FRESNO, Calif. — The New Mexico Lobos, one out and one strike away from a Mountain West Conference baseball victory, gave up a two-out, two-RBI, ninth-inning single and fell 9-8 on Saturday to the Fresno State Bulldogs.
The Lobos are 11-7 on the season, 2-3 in conference play.
Fresno State has won the first two games of a three-game series, to be completed at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday.
New Mexico jumped in front with a four-run second inning, all four runs provided by Devon Dixon’s grand slam.
Fresno State tied it at 7 with three runs in the sixth, but UNM went back ahead in the seventh on Dylen Ditzenberger’s RBI single.
Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Lobos right-hander Wil Bannister (0-3) retired the first two batters he faced. But a single, a hit batsman and a walk loaded the bases, and Tommy Hopfe’s single to left won it for the Bulldogs.
The Lobos had 10 hits, two apiece by Dixon and Kyle Smith.
… In St. George, Utah, the New Mexico State Aggies hit the WAC win column for the first time on Saturday with a 6-2 victory over Utah Tech.
Leading 3-2, the Aggies (2-14, 1-4) struck for three runs in the top of the ninth. Christian Perez doubled, took third on Edwin Martinez-Pagani’s single, then scored on a balk.
Martinez-Pagani took third on a wild pitch, then scored on Keith Jones II’s single to left. Nolan Funke doubled to center, scoring Jones.
BASKETBALL: In Lexington, Ky., New Mexico State had no players in double figures but nine in the scoring column in defeating East Tennessee State, 57-53, in a Women’s Basketball Invitational semifinal.
The Aggies (18-16) will face Georgia Southern for the title at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. The game is available on the Varsity Network app.
Soufia Inoussa led the Aggies with nine points. Sylena Peterson had eight points and six rebounds.
In a see-saw battle, two Molly Kaiser free throws gave NMSU 48-46 lead with 3:08 left in the game. The Aggies kept the lead the rest of the way.
SOFTBALL: In Logan, Utah, New Mexico fell 8-0 to Mountain West rival Utah State in a weather-shortened five-inning game Saturday.
The Lobos (12-17, 0-2) managed only three hits off Aggies starter Tess Bumiller. The Lobos’ Ashley Archuleta tripled with one out in the fourth but was stranded.
Starter Taylor Snow (3-4) took the loss for UNM.
… In Orem, Utah, New Mexico State scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning on Saturday, rallying to defeat Utah Valley 7-4 in a Western Athletic Conference softball game.
It was first WAC victory of the season for the Aggies (12-11, 1-2).
GOLF: In Tucson, Ariz., Bastien Armat’s 54-hole score of 4-under 208 paced the UNM men to a tie for ninth place after the final round at the Omni Tucson Invitational.
Armat tied for seventh place as an individual.
The Lobos’ team total of 6-under 858 was 18 shots behind winner Arizona.
… Also in Tucson, the UNM women were in 10th place after the second round of the Mountain View Collegiate.
The tournament concludes with 18 holes on Sunday.
Jenny Lertsadwattana is the Lobos’ individual leader with a 36-hole total of 5-under 139.
New Mexico’s team total of 2-under 574 leaves them 29 shots behind leader Iowa State.
Meanwhile, the New Mexico State women were tied for 15th at 8-over 584. Kaylee Chen is NMSU’s individual leader at even-par 144.
TENNIS: In Radford, Va., the New Mexico men defeated Radford 4-3, getting singles wins from Arda Azkara, Rafael Abdulsalam, Georgio Samaha and Alex Maggs.
The Lobos are 9-3 on the season.
… In Corpus Christi, Texas, New Mexico State’s men (2-11) lost 4-1 to Abilene Christian.
