LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State Softball is set for its first home series of CUSA play this season. On Friday, the Aggies will open a three-game set against Jacksonville State (19-7, 3-0). The Crimson & White (15-11, 2-1) have won six of their last eight, setting up a high-stakes clash with the Gamecocks who have won nine of 10. The Aggies are in search of their second-straight series victory to open league play, but must go through the squad that swept UTEP a week ago. 
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: Jacksonville State (19-7, 3-0 CUSA) at NM State (15-11, 2-1 CUSA)
Where: NM State Softball Complex – Las Cruces, N.M.
When: March 14-16 | Friday (6:00 PM MT) / Saturday (4:00 PM MT) / Sunday (11:00 AM MT)
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Statistics: nmstatestats.com
All-Time Record vs. Jax State: 2-2
Under Kathy Rodolph: 2-2
All-Time Record in Las Cruces: 1-0
Last Meeting: Jax State 5 @ NM State 6 (8 inn.) – May 8, 2024 [CUSA Championship]
Current Streak: NM State, 1 win (since May 8, 2024)
 
LAST TIME OUT
On Tuesday, NM State hosted New Mexico for 2025's only installment of the Battle of I-25. The visitors scored two in the opening frame, but failed to cross home in the final six innings. Kathy Rodolph's offense generated three runs in each of the first two innings, capped off by a three-RBI home run from Kristiana Watson. The blast put the Aggies ahead 6-2 before five scoreless innings wrapped up the game by the same margin.
 
Over the weekend, the Aggies trekked to LA Tech for their Conference USA opener. NM State took two of three games on the road, clinching a series win against the 2024 CUSA Coach of the Year in Josh Taylor. 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. 
 
HELLO OLD FRIEND… AGAIN
On Tuesday, Lauren Garcia was the starting designated player as she faced her former team. The first-year Aggie spent three seasons with New Mexico before transferring in the offseason. In the midweek affair, Garcia picked up a double to right field that scored the home team's first two runs of the night and tied the contest.
 
As the series against the Gamecocks draws closer, yet another Aggie emerges with extra motivation. Kenzie Nicholson began her collegiate career at Arizona State before transferring to Jax State for the 2024 season. In her only season with the program, Nicholson made 44 starts in 52 appearances. The sophomore picked up nine extra-base hits and 49 total bases while batting .286 and finishing a perfect six-for-six on stolen base attempts.
 
Against NM State, Nicholson tallied three runs, one hit, one RBI and set a career high with two stolen bases during the postseason tilt in Las Cruces. 
 
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 (52.2) while leading in strikeouts thrown (54) and ERA (2.66). In 11 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 .466 batting average, she paces the conference in home runs (10), total bases (71) and walks drawn (20). She is also second among all of CUSA in slugging percentage (.973), on-base percentage (.587), OPS (1.558) and runs scored (28). 
 
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 20 walks drawn this season; a mark that places her atop the conference and tied for 18^th in the nation. The second-year Aggie is on pace (59.16) 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 39^th in the nation with a slugging percentage of .519, while ranking third in CUSA with a .319 batting average. The unit leads the league and ranks within the top 25 nationally in both hits (231) and home runs (31), with more than half of its base knocks (118) courtesy of seven incoming transfers. 
 
Five Aggies rank among the conference's top 30 in hits, due in large part to two newcomers; Kristiana Watson (32) and Faith Aragon (30). The former is one off of the CUSA lead with nine doubles, while pacing the conference in RBIs at 32. Only two individuals have more home runs than the first-year Aggie this season (seven), including her teammate Desirae Spearman. Watson, having appeared in all 26 games thus far, is on track to tally 64.00 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 22 of 26 games this season, including 15 of the past 16 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 (30) and runs (21) while her 12 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, 39 total bases and an OPS of .892.
 
Johnna Aragon jolted into the lineup as a pinch hitter, but took just eight NM State at-bats to launch her first collegiate home run. 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 GAMECOCKS
Jax State is under the direction of Julie Boland, who holds a record of 19-7 in her first year as an NCAA head coach.
 
The 2025 squad is out to a 19-7-11-1 start, finding themselves on a six-game winning streak that has included three conference victories in as many tries. Last weekend, the Gamecocks hosted UTEP, sweeping the Miners by a combined score of 21-10.
 
On the field, the Gamecocks are led by Emma Elrod, who leads the team with a .387 batting average, seven home runs and 11 stolen bases. The pitching staff revolves around Kat Carter, who paces the squad in innings pitched (55.0) and ERA (1.40). The senior has racked up six of the team's 19 wins this season while tallying only two losses.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Aggies and Gamecocks have met four times in history, never facing off before last season as each side joined Conference USA. The programs each have a 2-2 record against one another, but NM State has the 1-0 edge in Las Cruces. 
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
Jax State hosted NM State in April for a regular-season series. In the first-ever meeting between the two sides, the hosts took two of three contests to earn a series win. Desirae Spearman notched three home runs on the weekend, including two in the Saturday win that saw Jaileen Mancha allow just one earned run in seven innings. 
 
On May 8, the two sides met again in Las Cruces for the first round of the Conference USA Championship. NM State led 3-0 before a five-run sixth inning swung the lead to the visitors. Desirae Spearman was one of two Aggies to hit solo home runs on the first two pitches of the seventh frame, extending the affair to extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Jillian Taylor belted another solo shot that handed Jax State a loss, propelling her side to the next round.
 
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).