggies and went 5.1 innings with six runs and two strikeouts. Tingen earned his second win of the season in game two. Spencer Long, Adam Burke, and B.J. Henry also made appearances at the mound in this two-game series against USW. Leading on offense was Chris McClendon who batted 1.000 in game one hitting 2-2 with three runs and two RBI. Nick Crosswhite also had a productive day behind the plate going 4-5 with three runs and five RBI, and Jordan Bernal went 5-8 with three runs and two RBI. Sam Moreno was the big hitter in game two bringing in a whopping six RBI off a single, one double, and one triple. Moreno, Trey Wooten, and Peyton Osbon each scored two runs for the series with five other Aggies each scoring one. In fielding, Moreno also led the pack in game two with seven putouts from second base; Nicholas Zieniuk also led with seven in game one as catcher. Robert Montoya tallied nine assists at short stop with only two errors. The Aggies will continue their travels to San Antonio, Texas, where they will take the field in a Heartland Conference match-up with the number two ranked St. Marys. The three-game series begins on Friday with a double-header starting at 1 p.m. followed on Saturday with game three, also at 1 p.m.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:11:15 +0000
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