Mejia K's 13 in NM State baseball win

The Basics 

Game Thirty-Nine 

Score: Dixie State 3, NM State 6 

Records: NM State (17-22; 7-12 WAC); Dixie State (16-24; 10-12 WAC) 

Location: Las Cruces, N.M. (Presley Askew Field) 

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Friday night was full of magical pitching performances from Aggies past and present. While Kyle Bradish was making his Major League debut in Baltimore for the Orioles, Ian Mejia was eyeing school records in Las Cruces. Mejia helped lead NM State baseball to a 6-3 win in WAC play over Dixie State.  

Mejia was mowing down the Trailblazer lineup, striking out 13 over 7.0 innings of work. NM State’s school record is 15 and Mejia fell just one strikeout shy of tying Sammy Natera for the most strikeouts by an Aggie this season.  

The Aggies led 2-0 over the Trailblazers after four innings. AJ Garcia got things going in the second inning with a double to center field, scoring Edwin Martinez-Pagani. In the fourth inning, the Aggies took advantage of a Dixie State miscue to extend their lead. After Tommy Tabak reached on an error, Cal Villareal brought him home with a single up the middle.  

In the sixth inning, a Dixie State baserunner got in a rundown long enough for a run to score from third base and cut the deficit in half. Logan Gallina wasted no time getting the run back with his conference-leading 15th home run of the season.  

Once again, the Trailblazers scored a run in the seventh inning – an unearned run via an infield single. Just as they did in the sixth inning, the Aggies immediately got a run back via the long ball, as AJ Garcia homered for the first time in 2022. 

The eighth inning appeared to be on the edge of disaster for the Aggies before Frank Dickson IV slammed the door shut. After an RBI single pushed a run across for Dixie State, Dickson induced a pop-up on a bunt before striking out the final hitter of the inning. Martinez-Pagani got a run back for the Aggies on a double to left-center, plating Gallina.  

Dickson came out to work the ninth but quickly got into trouble. With two runners aboard and nobody out, Alex Bustamante entered the game looking to close out the Friday night contest. Bustamante got the first batter he faced to bounce into a double play before sitting down the third and final out on strikes. 

Quick Hits 

• Kyle Bradish worked 6.0 innings in his Major League debut. Bradish’s allowed just two earned runs on five hits, striking out two and walking just one. 
• Bradish struck out the first hitter he faced in the MLB – Two-time all-star Trevor Story.
• Ian Mejia finished with 13 strikeouts – the second-highest total by an Aggie this season. 
• Mejia came up just two strikeouts shy of the NM State single-game record. 
• The Aggies moved up in the WAC West standings, moving into the final spot for the conference tournament if the season was to end today. NM State now sits one-half game ahead of Utah Valley.
• Edwin Martinez-Pagani, Cal Villareal, and AJ Garcia combined for six hits in the six, seven, and eight slots in the NM State lineup. 
• Garcia and Logan Gallina each drove in a pair of runs in the ballgame.

On-Deck 

NM State looks to win the series on Saturday afternoon against Dixie State. First pitch from Presley Askew Field will be thrown at 2:00 p.m. and can be seen on the WAC Digital Network. 

For complete coverage of NM State baseball throughout the Aggies 2022 campaign visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Baseball), Twitter (@NMStateBaseball) and Instagram (@NMStateBaseball).