LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State baseball team hits the road for a Southeastern Conference road trip. Play begins with a pair of games in Starkville, Miss. against Mississippi State, March 6-7. The Aggies then head to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for a three-game weekend series versus Alabama, March 9-11.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow the game in real time with live stats for the Mississippi State games on StatBroadcast and the Alabama series can be found on SideArm Stats.
 
GET YOUR SEASON TICKETS NOW!
With the start of the 2018 season tickets, Aggie fans can be a part of the action for all 23 home games (including three double-headers) in general admission for $75. Season tickets priced at $100 guarantee fans a seat in the reserved section of 104 behind home plate. Fans can purchase 2018 Aggie baseball season tickets by going to the Pan American Center ticket office or by calling 575-646-1420.
 
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.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
NM State heads to Starkville, Miss. to take on a Mississippi State team that stands at 6-5 overall. This opens home play for the Bulldogs as they have opened the year 5-0 at neutral sites and 1-5 on the road.
 
Mississippi State has three regular starters batting above .300 led by Tanner Allen with a .368 average and team-high eight runs batted in. Jake Mangum follows with a .362 batting average and leads the team with three stolen bases. Tanner Poole posts a .333 clip at the plate to go along with a team best .583 slugging percentage.
 
The Bulldogs pitching staff has compiled a 3.71 earned run average over 97.0 innings of work. Starter Konnor Pilkington leads the team with 23 strikeouts through three starts. Through five appearances reliever Cole Gordon posts a 0,90 ERA with one save and 16 punch outs with 10.0 innings of work.
 
LOOKING AT THE CRIMSON TIDE
Entering the week Alabama sits at 10-2 overall with an 8-0 mark at home. The Crimson Tide most recently dropped two of three games on the road against Oklahoma, March 2-4.
 
Alabama posts a .327 team batting average led by Keith Holcombe with a .474 mark and Chandler Avant batting .400. The Crimson Tide has combined for 43 extra-base hits, including 10 homers.
 
On the mound Alabama is led by Sam Finnerty who has made three starts and compiled a 2-0 record with a 2.75 ERA. Reliever Dylan Duarte has a team-high five appearances with one win and a 0.00 ERA. The Crimson Tide have held opponents to a .246 batting average through 12 games.
 
ANOTHER ONE
The Western Athletic Conference announced its baseball players of the week on Monday, March 5. Following a strong week at the plate, New Mexico State shortstop Joey Ortiz earned hitter of the week honors and became the fourth Aggie in three weeks to earn player of the week accolades.
 
Ortiz totaled three home runs, the first three of his Aggie career with a .389 batting average, 12 RBI and eight runs scored on the week. He started the week against Arizona, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in a close 5-4 loss.
 
The sophomore found some pop in the weekend series as he was 5-for-14 from the plate, with three home runs, four walks, eight runs scored and 12 RBI. Five of those RBIs came in the series finale, including a grand slam in the sixth inning.
 
On the season, the Garden Grove, Calif. native leads the WAC with 24 runs scored and 12 walks and is among the leaders in several other categories.
 
NATIONAL LEADERS
Four weeks into the season the NM State baseball team currently ranks in the top-15 in 10 different categories in the NCAA:
NM State (Rk) Category..... NCAA
.497 (1st)......... OB%............... .497
170 (1st)........... Runs............... .170
164 (1st)........... Hits................. 164
36 (2nd)........ Doubles............... 39
.381 (2nd). Batting Avg......... .384
7 (5th)............ Triples................... 9
.602 (5th).. Slugging %......... .700
77 (7th)........... Walks.................. 94
2 (12th)........ Shutouts................. 4
15 (15th)......... K/9IP.................. 28
 
LAST TIME OUT
New Mexico State went 4-2 in a week including a 3-1 series win over Harvard. The Aggies lost a midweek contest at Arizona, 5-4, then rebounded with an 11-5 win in the weekend series opener against Harvard. The opener of the doubleheader on Saturday saw the Aggies take down the Crimson with a walk-off home run in the 10^th inning. Game three featured a three-run ninth inning for Harvard to defeat NM State 5-4 then in the series finale on Sunday the Aggie bats exploded for a 23-4 win in seven innings.

UP NEXT
Following the SEC road trip New Mexico State baseball returns home for a four-game weekend series against Maine at Presley Askew Field, March 16-18.