LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Coming off an extended road trip that included a win over No. 14 Texas A&M, NM State returns home to Presley Askew Field to host Portland in a three-game weekend series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. with Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
All three games will be available to listen to via radio as each game will air on KRUX 91.5 FM. Friday's game will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Aggies and Pilots with the Aggies holding a 4-1 record, including a 3-1 record at home against Portland. This will also mark the Aggies' final non-conference weekend series before the start of CUSA play as they are set to travel to Lynchburg, Va., for a three-game showdown against Liberty next weekend.
 
SERIES INFO
NM State (8-9, 0-0 CUSA) vs. Portland (5-12, 0-0 WCC)
Presley Askew Field
Las Cruces, N.M.
 
Friday, March 14 – 6 p.m.
Tickets: Purchase Online or call 575-646-1420
Radio: KRUX 91.5 FM
Stats: StatBroadcast
Promos: Tiny Pete Giveaway / Teacher Appreciation
 
Saturday, March 15 – 4 p.m.
Tickets: Purchase Online or call 575-646-1420
Radio: KRUX 91.5 FM
Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Sunday, March 16 – 11 a.m.
Tickets: Purchase Online or call 575-646-1420
Radio: KRUX 91.5 FM
Stats: StatBroadcast
Promos: St. Patrick's Day Drawings / Bark in the Park
 
LAST TIME OUT
NM State traveled to Beaumont, Texas, for a two-game midweek series against Lamar. On Tuesday, Aggie pitching matched its season high in strikeouts with 10, including six from freshman right-hander Jaden Davis, however, despite a three-hit effort from Steve Solorzano, the Aggies were unable to dig out of an 8-0 hole after just two innings of action and ultimately fell 11-5.
 
A back-and-forth Wednesday affair fell in favor of the Cardinals as the home side secured a 5-4 victory in 10 innings to mark the Aggies' first extra-inning loss of the season. In the Wednesday loss, Mitch Namie recorded his team high sixth double of the season while starter Connor Wylde tossed 5.0 innings to equal his career high.
 
STELLAR STEVE      
During the Aggies' five-game road stretch, sophomore first baseman Steve Solorzano served as the squad's top offensive threat as he paced the team in hits (6), average (.353), RBIs (11) and extra-base hits (3) against Texas A&M and Lamar.
 
On the year, Solorzano has been the Aggie that has been the most consistent in his ability to get on base. Entering Friday, he is maintaining a .533 on-base percentage which ranks first among all hitters in Conference USA.
 
THREE-BAGGER AGGIES   
On Tuesday, outfielder Joey Craig notched the first triple of his collegiate career while marking the Aggies' eighth triple of the season. With this amount, the Aggies currently rank 11th in the nation in total triples. However, this is just third in the conference as Sam Houston has nine and Jax State has 12 to rank second in the country.
 
WHAT CAN KAUFMAN DO FOR YOU?     
When called upon this season, Camden Kaufman has delivered. Thus far, Kaufman has four sacrifice flies which ranks seventh in the nation through four-plus weeks of action. During the Aggies' most recent road trip, Kaufman logged a sac fly against Texas A&M on Sunday, March 9, before tallying another on Tuesday, March 11, against Lamar.
 
AGGIES > AGGIES    
Last Sunday, NM State claimed a 4-1 victory over No. 14 Texas A&M to secure the program's first win over an opponent ranked in the top-25 of the NCAA's primary ranking system since 2012 when they knocked off No. 5 Arizona.
 
The win was also the Aggies' first win over Texas A&M in nine tries and represented NM State's second win over a team in the SEC at the time of the contest. Interestingly, the Aggies' first-ever win over an SEC opponent also came on March 9, when they defeated Alabama 3-0 in 2018.
 
TRENDING UP         
After finishing No. 297 in RPI in 2023, the Aggies jumped to No. 138 at the conclusion of the 2024 season to mark the largest RPI increase in the nation.
 
SAY HIS NAMIE                   
Entering the 2024 campaign, returner Mitch Namie was slated to be one of the Aggies' key contributors once again after appearing in 50 of the Aggies' 54 games and making 49 starts during his sophomore season. The Mesa, Ariz., serves as the leading returner in batting average (.333), at-bats (183), runs (50), hits (61), doubles (13), triples (2), home runs (5), RBIs (35) and walks (31).
 
Through the Aggies' first 17 games, Namie's offensive power has been on full display as he has recorded a hit in all but one game this season, including posting a hit in each of the Aggies' first 15 games.
 
FRESHMAN ARMS   
The Aggies have leaned on their young arms this season and with an appearance from Chris Daniels on Tuesday, all eight of the Aggies' freshmen pitchers have now appeared in at least one game this season.
 
In total, the Aggie freshmen, which make up nine of the team's 19 pitchers, have combined to throw 51.0 innings and have given up just 37 earned runs while combining for 45 strikeouts.
 
SHEEHAN O'CONNOR NAMED CUSA PLAYER OF THE WEEK 
On Monday, Feb. 17, it was announced that standout second baseman Sheehan O'Connor earned Conference USA Hitter of the Week honors after an impressive trio of games to open the season.
 
Following a two-hit performance on Sunday, O'Connor ended the weekend with a .583 batting average, three home runs, eight RBIs and a pair of doubles to help guide the Aggies to a pair of wins and earn the season's first hitter of the week honor, which is announced every Monday.
 
