LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After 278 days, college baseball returns to Presley Askew Field tomorrow night. NM State will open the 2023 season at 6:00 p.m. on Friday when the Bellarmine Knights make the trip to the southwest.
 
NM State returns to Las Cruces following a tremendous run through the postseason in 2022. After entering the WAC Tournament as the eighth and final team, the Aggies torched the competition, going 4-0 in Mesa to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. In fact, the Aggies never trailed in the conference tournament, outscoring opponents 21-5 in the conference tournament.
 
Following the Mesa Magic, NM State clinched a spot in the NCAA Corvallis Regional, where it took No. 3 Oregon State to extra innings, catching the attention of the college baseball world. The Aggies season ultimately came to a close in the regional with a loss to national powerhouse Vanderbilt.
 
Following a 6:00 p.m. game on Friday, the Aggies and the Knights will play at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and wrap up the opening series at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will air for free on the WAC Digital Network while being simulcast on 91.5 FM KRUX.
 

Series Information
TV/Streaming	WAC Digital Network & WAC International
Radio	91.5 FM KRUX
Tickets	Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Game Notes	NM State Notes | Bellarmine Notes | WAC Notes

 

Projected Starting Pitchers
NM State		Bellarmine
RHP Treyjen Meza (0-0, 0.00 ERA)	Friday	RHP Nolan Pender (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP Tyler Hoeft (0-0, 0.00 ERA)	Saturday	RHP Drew Buhr (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
LHP Hayden Walker (0-0, 0.00 ERA)	Sunday	LHP Gavin Braunecker (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

 
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies concluded the 2022 campaign in the NCAA Tournament with a pair of losses to No. 3 Oregon State and Vanderbilt. Both the Beavers and the Commodores enter the 2023 season inside the Top 25 of National Polls with Vanderbilt as high as No. 9 (USA Today) and the Oregon State at No. 18 (Baseball America).
 
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Bellarmine will be led by first-year head coach Chris Dominguez when they make the trip to Las Cruces. Despite making his head coaching debut, Dominguez is no stranger to the big stage, having spent time as a player with the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds. Dominguez inherits a Bellarmine team that went 11-43 in 2022 and enters just its third season at the Division I level. The opening series with NM State marks the beginning of a sixteen game road swing to open the season.
 
HOME COOKIN'
In 26 of the last 27 seasons, the Aggies have played at home or a neutral site to begin the season. The lone outlier to that grouping is the 2021 season in which the Aggies played seven straight road contests to open the year.
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Infielders Kevin Jimenez and Logan Gallina were well represented with preseason honors. Jimenez and Gallina both earned Preseason All-WAC selections while being named to the Top 50 at their respective positions by D1Baseball. Gallina, alongside RHP Matthew Maloney, were also named to Perfect Game's Preseason All-WAC team.
 
RECEIVING VOTES
New Mexico State is receiving votes in the College Baseball Central preseason poll. The Aggies sit directly above Arizona, Georgia Tech, Illinois, and Notre Dame, who all received two votes.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Last season, the Aggies were well represented on the WAC Baseball All-Tournament Team. Cal Villareal took home MVP honors in Mesa, while Nolan Funke, Tommy Tabak, Ian Mejia, and Pablo Cortes each earned All-Tournament honors.
 
ONE LAST WAC
NM State kicks off its final season of WAC play on March 10 at Grand Canyon. The Aggies' conference opener comes on Friday, March 24 against UTRGV.
 
MR. MET
One of the Aggie newcomers, RHP Will Sierra, was selected by the New York Mets in the 28th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft. Sierra turned down the Mets to enroll at Chipola College – A premiere junior college in Florida that has produced the likes of Jose Bautista, Russell Martin, Patrick Corbin, and nearly two dozen additional big leaguers.
 
WASHINGTON PIPELINE
This summer, the Aggies brought in several new players with ties to the state of Washington. OF Keith Jones II, RHP Tyler Hoeft, and RHP Will Sierra all played for former NM State skipper Brian Green at Washington State last season. Additionally, Las Cruces native Karl Koerper transferred to his hometown as a redshirt senior to close out his collegiate career.
 
BACK IN ROMAN TIMES
Leading up to the season, D1Baseball listed NM State RHP Roman Bracamonte as the No. 3 "Impact First Year Freshmen" in the Western Athletic Conference, trailing just Wehiwa Ahoy (SS, Sacramento State) and Ben Lumsden (3B, UT Arlington)
 
ALL ABOUT PROSPECT-IVE
D1Baseball lists three NM State players on their list of the 25 Top Prospects in the WAC ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft. OF Keith Jones II leads the way at No. 18 with INF Logan Gallina right behind him, coming in at No. 20. The Aggies are also represented by RHP Noah Estrella, who appears at No. 25 on the list.