G3: New Mexico State 6, Hawaii 3

Highlights from last night’s 6-2 win courtesy of OCSports.

Same lineup for tonight for UH. Linebarger gets the start again at second base.

LINEUPS

New Mexico State
Aaron Duran, 2B (.317, 6 runs)
Quinnton Mack, CF (.308, 6 2bs, 3 3bs, 1 HR, 10 RBIs)
Joseph Koerper, RF (.377, 3 2bs, 1 HR, 10 RBIs)
Michael Paulson, 1B (.236, 6 2bs, 8 RBIs)
Jay Sheeley, LF (.162, 2 2bs, 6 runs)
Camerons Haskins, DH (.182, 2 HR, 6 RBIs)
Lucas Martinez, C (.208, 5 runs)
Kyle Graf, 3B (.142, 1 2b, 4 RBIs)
Daniel Kennon, SS (.172, HR, 7 RBIs)
RHP Matt Loeffler (0-0, 3.70 ERA, 24 1/3 IP, 15 K)

Hawaii
Marcus Doi, LF (.062, 3 runs)
Alan Baldwin, RF (.261, HR, 11 RBIs)
Kaeo Aliviado, CF (.286, 3 2bs, 1 3b, 4 HRs, 14 RBIs)
Eric Ramirez, 1B (.286, 3 2bs, 13 RBIs)
Alex Sawelson, DH (.260, 2b, 7 RBIs)
J.J. Kitaoka, 3B (.228, 2 2bs, 1 3b, 9 RBIs)
Chayce Ka’aua, C (.211, 4 2bs, 10 RBIs)
Conner Linebarger, 2B (.091, run)
Jacob Sheldon-Collins, SS (.203, 2 2bs, 9 runs)
RHP Kyle Von Ruden (1-1, 4.44 ERA, 26 1/3 IP, 18 K)

Second night in the No. 2 spot for Baldwin. Seems like a good fit there. He’s been good at moving runners over, can get on base, has some speed. Be interesting to see this lineup once Ventimilia gets back and you can put Aliviado, Doi, Ramirez, Sawelson behind him 3-6.

Good chance for Doi to get some more work. He got off the snide with a leadoff single last night but also struck out twice.

NMSU’s starting pitcher is from Hilo. His brother. Ronnie, spent one year at UH and redshirted before transferring.

TOP 1: Nice, quick 10-pitch first inning with a strikeout for Von Ruden.

BOTTOM 1: Doi tested on the bases for the first time. Slow grounder between third and short and he busts down the line. He’s out at first but looks fine as he walks back to the dugout. Always scary to see him take off like that.

TOP 2: New Mexico State on the board with three hits so far. Paulson hit a leadoff single and was sacrificed to second. Haskins with a fly ball to right and Baldwin loses it in the lights. It’s scored a double. Two in scoring position for Martinez, who singles to right to bring in one. Grounder to second and Linebarger tries to go second but the throw pulls Sheldon-Collins off the bag. Another run scores. Kennon with a grounder to the back hand of Kitaoka at third and it gets away. Ruled an infield hit. Bases loaded. Duran pokes a single to left to bring in the third run. Mack with a single to left and it keeps going. Six hits in the inning for the Aggies. Von Ruden strikes out Koerper and gets Paulson to ground out to first. 10 come to bat in 26 pitches, 21 for strikes. Aggies found a lot of holes and Von Ruden wasn’t helped out behind him.

TOP 3: More troubles in the third for Von Ruden, who gets the first out but then surrenders two hits and a walk to load the bases and he’s done. Pigg in. Kennon crushes the first pitch deep to left but Doi gets under it at the wall. He drops it but manages to throw out the runner at third. Duran grounds out and Pigg is out of it after three pitches. One runner comes in though.

Loeffler has retired eight in a row after six innings and hasn’t given up a hit since the third.

Pigg is done. 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. He took a ball off what looked like his wrist to end the top of the sixth.

Aliviado with a leadoff single and Ramirez a walk in the seventh. Five pitches, three outs after that.

Two shutout innings in a row for Hatch, who has only given up one hit with no walks. That’s 5 2/3 shutout innings of relief by UH pitchers.

BOTTOM 8: Just a crazy inning that starts with pinch hitter Jonathan Weeks drawing a leadoff walk. Sheldon-Collins hits a ball hard that would have gotten through the right side of the infield easily but it hits Weeks, who is automatically out. Doi strikes out swinging and loses his bat for the second out. Baldwin gets hit by a pitch, Aliviado reaches on an infield single and then Ramirez delivers a two-run single that is eventually thrown into the NMSU dugout for an error, allowing a third runner to close. Loeffler out after 7 2/3 innings and Billy Conard comes in and strikes out Sawelson, who swung at all three pitches.

So of course UH gets within two and then Hatch comes out in the ninth and gives up a four-pitch walk and then a single. Matt Valencia in for Hatch. Valencia gets two strikeouts but a wild pitch on the second one allows Mack to come all the way around from second to score. NMSU takes a three-run lead to the ninth.

Conard strikes out the side in the ninth and it’s over.