YEAR TWO               
NM State is amid its second season under Head Coach Jake Angier and looks to continue to make strides after increasing its win total by 11 games and posting the highest number of wins since 2019.
 
In year one under Angier, the Aggies landed three on the all-conference awards list as Keith Jones II earned first team All-CUSA honors, Titus Dumitru earned second team honors and Steve Solorzano secured all-freshman team honors.
 
Angier was previously at the University of Oregon where he operated as the pitching coach for the 2020-2023 seasons. Before Oregon, Angier was at Sacramento State from 2014-2019. Angier was named by Baseball America as one of the 50 names to watch in the 2023 coaching cycle. Currently, Angier is the second shortest-tenured head coach in the league as only Liberty's Bradley LeCroy, who is in his first season, has been in his current assignment for less time.
 
PRESEASON DOUBT           
On Jan. 30, Conference USA released is preseason poll and preseason award recipients and, notably, no Aggies were included on the preseason all-conference team while NM State landed in a tie for eighth place as a team on the 2025 CUSA Preseason Poll which is based on a vote of the league's 10 head coaches.
 
However, the Aggies did receive one first-place vote in the preseason poll as Head Coach Jake Angier has publicly backed his team and made known that he was the lone coach to not cast his first-place vote for preseason favorite Dallas Baptist.
 
BIG SPIKES TO FILL
NM State entered the 2025 season with nearly two-thirds of its 2024 roster no longer in the picture. This year, NM State brings back just 12 players while 22 individuals have departed.
 
With a new-look roster comes opportunity as the Aggies will be looking to replace nearly all of its offensive and pitching production. With the departures, the Aggies lost over 70% of their runs (72.9%), hits (72.4%), home runs (86.1%), RBIs (78.2%), stolen bases (87.8%) and innings pitched (72.6%). NM State will also be without Keith Jones II, Romeo Ballesteros and Nick Gore who were the only three Aggies last season to start more than 50 games - starting 53, 53 and 52, respectively.
 
LOCAL PRODUCTS  
The 2025 NM State roster features four Aggies from the Land of Enchantment. This includes Kade Benavidez (Belen), Jaden Davis (Jemez Pueblo), Steve Solorzano (Las Cruces) and Hazen Wright (Carlsbad).
 
WELCOME ABOARD           
This offseason, NM State added Assistant Coach Camden Duzenack to its staff. Following an impressive playing career which included six seasons in the farm system for the Arizona Diamondbacks, he will assist primarily with the infield for the Aggies.
 
In college, Duzenack spent four seasons with CUSA foe Dallas Baptist where he recorded a career batting average of .291 and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American as a freshman in 2014. He was also named MVC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and garnered All-MVC honors three years in a row.
 
ONCE AN AGGIE...    
This season, Head Coach Jake Angier is supported by a pair of former Aggies on his staff as both Assistant Coach David Bellamy and Director of Pitching Analytics Aaron Treloar each spent time during their collegiate playing days at NM State.
 
Bellamy, a two-year letter winner at NM State, is amid his second season on Angier's staff. As a player, he was a standout outfielder for both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He batted .307 his senior year to help lead the Aggies to the Lubbock Regional before being named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First-Team and Academic All-WAC First-Team. Bellamy now serves as the Aggies' hitting coach and is tasked with calling the offensive plays.
 
Meanwhile, Treloar is in his first season on staff after wrapping up his playing career just last season. Treloar ultimately spent his final two years with the Aggies and appeared in 35 games while totaling 42 strikeouts, including 26 in 2024.
 
EASTWARD EXPANSION   
This season, the Aggies will spend their fair share of time on the road as they are slated to play 27 games away from Presley Askew Field. Unlike American settlers, the Aggies will do most of their traveling to the east as their contests against Arizona will represent the only two times that the Aggies will travel west of Las Cruces.
 
During its season, NM State will rack up frequent flyer miles as seven of its 11 road trips will include games that require over 700 miles of travel. This includes three extra lengthy trips as its road trip to UNC Greensboro and Liberty (1,789 miles to UNCG), its trip to FIU (2,030 miles) and its trip to Kennesaw State (1,461 miles) all exceed 1,000 miles.
 
ON THE BASE PATHS         
This season, first year assistant, Camden Duzenack serves as the Aggies' first-base coach. Meanwhile, Dillon Leveille, who is in his second season on staff, is the Aggies' third-base coach.
 
SCOUTING THE PILOTS     
NM State's weekend opponent will enter the week with a 5-12 overall record and are heading to Las Cruces riding a six-game losing streak. However, Portland's losing streak includes five games against power opponents as they had a three-game series against No. 3 Arkansas that was sandwiched by a pair of games against Washington.
 
As a team, the Cardinals are hitting just .242, which ranks near the bottom of Division I teams this season. Offensively, they are led by junior infielder Brady Bean who enters the weekend with 25 hits, which is more than double than any other Portland batter.
 
In the dugout, the Pilots are guided by Geoff Loomis who is in his 10th year at the helm of the Portland program. In total, Loomis has 541 victories at the NCAA level, including 216 with the Pilots.
 
UP NEXT       
Following the weekend series against Portland, NM State will hit the road for another five-game stretch in which they will begin league play. On Wednesday, the Aggies will take on UNC Greensboro before traveling to Lynchburg, Va., for a three-game series against CUSA foe Liberty beginning on Friday.
 
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