PHOENIX – The first two weekends of the season were spent at home for NM State, who now prepares for its first road trip of 2025. The Aggies head into the weekend with five games on deck, including three against Power Four institutions. The greatest chance for an upset will come when the Crimson & White take on Florida; the third-ranked team in all of collegiate softball. Each game of the Sun Devil/GCU Classic will be available to follow via nmstatesports.com, with Sunday's contest also streamed on ESPN+.
 
The Aggies will begin against Portland State (3-7) at 10:30 a.m., on Friday, before taking on Iowa State (4-5) at approximately 1:15 p.m. Saturday's slate will commence with California Baptist and conclude with the nationally-ranked Gators at the same scheduled times. Lastly, NM State will swap venues on Sunday, taking to Arizona State's Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium for a battle with the hosting Sun Devils at 11:30 a.m.
 
NM State Weekend Schedule (All times MT)
Game 1: Friday (10:30 AM) – vs. Portland State (Phoenix)
Game 2: Friday (1:15 PM) – vs. Iowa State (Phoenix)
Game 3: Saturday (10:30 AM) – vs. California Baptist (Phoenix)
Game 4: Saturday (1:15 PM) – vs. #3 Florida (Phoenix)
Game 5: Sunday (11:30 AM) – at Arizona State (Tempe, Ariz.)
 
LAST TIME OUT
On Monday, NM State wrapped up the Troy Cox Classic on its home field with a convincing five-inning victory over Montana. The 11-0 shutout capped off the Aggies' fourth consecutive win and their third straight in run-rule fashion. In those four games, Kathy Rodolph's squad tallied 37 runs while allowing just seven. Desirae Spearman wrapped up a weekend in which she posted two wins in the circle as well as six hits, 10 walks drawn, four home runs and 11 RBIs. 
 
SUPER SLUGGERS
Spearman is one of five players in all of NCAA Division I with at least seven home runs through the opening fortnight of the season. The sophomore's prowess as a home run threat has granted her 13 walks drawn this season; a mark that only three players have exceeded thus far. The second-year Aggie is on pace (78.81) to shatter her own mark of 43 RBIs that paced last year's roster. However, Spearman is far from alone in an Aggie lineup that has been daunting for opposing pitchers in 2025. 
 
The team ranks 10^th in the nation with a slugging percentage of .673, while slotting in ninth with a .381 batting average. The unit leads the country with both 127 hits and 27 doubles, due in large part to 65 base knocks from incoming transfers. 
 
NM State leads Conference USA in seven offensive metrics as a team. The Aggie bats also rank among the top 10 in nine separate national categories, including total runs (seventh; 94) and home runs (second; 22).
 
Five Aggies rank among the top 10 in the conference for hits, led by three newcomers, including 17 from Kristiana Watson. The first baseman racked up 14 RBIs in last weekend's tournament alone, placing her in a tie atop the team leaderboard with Spearman. 
 
CAN'T START MUCH BETTER THAN THAT…
There have been few debuts in program history that rival that of Lauren Garcia. After three seasons with New Mexico, the El Paso, Texas, native made her way back to the Borderlands. In 15 at-bats, the Montwood High School product racked up nine hits, including eight for extra bases. Four home runs and as many doubles each led the team as the redshirt sophomore tallied a whopping 25 total bases in just six games. Garcia accounted for 12 RBIs, including 10 on Sunday alone; eight of which came against Kansas City in the final game of the weekend. 
 
A team-high .600 batting average were boosted by three walks for an on-base percentage of .667. The team-high eight extra-base hits resulted in a then-nation's best 1.667 slugging percentage and an otherworldly 2.333 OPS. Conference USA recognized the remarkable weekend by tabbing Lauren Garcia as the first CUSA Player of the Week for 2025.
 
ALL IN THE FAMILY
17 newcomers grace the 2025 squad, including eight true freshmen. The first-year student-athletes are comprised of one local Las Cruces product, four California natives, two Arizonans and a Texan broken into three catchers, two infielders, an outfielder, a pitcher and a utility player. 
 
Two sets of three relatives make up a majority of the transfer crop. First, the Aragons; a local trio that includes sisters Faith and Grace as well as cousin Johnna. All three Aragons hail from nearby Carlsbad, N.M., and saw action at UTEP a season ago. The former earned an All-CUSA Freshman Team selection in 2024 as a pitcher.
 
Additionally, three more sisters enter the building as Taylor, Kenzie and Payton Nicholson will don the Crimson & White in 2025. Taylor and Kenzie have each made stops at Arizona State, while Kenzie is most recently from CUSA foe Jax State. Payton spent her freshman season at Georgia State as a utility/infield player.  
 
Taryn Bennet, Lauren Garcia and Kristiana Watson round out the crop of nine additions. Bennet spent her freshman season as a pitcher at Hampton, Garcia faced the Aggies in the Battle of I-25 each of the past three seasons at New Mexico and Watson entered as a redshirt junior with two prior stops at Power Five institutions.
 
