Recap: Maltese Leads @NCBearsBaseball Offense Over New Mexico State

Friday, April 20

Greeley, Colo.

3 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

21-17, 5-8

New Mexico State University

24-14, 9-4

New Mexico State

Northern Colorado

4/20/2018 9:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Cole Maltese had six RBI as UNC defeats New Mexico State 13-7.

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado baseball rode the hot bats and a 1-2 punch of Troy Watson and Justin Mulvaney on the mound to defeat New Mexico State Friday 13-7. Cole Maltese led the way on offense with six RBI.

How It Happened
Austin Miller wasted no time in battling against NMSU's Kyle Bradish with a single to right field on the first pitch of the game. Miller later came home on Maltese's single to center with two outs putting UNC up 1-0.

Northern Colorado's offense batted around in the second inning as Brett Minnick and Alex Kiel walked to lead off the inning. UNC loaded the bases with Matt Burkart at the plate. After earning a second chance when the Aggies' catcher dropped a foul pop up, he delivered with a single to left. The second error by NMSU allowed the bases to become clear and make it 4-0 on the Burkart single. Jack Pauley and Maltese drove home two more runs in the inning.

Down 6-0, New Mexico State worked its way back into the game with a run in the third and four in the fourth making it 6-5 going to the bottom of the fourth. Pauley, brought home his second run of the game, as Dean Lawson walked to lead off the bottom half of the inning.

The Bears put the game away with its second five-run inning of the game. Alex Kiel and Tyler Yamaguchi set the table with a single and double in the first two at-bats of the fifth. Lawson loaded the bases with a walk, and Burkart drew one of his four walks to score the first run of the fifth. With two outs, Maltese stepped to the plate and delivered a big fly over the left field wall for a grand slam and break the game open at 12-5.

Preseason WAC Player of the Year Mason Fishback hit a solo home run in the sixth and brought home another run in the eighth, but it was not enough as the Bears defeated the Aggies 13-7.

Game Changer
Cole Maltese had himself a day at the ballpark. The senior went 3-for-5 with a single, double and home run on Friday. He scored once, but more importantly drove home six runs.

Stat to Know
Northern Colorado had more walks than hits on Friday. The Bears walked 10 times compared to just nine hits. The free passes were key in the team's win.

Game Notes
- Matt Burkart was just 1-for-1 in at-bats Friday but drew four walks in the game. He scored twice and drove in two runs as well.
- Besides Maltese, Jack Pauley was the only other Bear with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
- Troy Watson and Justin Mulvaney combined to allow five earned runs on eight hits and four walks on Friday. The duo struck out five Aggies.

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado looks to pick up the series win on Saturday when the teams square off at 2 pm. UNC will send Aaron Hamilton (4-3, 5.48 ERA) to the mound against Jonathan Groff (6-2, 3.15 ERA) of NMSU.

To stay up to date on all things UNC baseball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @NCBearsBaseball.