It was a see-saw game for the UNM baseball team against in-state rival New Mexico State on Tuesday at Isotopes Park.
Despite out-hitting the Aggies 14-9, the Lobos ended up on the losing side of a ninth-inning rally for a 5-4 loss.
UNM is now 13-3 on the season, while NMSU has improved to 11-1.
Head coach Ray Birmingham said the Lobos did not play to their potential.
"It was a game of who made the least amount of errors," he said. "Kind of sloppy. And it didn't help that our bench didn't perform. We got caught up in the emotion of the rivalry."
The Lobos and Aggies battled back and forth for four innings when it looked like it would be anyone's game. However, NMSU was the first to draw blood, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with runs in the fifth and sixth.
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"We did a good job of staying up with them," Birmingham said. "They'd score. We'd score. But we just couldn't get past them."
UNM responded with a three-run rally in the sixth, aided by an error by NMSU right fielder Nate Shaver and a two-RBI single by senior second baseman Mike Brownstein.
In the eighth inning, NMSU's Jared Jordan doubled with a shot to the left field corner, scoring one and tying the game at 3-3.
Junior left fielder Ryan Honeycutt, who went 5-for-5 from the plate and is batting .643, said NMSU's pitching kept the Lobo offense guessing.
"They made some adjustments since last time we faced them," he said. "We didn't have our best hitting day, but their pitchers did well, too."
The game was broken open in the ninth inning when NMSU second baseman Mike Sodders hit a two-run shot to left center to put the Aggies up 5-3.
The Lobos scored a run in the ninth on junior Max Willett's RBI single. But it was all the Lobos could muster.
UNM missed opportunities in the second and fourth innings, leaving the bases loaded. UNM left 14 runners on base for the game.
"We just have to let this one go and move on," Honeycutt said. "There's no looking back from here."
Lobo senior Clinton Cox gave up the game-winning homer for the loss, falling to 0-1 on the year. NMSU's Tyler Sturdevant improved to 2-1 with the win.
Birmingham said he was disappointed in his pitchers.
"We pitched just OK," he said. "It definitely wasn't our best game from the mound."
Baseball vs. Air Force
Friday, 6 p.m.
Isotopes Park
