LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Baseball is back.

A new era of New Mexico State begins Friday afternoon at Presley Askew Field when the Aggies go up against Texas Southern in a four-game series to open the 2020 season. Friday's first pitch is set for 3 p.m. MT.

DON'T MISS THE ACTION
Tickets to all Aggie home games can be purchased via Ticketmaster or by calling Pan Am ticket office at (575) 646-1420.

NM State baseball season tickets are available for $75 general admission and $100 for reserved seats.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
Friday and Sunday's contests will be streamed through the WAC Digital Network.
 
LISTEN UP
Fan can listen to Aggie baseball games via the Aggie Sports Network. 

Adam Young's call can be heard on 91.5 FM KRUX. Fans can also listen to the game live on their mobile or tablet device on the TuneIn app for free by searching KRUX

PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, Feb. 14 at 3 p.m.
NM State: RHP Chance Hroch
Texas Southern: TBA
 
Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m. (Game 1)
NM State: RHP Chris Barraza
Texas Southern: TBA
 
Saturday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. (Game 2)
NM State: RHP Lyle Hibbitts 
Texas Southern: TBA
 
Sunday, Feb. 16 at 11 am
NM State: RHP Chris Jefferson
Texas Southern: TBA

WELCOME TO THE NEW AGE
The Mike Kirby era is underway. 

Kirby comes to the City of Crosses with a championship pedigree, having one won seven conference titles – including the 1995 College World Series Championship at his alma mater Cal State Fullerton. Under his tutelage, he has seen 104 players and counting selected in the MLB Draft during his coaching career, including 27 that have played in the Major Leagues.

The Huntington Beach, Calif., native spent the last five seasons at Nebraska (2014-19), where he served as assistant head coach. While in Lincoln, Kirby worked with the infielders and served as the team's third-base coach.

BIG NICK ENERGY
Coming off a historic sophomore campaign, junior infielder Nick Gonzales was named a unanimous preseason All-American. He picked up First Team Preseason All-America recognition from Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, D1Baseball and Perfect Game, before he was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-America Second Team.

He is the first NM State student-athlete in program history to achieve unanimous preseason All-America status, as well as the first Aggie to earn a spot on the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List.

A unanimous All-American in 2019, Gonzales put together one of the best offensive seasons in school history, slashing .432/.532/.773 with 16 home runs, 80 RBI, 19 doubles and four triples as a sophomore. He recorded the sixth-most hits (95) in team history for a single season in addition to finishing with the fifth-highest batting average and fifth-most runs scored (80) in school history for a season.

The Vail, Ariz., native led the nation in batting average while also ranking in the top ten nationally in slugging percentage (third), hits (fourth), runs (fourth), RBI (fifth), OBP (fifth), total bases (sixth) and sacrifice flies (eighth). He was a finalist for the 2019 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award and a semifinalist for the 2019 Golden Spikes National Player of the Year Award.
 
The 2018 WAC Freshman of the Year enters the 2020 campaign with a 66-game reached base streak, ending his freshman year with an 11-game streak and successfully reaching base in all 55 games as a sophomore. 

ALL-AMERICAN AGGIES
Along with Nick Gonzales, senior infielder Tristan Peterson and senior pitcher Chance Hroch received All-America honors.

Peterson was named a First Team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and picked up Second Team Preseason All-American honors from the NCBWA. Hroch, meanwhile, was tabbed a Third Team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper before picking up third-team honors from the NCBWA.

Peterson concluded the 2019 season batting .400 at the dish, ranking 14th in the country. The Tucson, Ariz., native was also nationally ranked second in RBI (90), fourth in slugging percentage (.769), ninth in on-base percentage (.520), 15th in homers (20), 18th in runs (69) and 25th in total bases (150).

Hroch, the Aggies' Sunday starter last year, finished with a team-high 10 wins in 2019 – which was good for 11th-most in the country. The righty went 10-1 in 15 appearances with a pair of complete games for the Aggies, including two shutouts.

The Temecula, Calif., native posted a 2.74 earned runs average while striking out 69 batters and held opponents to just a .245 average.  
 
WAC TAKES NOTICE
Nick Gonzales has the full attention of his conference peers. The Aggies infielder was voted by the league's 10 head coaches to take home the 2020 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year award. 

In addition to receiving the conference's Preseason Player of the Year nod, Gonzales landed on the Preseason All-WAC Team at second base. He was joined by teammates Tristan Peterson and Kevin Jimenez at first base and utility/designated hitter, respectively.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Texas Southern went 20-34 overall and 13-11 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play last season. 

The Tigers opened the 2019 campaign against the Aggies, losing all four games over the season-opening weekend. NM State outscored Texas Southern, 98-19, across the four contests.

Senior outfielder Tyson Thompson powers the Tigers' offense. He hit .311 with a .417 on-base percentage last season, driving in 19 runs and stealing 15 bases.

UP NEXT
Following the season-opening weekend, NM State remains in the friendly confines of The 'Skew.

The Aggies host Iona for another four-game set Yale from Feb. 21-23. First pitch in Friday's series opener is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT.

For complete coverage of New Mexico State baseball, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateBaseball), Instagram (@NMStateBaseball) and like us on Facebook (NM State Baseball).

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