Box Score

On Sunday afternoon in Las Cruces, the Dallas Baptist Patriots (17-15, 5-4) needed heroics from a couple different players to preserve a 12-10 win over New Mexico State (18-14, 4-5) in ten innings. They got it from Aaron Gilbreath, who picked up the win, and Ronnie Mitchell, who hit a two-out, two-run homerun the final inning to salvage the final game of the three-game series. With the win, DBU avoids being swept for the first time in WAC play and stops a five-game losing streak in the process. DBU actually held a nine-run lead in the contest and then had to stave off several Aggie threats in the final innings to set up the Mitchell homerun.

The Patriots opened the scoring in the second inning to take their first lead in the series since the third inning on Friday. Duncan McAlpine beat out an infield single to open the inning and scored as the next batter, Austin Listi, belted his seventh homerun of the season to straightaway centerfield. Justin Wall followed with a double to left center and he later scored on an RJ Talamantes sacrifice fly to give DBU an early three run cushion. They would double that lead in the third with a McAlpine two-run homerun and a Chane Lynch two-out RBI that scored Wall, who had doubled.

Listi was not content with just two homeruns in the series as he came to bat in the fourth inning. With Mitchell and Collins aboard with singles, Listi lifted a high fly to right center that carried over the 385 sign to give Beam a nine run cushion as he came out to throw the fourth inning.

In the fourth, NMSU would get to Beam and end his afternoon. In fact, the Aggies would face four different pitchers in the fourth with Paul Voelker being summoned for his earliest outing of the season to record the final two outs in the frame as neither Brandon Koch nor Patrick Hicks would record an out in the inning. In all, NMSU scored six in the fourth inning to cut the DBU lead to three. They would add another run in the sixth after holding DBU scoreless in the fifth and sixth to make the game 9-7 to the seventh inning.

The score stayed that way until the eighth when DBU had a chance to break the game open. KJ Alexander doubled and Michaei Miller singled to lead off the inning and put runners on the corners. A Nash Knight strikeout was followed by a Talamantes safety squeeze to score Alexander that went for a hit. Mitchell then picked up his third hit of the game with a single to right to load the bases with one out. DBU would be limited to only the one run, however, after a Collins strikeout and a McAlpine groundout left the bases loaded. That wasted opportunity would come back to haunt the Patriots in the bottom half of the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, two Patriot errors and four Aggie hits led to three runs to tie the game at ten. Joseph Shaw, on in relief of Voelker, actually had to work out of a first and third, one out jam to keep the game tied to the ninth. He did so by inducing a comebacker to the mound and turning a double play with Knight and McAlpine to end the inning.

The Patriots went quietly in their half of the ninth to see the Aggies open the bottom of the inning with an infield hit and a walk off Shaw. Aaron Gilbreath replaced Shaw and promptly gave up a bunt hit to load the bases with nobody out. With the game-winning run ninety feet away, Gilbreath took the game into his own hands. With both the infield and the outfield drawn in guarding against a walk-off hit or sacrifice fly, Gilbreath punched out three in a row to send the game to extra innings.

After the Gilbreath heroics in the ninth, Miller took the first pitch he saw in the tenth and singled to left with nobody out. But on the next batter, he was doubled off first as Knight's sacrifice bunt attempt was pushed right back to Evan Mott, entering his third inning of relief for the Aggies. The Patriot magic would get started with two outs, though, as Talamantes singled cleanly to center in front of Mitchell. Mott was left in to face the lefthanded Mitchell and Mitchell answered that challenge with a two-run homerun to right to give DBU another lead.

Gilbreath would have to pitch around more danger in the tenth, this time of his own doing. After hitting the first two batters of the inning, Gilbreath would respond by striking out the next two he faced and inducing a game-ending groundball to Talamantes to preserve the Patriot win.

DBU will return to the field, and Horner Ballpark, on Tuesday, April 9, as they play host to Texas Tech at 6:35 pm.