Remote Surveillance Trailer in Las Cruces, NM

Box Score LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Diamond 'Dogs (15-8, 4-0 CUSA) are off to a 4-0 start in conference play for the first time since joining Conference USA after downing New Mexico State (9-12, 1-3 CUSA), 13-5, at Presley Askew Field in Las Cruces.

Friday's contest marked the fourth time Tech has knocked at least 14 hits in a game, and have done so in three of their last four games.

The 'Dogs opened the scoring in the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead. Cade Patterson led off the contest with a walk followed with a one-out double down the left field line from Trey Hawsey, allowing Patterson to come around and score on the play.

NMSU responded in the home half by leading off with a triple before a throwing error with one out allowed the runner to score, and the hitter to advance all the way around to third. He was brought in on an RBI groundout before the inning ended on a flyout to right.

Wesley Scott led off the second with a first-pitch single followed by an infield hit from Patterson to put runners on the corners. Tech then jumped out to a 4-2 lead on a massive 464-foot bomb by Colby Lunsford with two outs, passing Matt Houston's 455-foot homer earlier in the season for the longest Tech home run of the season thus far.

Trey Hawsey ripped his first career triple down the right field line the next at-bat, but was left stranded on a groundout.

The Aggies' bats continued to find contact, leading off the frame with a single of their own and a walk after put runners on first and second with no outs. Both runners advanced 90 feet on a double steal before a walk loaded the bases, followed with a two-run knock to tie the game.

The frame ended on the 'Dogs' 19th double play of the season and a pop out, leaving a runner stranded at third and sending the game into the third inning in a 4-4 tie.

Eli Berch picked up a one-out single and advanced to second on a walk drawn by Scott. A two-out walk on a 3-2 count drawn by Casey McCoy loaded the bases before Patterson drew his own walk to break the tie.

Already with a homer and three RBI on the day, Lunsford stepped up to the plate and belted a 446-foot bomb to left-center for a grand slam, giving the 'Dogs a 9-4 lead.

With his second homer, Lunsford picked up his third multi-homer game and is the fifth time a Diamond 'Dog has hit multiple four-baggers in a game this season. It is also the second-straight weekend the graduate third baseman has a hit a grand slam, following up with one to cap off a seven-inning run rule in the series finale against Delaware at home.

Lunsford's seven RBI are the most by a Bulldog since Sebastian Mexico plated seven runs against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the Love Shack on April 29, 2025.

In the bottom of the third, Declan Dahl struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing a walk. Unphased by the baserunner, the Azle, Texas native struck out the next batter to pick up the first scoreless frame for either side.

With his second homer, Lunsford picked up his third multi-homer game and is the fifth time a Diamond 'Dog has hit multiple four-baggers in a game this season. It is also the second-straight weekend the graduate third baseman has a hit a grand slam, following up with one to cap off a seven-inning run rule in the series finale against Delaware at home.

Both sides were quiet in the fourth, but Tech increased their lead to seven once through the top half of the fifth. Scott led off with a walk and Zeb Ruddell doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. An RBI groundout made it a 10-4 game before Patterson added on with an RBI double to close out the frame.

With nothing across for both sides in the sixth and seventh frames, Coates led off the eighth reaching on an error and scored on a massive RBI double to left-center from Berch. The Aggie center fielder made a good run to the ball, making a diving attempt but was unable to hold on to the ball, allowing Coates to come around and score the 12th run of the game.

Tech put up their 13th run of the night following a one-out walk drawn by Lunsford then back-to-back singles from Hawsey and Mexico, including an RBI credited to Mexico.

With his hit in the ninth, Mexico recorded his 28th multi-hit game which leads all current Bulldog hitters.

NMSU snapped their streak of six consecutive scoreless innings, plating two in the ninth on an error and an RBI single with no outs.

Following a pitching change, an error on a pop up occurred to give the home side runners on first and second with one out. A double steal then gave the Aggies a pair of runners in scoring position, with both being driven in on a sharp base hit with two outs up the middle to cut Tech's lead to five.

The fourth single of the frame followed the scoring play, but the rally was cut short on Riley Fisher's second strikeout, giving Tech the series-opening win.

Eight Bulldogs picked up a hit with five of those recording multi-hit games, led by Trey Hawsey's game-high three base hits with the sophomore first baseman being a home run shy of hitting the cycle. Dahl earned the winning decision, improving to 4-2 on the season. The junior tossed five full innings, allowing four runs with three of them earned on four hits, five walks and struck out three batters.

Luke Nichols tossed three frames, with two of the three runs he allowed coming in as earned runs on two hits, no walks and a season-high five strikeouts.

Tech's seven extra-base hits as a team are the most in a single game this season, and have not had seven extra-base hits since the series opener against DBU on April 25, 2025.

Game 2 of the series is set for Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT at Presley Askew Field. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and radio broadcast will be available on 97.7 FM, the LA Tech Athletics app and the Varsity Network app.

Quotables

Head Coach Lane Burroughs: "Obviously, Colby had a great day. I thought the three at-bats prior to his grand slam were unbelievable by Casey McCoy, Wesley Scott and Cade Patterson to load them up for him, and he drives it out of the yard. We talked about how [New Mexico State] doesn't stop. The only thing I'm really disappointed in with the team—I thought we lost focus. We talk about to win a championship, you have to focus every pitch, and it's hard. It's hard to focus on every pitch for 56 games. But, it's a win and a hard win. It's a tough place to play, and New Mexico doesn't stop, because they're used to getting behind and coming back. No lead is safe here, and it took everything that we had. Declan was having trouble seeing with the sun, but once it went down, he started dealing. I thought Luke Nichols was outstanding tonight. We had to go with Riley Fisher at the end, but we had to get this win. We left too many men on base and we need to get those runs in, but all in all it's a win."

