Jillian Taylor and Devin Elam post five-RBI games.
Source: New Mexico State University Athletics
Article by: Michael Navarette
Photo: Courtesy, by Emilio Garcia for NM State Sports
For the 18th time in the last 21 meetings, NM State proved which program runs the Land of Enchantment. On a windy Tuesday night, the Aggies (18-12, 6-3 CUSA) picked up a two-game doubleheader sweep of the Lobos (10-27, 2-4 MW) – knocking off their I-25 rival 9-1 (5 inn.) in the opener before earning an 8-4 victory in the nightcap.
Individually, a pair of impressive outings from Jillian Taylor and Devin Elam highlighted a 17-run day, combining for 10 RBIs with each Aggie notching five apiece. In the opener, Taylor went 2-3 with a triple, a grand slam and a walk. Meanwhile, Elam finished the second game 3-of-4 with a double and a three-run home run. In total, the Aggies finished with 17 hits, including six in the second game. In the circle, Desirae Spearman secured her fifth win of the season by throwing her fourth complete game and tallying five strikeouts. Jaileen Mancha threw 3.1 innings to earn the win in the second game – moving to 6-4 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE | New Mexico 1, NM State 9 (5 inn.)
After UTEP tallied just three hits off Spearman in Saturday’s series finale, the Lobos found some early success off the freshman right-hander. UNM’s leadoff hitter Rachael Hathoot recorded the game’s first hit before later coming around to score on a throwing error following a swinging strikeout that rolled in the dirt and reached the backstop.
The Aggies quickly erased the one-run deficit as Dezianna Patmon rocked the Lobo starter in the bottom of the first inning – launching a home run that cut through the blowing 20-mile-per-hour winds to fly over the wall in left-center.
As Spearman got comfortable in the circle, the Aggie offense applied more pressure in the bottom of the second as a leadoff single from Kayla Lunar followed by a walk earned by Albuquerque native Jayleen Burton immediately put two aboard for the Aggies. Two batters later, a ball put in play by Kendal Lunar split the wickets of the Lobo shortstop to allow Burton to come home from second. This error would prove costly as Lobo starter McKenna Guest walked the next two batters she faced, including Spearman who earned an RBI walk to move the Aggie lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the second.
Following three consecutive scoreless innings from the Lobos and a scoreless home half in the third inning, Jillian Taylor lit up the scoreboard again as she delivered an RBI triple to bring home Jessica Carreon who earlier reached on a chop single. This put the Aggies in the lead position by three runs entering the fifth inning.
In the fifth, the Lobos threatened, however, a pair of Spearman strikeouts got the Aggies out of the inning unscathed while stranding the sixth and seventh runners for the visitors. In the bottom of the inning, the Aggies eventually worked the bases loaded following a walk and a hit by pitch. In the next at-bat, Kendra Levesque earned the second RBI walk of the game for the Aggies as she battled through a nine-pitch at-bat to put NM State ahead 5-1. With the bases still loaded, Cat Heifner gave Jillian Taylor the green light who sent the second pitch of her third at-bat over the wall to record a walk-off grand slam – giving the Aggies a 9-1 win in five innings.
GAME TWO | New Mexico 4, NM State 8
For the second straight game, UNM’s Hathoot came up with a single in the first at-bat of the game. However, unlike the earlier outing, the Lobos were unable to produce any runs as Emily Dix worked through a scoreless first.
Just as she did in the opener, Dezianna Patmon notched the first hit of the game for the Aggies, but, like the Lobos, NM State was unable to push across any runs. Ultimately, the two sides would remain scoreless through two innings before Hathoot recorded her fourth hit of the two-game series when she hit a home run to left field to give the Lobos a one-run edge. That gap grew to two runs on a passed ball later in the inning.
Staring at a two-run deficit, the Aggies used a three-run home run to take the lead with one swing of the bat from Devin Elam after Jillian Taylor and Dezianna Patmon reached base via a pair of singles. Later in the third, Kristen Boyd belted a ball to left center that turned into an RBI double – giving the Aggies a 4-2 advantage entering the fourth inning.
Following the Aggies’ response, UNM answered itself as it used back-to-back hits to pull back within one run while also forcing a pitching change from Kathy Rodolph who brought in Jaileen Mancha with a runner at first and two outs away. Mancha proved to be up to the task as she used just three pitches to get the Lobos’ batter to ground out to Kayla Lunar at third base.
After a scoreless home half, Mancha found herself in a jam as Lobo runners occupied first and third with no outs. Fortunately, a double play in the next at-bat allowed the Aggies to hold UNM to just one run in the top of the fifth – leaving the game tied at four runs apiece.
After leaving a runner on base in each of the first five innings, the Lobos left a pair stranded in the top of the sixth to leave the window open for the Aggies. NM State then took advantage of the missed opportunities as they brought across four runs in the bottom of the sixth to take full control of the rivalry game. Kristen Boyd and Riley Carley kicked off the inning with a walk and a single, respectively. Two batters later, a perfectly place bunt allowed Jillian Taylor to reach first while, in an attempt to throw out Taylor, the ball rolled into foul territory and allowed both Boyd and Carley to come home.
Later, Patmon notched her third hit of the game while also moving Taylor into scoring position and keeping the two-out rally alive. Next, Devin Elam recorded a first pitch double into left center which brought home Taylor from third and Patmon from first to help the Aggies extended their lead to four runs entering the seventh inning. This would prove to be plenty of insurance as the Aggies would secure the two-game sweep of the Lobos.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- Jillian Taylor recorded her first triple of the season and third of her career when she tallied an RBI triple in the first game. Later, Taylor smashed a grand slam to tally her second home run of the season while capping off a five-RBI game to notch a new career high for RBIs in a single game.
- The Aggies’ run-rule victory in the first game was the fifth run-rule win of the 2024 campaign and the first over the Lobos since April 23, 2019, when they knocked off UNM 10-0 in Albuquerque.
- The win in the circle in the first game for Desirae Spearman improves her season record to 5-0 in just six appearances. She also recorded five strikeouts to improve her total to a team-high 42. With this, Spearman has notched at least four strikeouts in every game she has appeared in this season.
- With hits in both games, Patmon extended her hit streak to eight games – marking the second eight-game hit streak this season for the first-year Aggie from San Diego. This is also the longest hit streak by any Aggie this season.
- Devin Elam recorded her second home run of the season to serve as one of five different Aggies with at least two home runs on the year. She also joined Taylor as the second Aggie to post a five-RBI game on the day. This would also be a career high for the sophomore.
- Three Aggies notched multi-hit games in the second contest as Jillian Taylor notched two hits, Dezianna Patmon and Devin Elam each recorded three hits.
UP NEXT
The Aggies will stay home for three games with San Diego over the weekend. On Friday, March 29, NM State will host a doubleheader against the Toreros, with the first game scheduled for 1:00 PM MT. Game two will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest. Each game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via nmstatesports.com.
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