LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State baseball team enters the double-elimination Western Athletic Conference Tournament from May 24-28 (if necessary). A stellar season gave the Aggies the No. 1 seed, providing them a first-round bye.
NM State plays their first game against the lowest seed to advance out of the first round - No. 4 Utah Valley, No. 5 Northern Colorado or No. 6 Seattle U - on Thursday, May 25, at 8 p.m. MT.
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State baseball team all season on Twitter, and Instagram by following @NMStateBaseball and on Facebook.com/NMSUAthletics.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Each game of the conference tournament can be watched live on the WAC Digital Network. All of the Aggies games can also be heard on 91.5 FM KRUX with Adam Young on the call.
LOOKING AT THE FIELD
With the first round bye, the Aggies play in round two against the lowest seed to advance from day one which includes No. 4 Utah Valley, No. 5 Northern Colorado or No. 6 Seattle U.
Utah Valley holds an 18-34 overall record with an 11-13 mark in WAC play. Northern Colorado finished the regular season at 22-28 while going 10-14 in conference and Seattle U mustered a 19-33-1 overall and 8-16 WAC record.
During the regular season, NM State swept all three possible opponents with the series win over Northern Colorado coming at Presley Askew Field and the sweeps of Utah Valley and Seattle U came on the road.
IN TOURNAMENT'S PAST
The Aggies are 1-7 overall in their first game of the WAC Tournament since joining in 2006. The lone tournament opening win for NM State came in 2009 when it defeated Fresno State 7-4 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
New Mexico State missed out on just three conference tournaments, the first two seasons it joined the WAC and the once more in 2015.
In the current makeup for the WAC, NM State has lost its last two tournament opening contests to Utah Valley – an 11-10 decision in 2014 followed by a 3-2 decision in 2016.
THE WAC LEADER
Along with leading the race for the number one spot in the WAC Tournament, the Aggies also lead their conference foes in numerous key statistical categories.
Among the nine-teams in the WAC, NM State posts highs in batting average (.322), slugging percentage (.503), on-base percentage (.403), runs (442), hits (626), RBI (401), doubles (117), triples (31), home runs (58) and total bases (979).
From the hill, the Aggie rotation leads the league in strikeouts (427), wins (35) and saves (13).
BACK-TO-BACK LIKE I'M JORDAN '96, '97
The Aggies finish the season at 35-20 overall, just a season after the biggest turnaround in the NCAA which saw the team go 34-23 in 2016.
This is the first time the NM State baseball program has posted back-to-back 30-win seasons since they since they did so over a four-year stretch from '09-'12.
CHANGING THE RECORD BOOKS
The NM State squad continues to etch their name in the program's record books. The team's three triples in the series against CSU Bakersfield put their total at 31, topping the previous record of 29. The squad also boasts a fielding percentage of .968, which is tied for the best in school history.
TRIPLE THE FUN
Brent Sakurai entered the final regular season series with seven triples, just one shy of tying the single-season record in NM State history.
In the series opener versus CSU Bakersfield on May 18, Sakurai laced a triple to left center in the bottom of the fourth to tie the program record.
Then, in game two on May 19, the senior roped a ball to deep right center and used his speed to make it a three-bagger that put the Aggies name alone atop the single-season triples in the NM State record book with 9.
IN TO SAVE THE DAY
The team's go-to closer, Ruger Rodriguez, has done something that only two former Aggie pitchers have ever accomplished.
Rodriguez came into the game on Thursday, May 19, and shut the door on CSU Bakersfield to secure a 9-8 win for the Aggies and earn the senior his ninth save of the season. With the effort, the hurler put his name atop the single-season record book tied with Scott Coffman (2011) and Orlando Griego (1989) for the most saves in one season at NM State.
LAST TIME OUT
This past weekend, the Aggies took two of three games from WAC foe CSU Bakersfield, but fell one game shy of capturing the WAC regular season title.
In game one on Thursday, May 18, the Aggies and Roadrunners played in a high-scoring game that threatened to take extra innings but NM State closer Ruger Rodriguez slammed the door on the opponent in the ninth in a 9-8 victory for the team.
Game two saw the Aggie bats get going early and register three multi-run innings in a 10-4 win. Game three did not go the team's way as their rally in the late innings was not enough and they fell 13-8 in their final regular season game.
UP NEXT
New Mexico State plays on Friday, May 26, at 8 p.m. MT if they win their opening game or they play in the elimination bracket on Friday at 4 p.m. if they fall in game one.