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos are staying in the Land of Enchantment this week, traveling to Las Cruces to face New Mexico State on Tuesday at 5 p.m. before the Mountain West schedule begins Friday against Grand Canyon.

Tuesday’s game against the Aggies will be on ESPN+ with live stats available, and will be the first of a home-and-home with the Lobos and Aggies playing in Albuquerque on March 17 at 5 p.m.

The Lobos are 88-75 all-time against the Aggies, but have lost the last four meetings.

UNM enters the game 12-12 on the season and has won its last two behind a run-rule of South Alabama and a season-high 16 runs, and a 4-3 extra-innings win over Samford to close the Jaguar Classic.

On the week, the Lobos outscored their opponents 25-19 and had three games with three home runs, with Miracle McKenzie accounting for four, Allie Williams two and Gabrielle Briones, Caitlin Benningfield and Estrella Rowe one each.

In the circle, Caitlin Benningfield and McKenna Guest combined for 31 strikeouts to five walks with each producing season highs. Guest threw a complete game at UTEP to start the week, striking out a season-high eight, while Benningfield struck out a season-best 13 in the win against Samford, the most by a freshman Lobo pitcher since 2013. Benningfield retired 11 consecutive Bulldog batters between the second and fifth innings with eight strikeouts in that span, and also allowed one hit in the win at South Alabama, which came in the fourth inning.

On the season, the Lobos are hitting .260 behind McKenzie at .361 with Williams leading in hits at 24 and RBI at 21. In addition to batting average, McKenzie leads the team in home runs (eight), doubles (six), slugging percentage (.852) and on-base percentage (.473) and is tied with Jessica DeLeon for the team lead in walks with 11.

Williams has reached base in the last 15 games, while McKenzie has reached in the last six games and Rowe in the last three.

UNM is 14-15 in stolen base attempts this season, led by eight stolen bases from Briana Williams and two each for DeNae Vasquez-Dickson and Hayden Luderer. The Lobos stole a season-high three in the game at South Alabama with Vasquez-Dickson responsible for two.

McKenzie’s eight home runs are ranked 46h in the NCAA and is tied for the lead in the Mountain West with her home runs per game (.33) 71^st in the NCAA and leads the conference. Further, her slugging percentage is 76^th in the country and also leads the MW.

The Lobos have four players with over 20 hits to date with McKenzie and Briones each with 22 and Briana Williams with 20.

UNM’s pitching staff enters the game with a 3.41 ERA, ranked 68^th in the NCAA, and 32^nd in the NCAA and second in the Mountain West in strikeout-to-walk-ratio (2.39) with 122 strikeouts to 51 walks. Benningfield leads the staff with 59 strikeouts to 12 walks with Guest striking out 36 to 19 walks. The Lobos are also 80^th in the NCAA and second in the MW in team strikeouts per seven innings with 5.41.

Benningfield’s 59 strikeouts leads the MW and are 50^th in the NCAA and the freshman is also 35^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.92), second in the conference. Further, she is 62^nd in walks allowed per seven innings (1.43).

ABOUT THE OPPONENTNew Mexico State enters the game 12-13 on the season and is coming off of a series sweep of Louisiana Tech at home to start CUSA play. The Aggies are 8-7 at home and are led at the plate by Faith Aragon’s 35 hits, .851 slugging percentage, .494 on-base percentage and .473 batting average. Aragon is also tied for the team lead with eight doubles.

On the season, the Aggies have 232 hits and have scored 163 runs but have been outscored by their opponents 187-163.

Aragon also leads the Aggies in the circle with 10 starts and seven complete games, accounting for seven of the eight complete games NMSU has on the season, and has made an appearance in 17 games. She’s thrown 74.0 of the 159.0 innings with the closest pitcher throwing 28.0 innings (Jaileen Mancha), and has struck out 97 to 29 walks.

As a staff, the Aggies have a 6.16 ERA with 136 strikeouts to 72 walks and opponents are hitting .303 against them.

Following Tuesday’s game, the Lobos open Mountain West play against Grand Canyon on Friday, the start of a three-game series.

The NM State baseball team battled its way to a statement win on March 3 at Presley Askew Field at Johnson Stadium, rallying past previously undefeated New Mexico with a decisive four‑run seventh inning to secure an 8-6 victory. The Aggies (6-6) collected nine hits, scored in four different innings, and held one of the nation’s top offenses to just six runs to hand the Lobos (12-1) their first loss of the 2026 season.

The Aggies grabbed an early lead in the second when Tommy Meluskey tripled and scored on a Cole Rogers sacrifice fly. UNM surged ahead with a three‑run sixth, but NMSU responded immediately as Bryce Campbell singled and later scored on a Rogers RBI single to give the Aggies a 4-3 advantage.

NMSU broke the game open in the seventh. Camden Kaufman and Boston Vest drew back‑to‑back walks before Aidan Taclas delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon – a two‑run double down the left‑field line to reclaim the lead. After an intentional walk to Campbell, Easton Rulli drove in another run with a single to center and Rogers followed with his third RBI of the day to make it 8-6.

From there, Connor Wylde closed the door, tossing the final three innings to earn the win. Wylde held the Lobos hitless over the final two frames, while the Aggies turned a key double play along the way to pick up the rivalry victory.

NM State will remain at home for a weekend series against No. 25 UTSA, which will bring an 11-1 record to Las Cruces. The Aggies and Roadrunners will begin the three-game series on Friday at 6 p.m., with games also scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.