Final Stats

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor baseball fell 7-4 to New Mexico State in the finale of the Baylor Baseball Battle on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (7-9) fought back for a 4-3 lead but NMSU's (10-8) four-run seventh inning proved too costly.

Baylor quickly was behind the eight ball as New Mexico State jumped on starter Nick Lewis for three runs on five hits in the first inning. However, the Bears answered with a run in the bottom half as Darryn Sheppard walked with two outs, Kameron Esthay singled and Aaron Dodson singled in Sheppard.

From there, BU reliever Kyle Hill took over and put BU in position to fight back. And that they did, as Levi Gilcrease led off the third inning with a double and scored on a Sheppard triple. An out later, Dodson grounded out to second to score Sheppard, tying the game 3-3.

In the sixth, Baylor took the lead after a one-our HBP by Cameron Miller and RBI double by Steven McLean. But the lead was short lived as NMSU responded in the seventh.

Roman Trujillo led off the inning with a single, and then an errant throw to second base by Hill on a sacrifice bunt attempt let both runners reach. Following a bunt single to load the bases, Trey Stine hit a two-run double and Dan Hetzel added a two-run single for a 7-4 NMSU lead that stood.

NMSU starter Kyle Bradish (1-2) received the win after giving up four runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in six innings. Tyler Erwin earned the save with three scoreless innings while allowing two hits and one walk with four strikeouts. Hill (0-1) took a tough loss after posting five straight scoreless innings before the seventh-inning rally, surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings.

NOTES
*Baylor is 390-173 all-time at Baylor Ballpark and 5-7 under Steve Rodriguez.

*Baylor is 1-4 on its current and season-long eight-game home stand.

*Baylor and New Mexico State are now tied in the all-time series 2-2 and 2-2 in Waco.

*Baylor has scored at least one run in the first inning seven times this season in 16 games -- the Bears had won three of their last four games when scoring in the first frame and have scored 15 first-inning runs in 2016.

*Darryn Sheppard has a six-game on-base streak and three-game hitting streak.

*Kameron Esthay has a five-game hitting streak.

*Levi Gilcrease posted his fourth multi-hit game of the season.

*Aaron Dodson tallied his first multi-RBI game of the season.

*Kyle Hill set career highs with 5.1 innings pitched and seven strikeouts.

*Andrew McInvale set career highs with two innings pitched and three strikeouts.

STAT OF THE GAME
11 -- The amount of strikeouts Baylor's pitchers had in the game.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"The competitive nature of these guys is really exciting and that's the one thing I really enjoy about coaching them. They have bought into a great energy on the team and in the dugout and on the field." -- Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor continues its season-long eight-game home stand next weekend as the Bears begin Big 12 play with a three-game series vs. Texas Tech, starting with a Friday game at 4:05 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Southwest at Baylor Ballpark.