Andrés Leighton

Aggies Return to The 'Skew for Four-Game WAC Series with Grand Canyon

Thursday 04/15/2021 | By: NM State Athletics Media Relations

NM State is 20-1 at Presley Askew Field under head coach Mike Kirby

LEADOFF HITS
• After a stretch of 12 consecutive games on the road, the NM State baseball team returns to its home venue of Presley Askew Field for the first time in nearly one month to host Grand Canyon for a four-game Western Athletic Conference (WAC) series.
• The set begins Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. with sophomore right-hander Rorik Maltrud getting his first start in a series opener.
• In the latest edition of the WAC standings, NM State sits three games back of Grand Canyon for third place. California Baptist (11-1) and nationally-ranked Sacramento State (13-3) are tied for the top spot in the league standings with the Lopes one game behind.
• If the Aggies are to get back in the win column multiple times this weekend, they've returned to the right place to do so. NM State is 8-1 at The Skew this year and has gone 20-1 (.952) there under head coach Mike Kirby.
• Over the course of their last 12 games - all of which were on the road - NM State went 2-10 with one win each over Seattle U and #24 Sacramento State.
• Sophomore first baseman Ethan Mann has been swinging a hot bat as of late. He has recorded at least one hit in 12 of his last 13 games and comes into this weekend's series with a team-best six-game hitting streak.
• Mann and sophomore shortstop Brandon Dieter rank second and third respectively in the WAC in terms of RBI. With 28, Mann leads the team while Dieter's 27 are the second-highest total on the squad.
• Two of Kevin Jimenez's eight multi-hit games have come over his last four outings. Through the last four games, Jimenez has hit safely in each one while scoring six of his team's 21 runs in that same span.
• Continue to distinguish himself as one of the nation's best hitters, sophomore outfielder Zerek Saenz tops the WAC statistical charts in six different categories. The Las Cruces, N.M., native leads the league in batting average (.415, 24th nationally), hits (44, 31st nationally), hits per game (1.63, 16th nationally), on-base percentage (.475, 90th nationally) and triples (three, 12th nationally).
• The Aggies are shaking up their starting rotation slightly this week with sophomore right-hander Cam Blazek making the first start of his Aggie career in the team's series finale with the Lopes Sunday afternoon.
• Senior right-hander Chris Jefferson is hoping for a return to his early-season form on the hill this weekend. The Pearland, Texas, product still lead the WAC while ranking third in the nation in complete games (three), but hasn't gone more than five frames in each of his last two starts.
• NM State is 26-54 (.325) all-time against Grand Canyon since the all-time series between the two teams started back in 1964. The Aggies took two out of three games from the Lopes in the regular-season series in 2019, but GCU defeated NM State in the WAC Tournament that season by an 8-3 score.
• Dating back to the 1977 season, NM State has gone 11-22 (.333) against GCU in Las Cruces.

SCOUTING GRAND CANYON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• After dropping their WAC series opener to Northern Colorado 4-2 last Friday in Phoenix, the Lopes have won their last four games. The latest of those wins came against a nationally-ranked adversary - and in dramatic fashion - as Channy Ortiz hammered a 10th-inning, walk-off homer to help his team take down 16th-ranked Arizona Tuesday night.
• Ortiz (.310/.400/.437) is just one of a group of five GCU regulars who are batting .303 or better on the year. The 39 hits off the bat of Ortiz lead the team, but the Lopes' top batter by average is Tayler Aguilar who is slashing .361/.455/.542. Aguilar also possesses the best on-base percentage as well as the top slugging percentage among GCU's ranks.
• Getting into scoring position is of prime importance for GCU as it leads the WAC with 40 stolen bases. If they aren't getting on base with hits, the Lopes also do so by drawing walks. No team in the WAC has drawn more bases on balls than GCU who has 141 to its credit through 33 games.
• The Lopes' pitching staff is strong, too, giving up just 8.15 hits per nine innings. That's the best figure in the WAC and league wins leader Carter Young (5-0) has a lot to do with it. The Lopes' Sunday starter has surrendered just eight runs in 39 frames of work.
• Right-hander Pierson Ohl (4-1) has distinguished himself as a strikeout artist, having fanned 59 batters while walking just four in a staff-best 51 1/3 innings.

ON DECK
• One of the three remaining non-conference games on the Aggies' regular-season schedule is scheduled for Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. That evening, NM State will take on Pac-12 foe Arizona in Tuscon.

++NM State++

Print Friendly Version

NM State is 20-1 at Presley Askew Field under head coach Mike Kirby

Related Videos

Related Stories