LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After a midweek tilt with Benedictine Mesa, NM State returns to Presley Askew Field starting Friday night for a three-game weekend series against WCC opponent Pacific. Interim Head Coach Keith Zuniga looks to lead the Aggies to their first win of the 2023 season.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Pacific is 1-6 on the season and currently riding a three-game losing streak after dropping a pair of games at home against Milwaukee and another home loss to Stanford – the number two ranked team in the country. Skipper Chris Rodriguez enters his third full season at the helm, sporting a 40-87 record at the university. The Tigers were picked to finish last in the ten-team West Coast Conference in the preseason coaches' poll.

ROUGH WATERS
The Aggies are off to their worst start since the 2015 season, when they began 0-6 - The first year under Brian Green. The 2015 squad began 0-8 before winning, The 2023 squad will look to pick up its first win on March 3 at home against Pacific.

ALL HAIL HALE
OF Damon Hale has stolen five bags in the first seven games for NM State. In 2022, Tommy Tabak led the Aggies with 10 stolen bases.

FUNKE TOWN – POPULATION ONE
OF Nolan Funke is the only player to reached base safely in each of NM State's first seven games. He is also one-of-one for the Aggies in several categories – leading the team in batting average (.304), triples (1), and RBIs (4).

THE SEVEN PIECES OF EIGHT
The Aggies have used seven different players in the eighth spot in the lineup over the first six games. Nolan Funke, Cal Villareal, Christian Perez, Xaige Lancaster, Romeo Ballesteros, Karl Koerper and Brant Voth have all hit eighth thus far.

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.

All over North America
Not only is NM State's roster well represented from across the United States, the Aggies have members from Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico as well. RHP Will Sierra hails from Montreal, Québec, Canada and was a member of the Team Canada Junior National Team from 2015-17. RHP Pablo Cortes, who earned WAC All-Tournament Team and WAC Pitcher of the Week honors last season, is a native of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

PRESEASON ALL-WAC
A pair of Aggies - 1B Logan Gallina and 2B Kevin Jimenez - picked up a pair of Preseason All-WAC honors. For both Gallina and Jimenez, it is their third career All-WAC selection. Gallina was named to both the First Team All-WAC and the All-Defensive team last season. Jimenez earned Second Team All-WAC honors in 2021 before being named to the Preseason All-WAC team in 2022.

FOR THE RECORD...
Infielder Kevin Jimenez sits inside or near the top-ten in NM State school history for many offensive categories. With 45 career doubles, Jimenez needs just 16 this season to become NM State's all-time two-bag leader