LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Softball bragging rights are at stake on Tuesday. NM State returns home after 13 consecutive road games to host New Mexico in the Battle of I-25. The Land of Enchantment's only two Division I programs will meet just once in the 2025 regular season, making the mid-week bout a one-game fight for the in-state title. The Aggies, who have dominated the series of late, have their sights set on continuing the trend in front of their home crowd. 
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: New Mexico (14-11-1, 0-0 Mountain West) at NM State (14-11, 2-1 CUSA)
Where: NM State Softball Complex – Las Cruces, N.M.
When: Tuesday, March 11 (5:00 PM MT)
Live Stream: N/A
Live Statistics: nmstatestats.com
All-Time Record vs. New Mexico: 74-87
Under Kathy Rodolph: 34-21
All-Time Record in Las Cruces: 45-31
Last Meeting: NM State 4 @ New Mexico 3 – April 16, 2024
Current Streak: NM State, 3 wins (since March 26, 2024)
 
LAST TIME OUT
NM State opened Conference USA play at Louisiana Tech, taking two of three games on the road. Strong pitching performances on Friday and Saturday propelled the visitors to wins by scores of 5-0 and 3-1, respectively. The hosting Bulldogs took the series finale by a score of 10-4, scoring seven unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings. 
 
Skye Johnson made an immediate impact in the lineup. For the weekend, Johnson tallied three hits, including her first extra-base knock. Each blast brought in a run as the freshman led the Aggies in RBIs for the weekend. Kristiana Watson belted another pair of home runs, bringing her season tally to six. Each blast was a solo shot, with one on Friday before a towering drive well into the left-field parking lot on Sunday. 
 
Lauren Garcia led the way with five hits, returning to Kathy Rodolph's lineup as the designated player. Her five hits were tied with Desirae Spearman for the team lead as the first-year Aggie tallied two RBIs and bumped her 2025 total to 14. With a three-game OPS of 1.250, she led the team and improved her season mark to 1.222, ranking third in Conference USA.
 
NO LOVE LOST
For three seasons, Garcia called the campus of UNM home. The El Paso, Texas, native posted 31 hits across 113 at-bats while making 35 starts. For all of 2022 and most of 2024, Garcia dealt with injuries, cutting her time with the program short. 
 
In the offseason, Garcia transferred to NM State, joining Head Coach Kathy Rodolph as a redshirt sophomore. The first-year Aggie has made a strong impact from the middle of the lineup, starting in 15 contests, including 12 as the designated player. Garcia is second on the team and third in the conference with a 1.222 slugging percentage, courtesy in large part to her four-home run opening weekend. Her eight extra base hits that weekend brought in 12 RBIs as the UNM transfer was named CUSA Player of the Week after leading the country with a 1.667 slugging percentage and an OPS of 2.333.
 
Now, Garcia gears up for her first-ever matchup against UNM as Tuesday's tilt is her only shot at the Lobos in 2025. As a member of the rivalry's other half, Garcia holds a 1-1 record, only playing in the Battle of I-25 during 2023.
 
FEARIN' SPEARMAN
Last Thursday, Desirae Spearman was named as the third-best utility player in the country by Softball America. The true sophomore was not only last year's CUSA Freshman of the Year, but her remarkable campaign as a pitcher and outfielder won her Player of the Year honors in the league as well.
 
This season, Spearman is off to an even more impressive start. In the circle, she is second on the team in innings pitched (51.1) while leading in strikeouts thrown (51) and ERA (2.45). In 10 starts, the two-way star has amassed a 7-2 record, making her one of just four pitchers to do so in CUSA this season. 
 
At the plate, the second-year Aggie is even more electric. In addition to a team-high .465 batting average, she paces the conference in RBIs (29), home runs (10), total bases (69) and walks drawn (19). She is also second among all of CUSA in slugging percentage (.972), on-base percentage (.582), OPS (1.554) and runs scored (26).
 
SUPER SLUGGERS
Spearman was also one of just seven players in all of NCAA Division I with at least 10 home runs through the opening month of the season. The sophomore's prowess as a home run threat has granted her 19 walks drawn this season; a mark that places her atop the conference and tied for 19th in the nation. The second-year Aggie is on pace (61.63) to shatter her own mark of 43 RBIs that led last year's squad. However, Spearman is far from alone in an Aggie lineup that has been daunting for opposing pitchers in 2025. 
 
