LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State baseball team hits the road for a four-game stretch to close out away games for the regular season. Play starts with a three-game Western Athletic Conference series versus Seattle U, May 10-12, followed by a game at Washington on May 13.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, May 10, at 5:00 p.m. MT
NM State: Brock Whittlesey | RHP | 6-1 | 4.39 ERA
Seattle U: Jarrod Billig | LHP | 4-3 | 3.58 ERA
Saturday, May 11, at 2:00 p.m. MT
NM State: Justin Dehn | RHP | 7-3 | 5.71 ERA
Seattle U: Josh Thompson | RHP | 1-4 | 5.50 ERA
Sunday, May 12, at 1:00 p.m. MT
NM State: Chance Hroch | RHP | 9-0 | 2.89 ERA
Seattle U: Jake Prizina | LHP | 4-2 | 2.93 ERA
Monday, May 13, at 7:00 p.m. MT
NM State: TBD
Washington: TBD
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/NMStateBaseball.
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans who cannot make the trip can catch three of the four games through a stream on any smartphones or computers. Friday's series opener and Sunday's series finale at Seattle U can be caught on the
WAC Digital Network and the single-game at Washington is available on the
Pac-12 Network.
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans looking to listen in can hear all four road games live with Adam Young calling the weekend series at Seattle U, May 10-12 on 91.5 FM KRUX and the game at Washington on May 13 is available on 99.5 FM Zia Country. The stations can also be listened to through your phone or tablet on the TuneIn app.
LIVE STATS
All for games of the NM State road trip can also be followed live with up-to-date stats after every pitch on
StatBroadcast.
LOOKING AT THE REDHAWKS
Heading into the weekend series, Western Athletic Conference foe carries a 12-34 overall record and 7-14 mark in league play. The Redhawks have won three games in a row coming off of a sweep of conference opponent Chicago State.
Seattle U is accustomed to close games this season having seen 22 games decided by two runs or less. The close contests do not always favor the Redhawks, however, with the team holding a 3-10 record in one-run games.
After being picked in the preseason to finish fourth in the WAC, Seattle U currently sits in a tie for sixth and has lost six of its seven conference series to date. This comes shortly after the Redhawks were crowned the WAC regular season champions in 2016.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Entering the week, Washington holds a 23-19 overall record with a 9-12 mark in Pac-12 action. The Huskies are coming off of a conference series win, 2-1, at Washington State that saw the team outscore the opponent 19-17 despite recording its two wins by five or more runs each.
Washington is coming off of a historic 2018 season that saw the team advance to its first-ever College World Series. The success has been consistent for the Huskies with the team posting five-straight winning seasons and advancing to the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three years.
So far this season, the Huskies have had success against WAC opponents posting a 6-0 record. Washington won three games over Northern Colorado, posted a pair of wins against Seattle U and added a lone win over California Baptist.
HIS NAME IS NICK AND HE MASHES BASEBALLS
The Western Athletic Conference announced its baseball players of the week on Monday morning. Continuing his red-hot streak at the plate, New Mexico State's
Nick Gonzales was named the WAC Hitter of the Week for his third time this season.
Gonzales was nearly unstoppable from the plate, going 11-for-16 with nine extra-base hits to help the Aggies go 3-1 on the week and move into a tie for first place in the league standings. In NM State's lone non-conference game, the sophomore was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a pair of RBIs and three runs scored in a 15-13 win over Arizona.
The Vail, Ariz. native then opened up WAC play against UT Rio Grande Valley by going 5-for-6 from the plate and hitting for the cycle with four runs scored, also adding an extra double for good measure. He was 4-for-7 the remainder of the series to finish with a .688 batting average on the week to go with a 1.563 slugging percentage.
With Gonzales' third hitter of the week honor, the Aggies have now captured seven player of the week honors with six coming at the plate and one on the mound. The strong play has the Crimson & White sitting in a tie for first in the WAC with just six conference games remaining in the regular season.
IN THE NATION
45 games into the season the Aggies currently rank in the top-20 nationally in 13 categories, including seven NCAA-leading statistics and 10 in the top-5:
| NM State (Rk) |
Category |
NCAA |
| .361 (1st) |
Batting Average |
.361 |
| 575 (1st) |
Hits |
575 |
| .471 (1st) |
On-Base % |
.471 |
| 510 (1st) |
Runs |
510 |
| 11.3 (1st) |
Scoring |
11.3 |
| .603 (1st) |
Slugging % |
.603 |
| 28 (1st) |
Triples |
28 |
| 33 (2nd) |
Sacrifice Flies |
35 |
| 75 (2nd) |
Home Runs |
81 |
| 99 (2nd) |
Base on Balls |
100 |
| 261 (14th) |
Hit By Pitch |
299 |
| 104 (15th) |
Doubles |
119 |
| .733 (16th) |
W/L Pct. |
.837 |
LEADER OF THE WAC
Heading into the month of May and through 18 conference games, the Aggies currently lead the WAC in 13 categories.
The Aggies leading conference state are batting average (.361), slugging percentage (.603), on-base percentage (.471), runs scored (510), hits (575), runs batted in (476), triples (28), home runs (75), total bases (960), walks (261), hit by pitch (99), ground outs forced per game (10.04) and wins (33).
LAST TIME OUT
NM State hosted WAC-leader UT Rio Grande Valley for a pivotal three-game series at Presley Askew Field, May 3-5. After taking game one in dominating fashion, the Aggies fell by run-rule in game three to force a winner-take-all series finale. The Crimson & White never faltered and came out for a shutout 10-0 win in seven innings to take the series from the Vaqueros to tie for first place in the conference.
After falling behind 5-0 early in the series opener, the Aggies rallied to post multi-run frames in each of the final five innings to defeat the Vaqueros 17-8. Then in game two, the Aggies once again fell into an early hole, but this time could not erase the deficit and fell to the Vaqueros 21-11. In the series deciding finale, NM State responded by taking the lead in the first inning, the team then saw solid work at the plate and stellar pitching earn them a 10-0 run-rule win in seven innings over the Vaqueros for the 2-1 series victory.
UP NEXT
Following the four-game road swing, the New Mexico State baseball team returns to the City of Crosses for the final regular-season series as the team hosts Western Athletic Conference opponent California Baptist, May 16-18, at Presley Askew Field.
