LUBBOCK, Texas - Coming off of a weekend in the Phoenix area where the Aggies collected a win over a Grand Canyon team which was receiving votes before knocking off their second Power Five team of the season, the Aggies head to the panhandle of Texas to compete in the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic hosted by Texas Tech. During its stay in Lubbock, Texas, NM State will take on Merrimack, Texas State and Texas Tech in five games across three days.
 
The Aggies will open the weekend at 8 a.m. on Friday morning as they face off with Merrimack. Later that evening, the Aggies will collide with Texas State for the first of two contests this weekend versus the Wildcats. The second game will come on Saturday morning before they square off against Texas Tech on Saturday evening. The road trip will then conclude with a Sunday morning tilt against the Red Raiders. This weekend's games will take place inside Rocky Johnson Field in Lubbock.
 
FRESHMAN PHENOM
The Aggies strong start can also be largely contributed to the individual success of freshman Desirae Spearman who's numbers not only stack up against the best freshman in the nation, but against the best players in the country period.
 
In her first season at the collegiate level, the freshman standout ranks 13th in the nation in home runs (6) despite missing the last six games due to injury. In addition to her impressive start at the plate, Spearman has also been dominant in the circle. The El Paso, Texas, native already has a shutout victory over Nebraska on her resume and is managing a league-leading ERA of 0.30. Through three weeks, Spearman has also alreday claimed CUSA Freshman of the Week honors twice.
 
FEAR NONE
Two weeks ago Aggies opened the annual Troy Cox Classic with a 3-0 victory over Big Ten foe Nebraska to mark the program's first win over a Power Five program since the 2020 season when the Aggies defeated the same Nebraska program twice in the same season.
 
Last week, the Aggies added to their list of impressive early victories as they defeated (RV) Grand Canyon on Friday evening before knocking off Arizona State on Sunday morning to tally their second Power Five win of the season and first win over a Pac-12 program since 2020.
 
This weekend, the Aggies will get two shots at racking up another win over a Power Five program as they meet up with Big 12 member Texas Tech. A win over the Red Raiders would mark the Aggies' first win over a Big 12 program since 2019 when they split a pair of games against the 17th-ranked Red Raiders.
 
DEZ DOES IT
Last week, Aggie newcomer Dezianna Patmon had herself a breakout weekend as she led the Aggies in batting average (.600), hits (9), RBIs (7), total bases (16), home runs (2), runs scored (6), slugging percentage (1.067) and on-base percentage (.600) while being specifically in the Aggies' win over Arizona State when she recorded three hits, including a home run to lead to a career-high four RBIs.
 
2024 marks the juniors first season with the Aggies after spending the first two years of her collegiate career in Greensboro, N.C., where she accumulated 78 hits and 35 RBIs while posting a .310 batting average in 98 games for North Carolina A&T.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW CONFERENCE
In 2023, the Aggies finished 21-25 overall, with a 10-14 mark in WAC play. On July 1, 2023, NM State joined Conference USA, and will be a first-year member of the league in 2024. Also new to the conference are Jax State (ASUN), Liberty (ASUN) and Sam Houston (WAC). FIU, LA Tech, Middle Tennessee, UTEP and Western Kentucky are the five returning members of the conference. The Aggies will officially begin league play next weekend when they play host to Western Kentucky.
 
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
NM State Softball played its first season in 1975. Now, in 2024, the Aggies entered season No. 50, with 1,144 wins and a much loftier reputation. The program was the class of the WAC for over a decade, earning six regular-season crowns and four conference tournament championships. Softball was NM State's second women's team sport, and has brought 10 championship trophies home to Las Cruces. This May, the Aggies will look to win the CUSA Tournament Championship on their home soil.
 
LEGENDARY STATUS
Entering her 21st season, Head Coach Kathy Rodolph is already easily the winningest coach in program history. Before Rodolph, the program had not won a championship (regular-season or tournament). Under her direction, the Aggies have claimed 10 pieces of hardware, and boast a 587-510 record. Making stops at El Paso CC and Angelo State before coming to Las Cruces, Rodolph has an individual mark of 780-605 as a head coach. At NM State, she has recruited and coached 17 NFCA All-Region members and eight WAC Player of the Year winners. The Aggies have won 20 or more games in 17 seasons under Rodolph.
 
BEST OF THE BEST
In the program's first year in a new conference, two Aggies have already stood out among the league. Last month, CUSA unveiled its Preseason All-Conference Team, highlighted by Riley Carley and Kendal Lunar. The pair of seniors each put forth stellar campaigns in 2023, and will look to lead their team into new territory in 2024.
 
Riley Carley started all 44 games she appeared in last season, leading the team with 16 home runs and 14 walks. In her junior year, she ranked second among all Aggies in RBIs (30), batting average (.346), slugging percentage (.750) and OPS (1.012). Carley was named to the All-WAC Second Team in 2023.
 
As a true freshman, Kendal Lunar made quite the impression in 2023. The first-year Aggie posted six home runs and 20 RBIs with an OPS of .870. Starting 38 games in total, including each of the final 30 a season ago, Lunar is poised for a productive 2024 campaign behind the plate as a sophomore, and was selected to the CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team accordingly.
 
TEXAS TRIBE
As NM State spends its weekend in Texas, there will be three Aggies playing in their home state as Jessica Carreon (College Station), Savanna Bejarano (El Paso) and Desirae Spearman (El Paso) all hail from the state that spans nearly 300,000 square miles.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Fans interested in following the Aggies this weekend can do so via StatBroadcast at NMStateStats.com. Additionally, Sunday's game against Texas Tech will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

For complete coverage of NM State Softball during the 2024 season, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of the Aggies – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Softball), Twitter (@NMStateSoftball) and Instagram (@NMStateSoftball).