LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The No. 20 University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (26-16, 9-6 WAC) fell to the New Mexico State Aggies (34-10, 9-7) 20-9, in a game shortened to seven innings due to the 10-run rule, at Presley Askew Field Sunday. Alex Capaul (1-3) took the loss for UH while Sebastian Vendette (5-4) picked up the win.

 

Kolten Wong extended his hitting streak to 16 games, going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and one RBI. Vinnie Catricala homered and scored three runs while drawing three walks while Kevin Macdonald was 2-for-4 with one RBI, one double and two runs. Greg Garcia also added a 3-for-5 game with a triple.

 

Wong singled in a run in the top of the first to get the Rainbows started. But UH left the bases loaded, keeping their lead at just 1-0. And the opportunity lost came back to hurt the 'Bows in the bottom of the inning as NMSU scored four to give the Aggies a 4-1 edge.

 

NMSU then added a six-run second inning to extend the lead to 10-1 after just two innings. Hawai`i responded in the third, scoring three runs to cut it back to 10-4, but it then got really ugly in the bottom of the fourth. The Aggies dropped a six-run fourth inning to get it up to 16-4.

 

UH did add a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI-single by Landon Hernandez. But the Aggies weren't done scoring yet, putting up another run in the bottom of the fifth, then three more in the sixth to get it to 20-5.

 

The Rainbows were able to score four runs in the top of the seventh, on Catricala's solo home run, a two-run single by Kevin Fujii and an RBI-single by Shane Hoey. But a double play would put the game away, ending it at 20-9.

 

UH returns to the islands for a four-game series vs. Louisiana Tech from Apr. 30-May 3. Because the series spans four days, there will be no doubleheader during the series.