BASEBALL FALLS IN SERIES OPENER TO NEW MEXICO STATE 7-4

4/25/2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento State baseball team dropped a 7-4 decision to the visiting New Mexico State Aggies in a Western Athletic Conference matchup on Friday, April 25 at Hornet Field.

With the loss, the Hornets fall to 19-20, 10-6 in WAC play, while the Aggies improve to 19-25, 6-11 in the WAC.

New Mexico State started the scoring off in the top of the second, as Joe Leghorn hit a one-out home run, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead. The Hornets then fought back with a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead, as senior Ryan Blair hit a double, and then advanced to third on an Aggie throwing error. Senior David Flores was up next, and he singled through the left side of the infield to score Blair, and advanced to second on a stolen base. Junior Gabe Jacobo followed, and he singled through the left side, scoring Flores and giving the Hornets a 2-1 lead.

The lead would not last for long, however, as in the top of the sixth, New Mexico State scored three runs, including a solo home run by Tyler Hardt and a two-run triple by Franky Busani, to take a 4-2 lead. The two teams then traded runs for the next two innings, as in the bottom half of the inning, junior Hunter Martinez hit a sacrifice fly, scoring senior Brian Boyd, who had reached on an infield single, to pull the Hornets to within one at 4-3.

The Aggies then got the run back in the top of the seventh on a home run by Joseph Scaperotta, pushing the lead to 5-3, before the Hornets scored another run in the bottom half of the inning, this time on a RBI single by senior Wes Oberlin, cutting the lead to 5-4. New Mexico State got the run back in the eighth, on a leadoff home run by Busani, and tacked on another insurance run in the ninth on an unearned run, accounting for the final margin of 7-4.

Hornet starter, junior Jose Ramirez (4-4), picked up the loss, but recorded a career-high eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Tyler Sturdevant (5-4) picked up the win for the Aggies, allowing four runs on 13 hits in seven innings of work. Erik Nyquist pitched the final two innings for NMSU, picking up his third save of the season.

Oberlin and Blair each went 3-of-4 at the plate to pace the Hornets, while four different players, Flores, Jacobo, Martinez and Oberlin, added RBI. Leghorn went 4-for-5 to pace NMSU, while Busani went 2-for-5 with three RBI.

The Hornets and Aggies will continue their four-game series on Saturday, April 26 with a doubleheader, starting at 11 a.m. at Hornet Field.