LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Headed west to Tucson, the NM State baseball team will be faced with a tall task as they square off with the No. 12 Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday night. The action will be aired on Pac-12 Network Insider, while the Wildcats will also offer a radio stream.
AGGIE FACTS
- The Aggies are coming off of a 1-2 weekend against Sacramento State. NM State won Saturday's game in dramatic fashion as Nolan Funke singled in the bottom of the ninth to score Tommy Tabak, giving the Aggies their first walk-off win since March 1, 2020.
- This will be the first of two games against Arizona this season.
- Tabak is in the midst of a 12 game on-base streak, matching the longest for an Aggie this season.
- Ryan Grabosch has hit safely in each of the last six games for NM State.
- Gunner Antillon is hitting .429 on the season, which would tie for ninth nationally with Sean Ross of Indiana State. Antillon falls short of the NCAA minimum of 75% of games played after missing time with injury.
- Eight former Aggies will begin the profession season in either AA or AAA. Nick Gonzales (Pirates), Joey Ortiz (Orioles), Marcel Renteria (Mets), and Brock Whittlesey (A's) will all start their seasons at Double-A. Chris Jefferson (Mariners), Kyle Bradish (Orioles), LJ Hatch (Rockies), and Daniel Johnson (Guardians) are all one step from the show, beginning 2022 in AAA.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
- Arizona is ranked as high as No. 12 nationally this week by Collegiate Baseball. The Wildcats also appear at No. 16 in the Baseball America and USA Today polls and No. 20 in the D1Baseball poll.
- The Wildcats are coming off a weekend series with Washington State where they dropped two of three at home, winning the Sunday contest.
- Chip Hale is in his first season as the head coach of Arizona. Last year, Hale was the third base coach for the Detroit Tigers, compiling 15 seasons of coaching in Major League Baseball. Previously, Hale was the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2015-2016.
- Right-hander Dawson Netz will make his seventh start of the season for the Wildcats on Tuesday night.
- Arizona will make the return trip to Las Cruces on Tuesday, April 26.
++NM State++
