Dixie State succumbed to a pair of late five-run New Mexico State innings as the Trailblazers dropped the rubber game of its three-game WAC road series to the Aggies, 13-9, on Sunday afternoon at Presley Askew Field.
 
After putting up a season-high tying 18 runs in Saturday's win, the Trailblazers (17-25/11-13 WAC) picked up right where they left off to begin Sunday's finale with three first inning runs to jump out to an early lead.
 
The first five DSU hitters reached to open the game, beginning with a Shane Taylor single. Parker Schmidt was then hit by a Noah Estrella pitch and Kaden Hollow laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases.
 
Chase Rodriguez was plunked by Estrella to pick up the game's first RBI, while Tyson Fisher made it a 2-0 game with an RBI single to left field. DSU plated its third run on a double play ball, but could not do any more damage as Estrella worked around a two-out walk to finally escape the inning.
 
NM State (18-23/8-13 WAC) got one of those runs back in its first swings with a two-out solo shot off the bat of WAC home run leader Logan Gallina.
 
The Blazers quickly countered in the second with a long ball of their own when with two on and one out, Hollow went opposite field for his second homer of the series, and his team-leading seventh home run overall, to give DSU a commanding 6-1 advantage.
 
NMSU threatened for more in the third off of Blazer starter Ryan Hardman as three of the first four Aggies reached on base hits to collect its second run of the game. However Hardman limited the Aggies to just the one run when he got Tommy Tabak to roll into an inning ending 4-6-3 double play.
 
The Blazer offense would pick up its starter in the fifth with consecutive two-out solo homers from Fisher and Sean Keating that extended the Dixie State lead to 8-2.
 
Trailing 8-3 in the home sixth the Aggies got off the mat, striking for five runs in the stanza to pull even at 8-8. NM State sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame, the first eight of which reached base safely, which included a pair of two-run home runs from Edwin Martinez-Pagani and AJ Garcia that pared the DSU lead to one and spelled the end of the day for Hardman.
 
NMSU would pound out three more hits off the Blazer bullpen, with the final blow coming on a Kevin Jimenez ground rule double that DSU actually caught a break on because only one run was allowed to score. Reliever Ben Hart would go on to retire the next two Aggie hitters he faced to end the rally.
 
Dixie State reclaimed the lead in the seventh at 9-8 thanks to a second Fisher home run, this one coming with two outs.  
 
The Trailblazers then managed to get out of the home seventh with the lead intact, but NM State would wrestle it away with five runs in the eighth and cruised on from there for the improbable series-clinching win.   

Fisher finished the day 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored, while his two-homer day was his second of the season and career (at Sacramento State; 3/12/22). Hollow also drove in three runs as part of a 3-for-5 effort as DSU finished with 12 hits on the day.
 
Dixie State returns home for a four-game homestand at Bruce Hurst Field this upcoming week, beginning with a midweek home date vs. UNLV on Wednesday, May 4 at 6 p.m.