Andrés Leighton

Red-Hot Aggies Head West for WAC Series at Seattle U

Thursday 03/25/2021 | By: NM State Athletics Media Relations

NM State has won last five and eight of its last nine

LEADOFF HITS
• Armed with one of the nation's most potent offenses as well as a five-game winning streak, the NM State baseball team begins its three-week expedition out west with a four-game Western Athletic Conference series against Seattle U at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, Wash.
• The set between the Aggies and Redhawks gets started at 5:00 p.m. MT Friday evening and all four games of the series are scheduled to be broadcast on the WAC Digital Network.
• With a 7-1 record in WAC play, the Aggies sit in second place in the league standings. California Baptist (8-2, 4-0 WAC) is atop the WAC standings at the moment.
• NM State's five-game winning streak is its longest since the start of the 2020 season. Last year, head coach Mike Kirby led the Aggies to eight-straight wins to begin the year.
• The Aggies' 7-1 start in WAC play is the team's best since 2017. That year, NM State won 11 of its first 12 league games and finished the season with a WAC record of 19-5.
• Impressive offensive numbers are what the Aggies have put up since the season started. NM State lead the WAC in eight statistical categories including batting average (.322), on-base percentage (.415), runs scored (147), runs per game (9.2), slugging percentage (.523), stolen bases per game (1.12), triples (11) and triples per game (0.69).
• On the national scene, NM State leads the nation in triples and resides among the top 25 in eight statistical categories. Those categories also include triples per game (fifth), runs per game (fifth), slugging percentage (sixth), batting average (seventh), on-base percentage (17th), sacrifice flies (20th) and total runs (21st).
• In their 15-8 win over Northern Colorado last Saturday, the Aggies matches the program record for triples in a game by striking for four.

SOLO SHOTS
• Sophomore outfielder Zerek Saenz picked up a pair of awards earlier in the week, claiming the title of WAC Hitter of the Week in addition to being named one of seven Collegiate
Baseball Newspaper National Players of the Week.
• Saenz hit .739/.739/1.043 through his team's five-game stretch last week, finishing with 17 hits in 23 at-bats. The Las Cruces, N.M., product also drove in 10 runs while scoring 10 more.
• That monstrous week hiked Saenz's batting average to .554 - the fourth-best among all NCAA Division I baseball players.
• Other area where Saenz is among the top players in the nation include hits (31, 13th), hits per game (2.07, second), on-base percentage (.600, 12th), slugging percentage (.750, 43rd), triples (three, second) and triples per game (0.20, 13th).
• Saenz's three triples are as many or more than 138 NCAA Division I teams have accumulated in 2021.
• In D1Baseball.com's list of the top 100 outfielders, Saenz appeared on it at number 61.
• Shortstop Brandon Dieter has been making a name for himself as one of the Aggies' best bats, too. Recently the sophomore was ranked as the 21st-best shortstop in the nation by D1Baseball.com's top-30 listing.
• Dieter tops the team's charts in walks (15), RBI (22), doubles (six) and home runs (four). His RBI total is the highest in the WAC as are his walks-per-game (0.94) and RBI per game (1.38) averages.
• By delivering two triples as part of a four-hit day in the Aggies' 15-8 win over Northern Colorado last Saturday, Tommy Tabak tied the program record for triples in a game by a player. His two triples are the most in a single game by an NCAA Division I baseball player this season.
• Senior right-hander Chris Jefferson tossed a complete-game (seven innings) shutout in the Aggies' 6-0 win over Northern Colorado last Saturday (March 20). It was the second complete game of the year for Jefferson who is tied with 10 other players from around the nation for the most complete games tossed this year.
• Jefferson's shutout victory on the hill was the first by an Aggie arm since Chance Hroch hung zeroes on the board in a seven-inning complete-game effort against UTRGV on May 5, 2019.
• Sophomore right-hander Rorik Maltrud pitched his way to a 2-0 record last week which yielded a WAC Pitcher of the Week citation for the Austin, Texas, product. His nine strikeouts through six innings in last Sunday's victory over Northern Colorado represented the highest strikeout total by an Aggie arm this year.
• In all, four Aggie pitchers combined to strike out 16 Northern Colorado batters in Sunday's series finale. That was the highest strikeout by NM State's staff in a game this year and also stands as the most strikeouts in a game by an Aggie staff since NM State arms fanned 21 Sacramento State batters in a WAC Tournament game on May 26, 2018.

SCOUTING SEATTLE U | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• When they welcome the Aggies to town, the Redhawks will be hoping to put an end to a seven-game losing skid in addition to securing their first WAC wins of 2021. Seattle U's four-game series with NM State is the team's first home series of the season as the Redhawks have played each of their first 17 games on the road.
• Not only is junior outfielder Gavin Rork one of the Redhawks' best bats (.311/.419/.361), he's also one of the nation's best when it comes to stealing bases. Rork leads the WAC and ranks 17th nationally with nine stolen bags while also leading the team in on-base percentage.
• Senior catcher Justin Mazzone is the top bat in the Redhawks' lineup. His batting average (.328) and RBI total (13) are the highest on the team. Another big bat for Seattle U is Matt Boissoneault (.273/.324/.455) who has driven in 12 runs while clubbing two of the team's eight long balls.
• Seattle U's pitching staff possesses a collective ERA of 4.57 and when the late innings come it's Lucas Ford and Peter Chronowski who have gotten the ball. Ford possesses a 2.84 ERA in six appearance and has posted two of the team's three saves. The other save went to Chronowski who has a 3.31 ERA in 16 1/3 innings of work.
• Friday night starter Morgan White is one of two Seattle U pitchers who have 20 or more strikeouts to their credit thus far in 2021. His 27 lead the staff while Alex Jemal's 20 (against only two walks) are the second-most on the team.

ON DECK
• Following a stretch of eight consecutive WAC contests, the Aggies will step out of league action as they continue their 12-game road trip. NM State's next stop is Eugene, Ore., for a four-game series with 13th-ranked Oregon. The opening game is set for Thursday at 5:00 p.m. from PK Park.

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NM State has won last five and eight of its last nine

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