The team ranks 40^th in the nation with a slugging percentage of .521, while ranking second in CUSA with a .322 batting average. The unit leads the league and ranks within the top 25 nationally in both hits (226) and home runs (30), with more than half of its base knocks (115) courtesy of seven incoming transfers. 
 
Five Aggies rank among the conference's top 25 in hits, due in large part to two newcomers; Kristiana Watson (31) and Faith Aragon (29). The former is one off of the CUSA lead with nine doubles while sitting tied with Desirae Spearman atop the league leaderboard at 29 RBIs each. Watson, having appeared in all 25 games thus far, is on track to tally 60.32 RBIs during the regular season.
 
ARA-GONE TO ANOTHER LEVEL
Faith Aragon was named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team last year after leading UTEP with 132.0 innings pitched and 86 strikeouts. This past summer, Faith headlined a trio of Aragons that took the 41-mile trip north from El Paso to join Head Coach Kathy Rodolph and the Crimson & White. With the sophomore still consistently pitching, both she and cousin Johnna Aragon have made noise in the Aggie batting lineup.
 
Faith has been the leadoff batter in 21 of 25 games this season, including 14 of the past 15 outings. The 5-foot-2 two-way standout has proven herself both in the circle and at the plate, ranking third on the team in both hits (29) and runs (19) while her 11 walks drawn put her second. Six doubles and her first career home run have punctuated a campaign in which she has already tallied six RBIs, 38 total bases and an OPS of .884.
 
Johnna Aragon jolted into the lineup as a pinch hitter, but launched her first collegiate home run in just the eighth at-bat of her Aggie career. The blast came in the first inning against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Feb. 15, less than three hours after Faith belted her first-ever deep ball in the day's opener. Johnna, the sister of former four-year Aggie Gabby Aragon, has now made nine appearances in the starting lineup, including the final four games of the Longhorn Invitational earlier this month. Her 12 hits and five walks drawn have produced 11 RBIs on a .375 batting average and an OPS of .916.
 
Last season, the duo combined to see a total of just five at-bats with UTEP as the team collectively batted .283.
 
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 Bennett, 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 and the NCAA single-season leader in RBIs with 128.
 
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. Entering her 22^nd season at the helm, the legendary head coach had 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 on both occasions. 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.
 
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
New Mexico is under the direction of Nicole Dickson, who holds a record of 49-80 in her three years with the program. Last season, Dickson led the Lobos to a 16-38 mark, finishing 8-14 in Mountain West play.
 
The 2025 squad is out to a 14-11-1 start, finding themselves on a six-game winning streak. Their one tie came against St. John's in Houston due to a travel cut-off time. Last weekend, UNM went 4-0 at the Purple Classic in Phoenix, picking up wins over San Diego, Penn and Saint Joseph's.
 
On the field, the Lobos are led by Allie Williams, who leads the team with a .381 batting average and 39 total bases. The pitching staff revolves around McKenna Guest, who paces the squad in innings pitched (68.0) and ERA (2.27). The sophomore has racked up nine of the Lobos' 14 wins this season while tallying only four losses.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Aggies and Lobos have met 161 times in history, making the Battle of I-25 the Crimson & White's most storied rivalry. NM State trails 74-87 in the series, but owns a 45-31 advantage in Las Cruces. Since Kathy Rodolph's arrival in Las Cruces, she has amassed 34 wins to 21 losses. In the previous 22 matchups – dating back to April 29, 2014 – NM State holds a 19-3 record and has won the last three. 
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
The Battle of I-25 had three installments in 2024, starting with a doubleheader on March 26. NM State took both contests by a combined score of 17-5, including a run-rule victory in the opener. Both Devin Elam and Jillian Taylor posted five-RBI games as the home team swept the two-game stint. 
 
On April 16, the two sides met again up north as UNM played host. The Lobos put up more of a fight, but NM State prevailed by a score of 4-3. Each squad scored three runs across the final two innings, with the deciding run coming off a two-RBI double in the final frame that scored both Desirae Spearman and Taylor.
 
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).