FRESNO, Calif. — The New Mexico Lobos, one out and one hit from a Mountain West Conference baseball win, gave up a two-out, two RBI and ninth-inning single and fell 9-8 Saturday against Fresno State. Bulldogs.
The Lobos are 11-7 this season, 2-3 in conference.
Fresno State has won the first two games of a three-game series, which ends at 2:05 p.m. Sunday.
New Mexico took the lead with a four-run second inning, with all four runs provided by Devon Dixon’s grand slam.
Fresno State tied at 7 with three in the sixth, but UNM regained the lead in the seventh on Dylen Ditzenberger’s RBI single.
Sign up for our free Daily Sports newsletter
Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Lobos right-hander Wil Bannister (0-3) retired the first two batters he faced. But a single, slap batter and walk loaded the bases, and Tommy Hopfe’s single at left won it for the Bulldogs.
The Lobos had 10 hits, two each by Dixon and Kyle Smith.
… In St. George, Utah, the New Mexico State Aggies reached the WAC win column for the first time on Saturday with a 6-2 win over Utah Tech.
Leading 3-2, the Aggies (2-14, 1-4) hit for three runs in the top of the ninth. Christian Perez doubled, took third on Edwin Martinez-Pagani’s single, then scored on a backhand.
Martinez-Pagani took third on a wild pitch, then scored on Keith Jones II’s single on the left. Nolan Funke doubled down the middle, scoring Jones.
BASKETBALL: In Lexington, Ky., New Mexico State had no double-digit players, but nine in the scoring column in beating East Tennessee State, 57-53 , in the semifinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitational.
The Aggies (18-16) will face Georgia Southern for the title at 5:30 p.m. 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 free throws from Molly Kaiser gave NMSU a 48-46 lead with 3:08 left in the game. The Aggies held the lead all the way.
SOFTBALL: In Logan, Utah, New Mexico fell 8-0 to Mountain West rival Utah State in a weather-shortened five-inning game on Saturday.
The Lobos (12-17, 0-2) had just three hits against Aggies starter Tess Bumiller. Ashley Archuleta of the Lobos tripled with one out in the fourth but was blocked.
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 Saturday, rallying to defeat Utah Valley 7-4 in a Western Athletic Conference softball game.
It was the 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 led the UNM men to a tie for ninth place after the final round of the Omni Tucson Invitational.
Armat is tied for seventh place individually.
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 Mountain View Collegiate.
The tournament ends 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 of 584. Kaylee Chen is the NMSU’s individual leader at 144 pair.
TENNIS: In Radford, Va., the New Mexico men beat Radford 4-3, earning singles wins from Arda Azkara, Rafael Abdulsalam, Georgio Samaha and Alex Maggs.
The Lobos are 9-3 this season.
… In Corpus Christi, Texas, the New Mexico State men (2-11) lost 4-1 to Abilene Christian.