Kristiana is the younger sister of David Watson, an Aggie graduate assistant who has coached third base this season. The siblings are children of Laura Espinoza-Watson, Arizona Softball's all-time leader in career home runs.
 
Lastly, the Lunar sisters are each in their third season with the program. Kendal has been a career Aggie behind the plate and Kayla started all but one game last season at third base.
 
HISTORY UNMATCHED
When NM State Softball is mentioned, one name immediately comes to mind; Kathy Rodolph. As she enters her 22^ndseason at the helm, the legendary head coach has amassed 608 wins with the Aggies; well more than half of the program's all-time total (1,140). 
 
Last season, Rodolph surpassed two career milestones, doing so in dramatic fashion both times. On April 12, the Aggies found themselves down to their final out against FIU while trailing 6-5. After a Devin Elam single knotted the affair, Riley Carley sent a missile to left-center field to walk off a series-opening win and etch Rodolph's 600^th program win into the record books. 
 
A few weeks later, on the same field, more magic ensued. In their first game of the CUSA Championship, the Aggies trailed by two runs on their home field against Jacksonville State in the bottom of the seventh inning. Two straight home runs tied the ballgame at 5-5, queueing an extra eighth inning. After two straight outs to start the inning, senior standout Jillian Taylor launched a ball over the left field fence to advance her side to the next round in thrilling fashion. The victory was extra sweet for Coach Rodolph, as it was the 800^th of her career, including stops at El Paso CC (1999-00) and Angelo State (2002-03).
 
Over her time with the Crimson & White, Rodolph has guided the squad to six WAC Regular-Season Championships, four WAC Tournament Championships and four NCAA Regional appearances. Rodolph is also a five-time WAC Coach of the Year and has had 17 players named to an NFCA All-Region team. Under Rodolph, the Aggies have captured nine of the last 10 Conference Player of the Year awards and three of the last four league Freshman of the Year Awards.
 
LEAGUE ON NOTICE
Devin Elam and Desirae Spearman each earned All-CUSA Preseason Team honors late last month. A season ago, Elam and Spearman combined for 92 hits, 23 home runs and a total of 37 extra-base hits. The pair accounted for 76 starts across 79 outings, tallying 239 at-bats. In the batter's box, the pair of outfielders recorded a net .385 batting average while reaching base on .445 of all at-bats, mashing their way to a .741 slugging percentage and a 1.186 OPS. Spearman was tied for the team lead with 43 RBIs while Elam ranked second with 36, racking up a combined 31.7% of all runs batted in for Kathy Rodolph's offense in 2024. 
 
The duo each earned First Team honors from the conference in 2024, including Spearman's two selections; one at outfielder and one at pitcher. The two lead the 2025 squad into their second year in the league. CUSA's preseason coaches' poll tabbed the Aggies as the third-highest favorite, receiving just one fewer point (82) than WKU (83). Both teams were in the final two games of last year's postseason tournament, but each fell to eventual champion Liberty, who was picked first in the poll with 99 points. The Lady Flames were awarded Preseason Player (Rachel Roupe) and Pitcher (Elena Escobar) of the Year by CUSA.
 
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Portland State is led by ninth-year Head Coach Meadow McWhorter, who holds a 140-229 record in her time with the program. So far, the Vikings are 3-7 with wins over UC Riverside, Winthrop and UC San Diego. Neveah Smith leads the team with a .517 batting average this season. 
 
Jamie Pinkerton calls the shots for Iowa State, who holds a 4-5 record this season. In his eight seasons with the Cyclones, Pinkerton has led the program to 182 wins with 187 losses, highlighted by a 2021 NCAA Regional appearance. Jessie Clemons leads this year's squad with a .448 batting average.
 
California Baptist is under the direction of 12^th-year Head Coach Mike Smith, who boasts a 563-143 record with the Lancers. This year's 5-6 squad is led by Kalena Burns, who has a team-high five home runs to go with her .353 batting average.
 
In his highly-decorated 20 seasons with the Gators, Tim Walton has maintained excellence within the Florida program, highlighted by back-to-back NCAA titles in 2014-15. This squad is currently just as high in the national polls, slotted at third ahead of the weekend. The Gators have found a young star in true freshman Taylor Shumaker, who leads all of Division I softball with eight home runs, 22 runs scored, 24 RBIs and 48 total bases. In the circle, Keagan Rothrock returns after a stellar freshman season of her own, already out of the gates with a 0.76 ERA in 2025.
 
Lastly, the Aggies will take on Arizona State in their lone true road contest of the weekend. Megan Bartlett's third season with the program is off to a 7-4 start, headlined by three ranked victories in the opening moments of the campaign. Kelsey Hall leads the squad in batting average (.444), walks drawn (seven) and RBIs (nine). and Last season, NM State toppled the Sun Devils by a score of 10-8 on the same field with hopes of repeating in this weekend's finale. 
 
For complete coverage of NM State Softball during the 2025 season, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of the Aggies – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Softball), Twitter (@NMStateSoftball) and Instagram (@NMStateSoftball).