RUSTON, La. – Conference USA play has arrived for NM State Softball. With 22 games in the books, the stakes are raised for the Aggies this weekend. A third straight road trip takes the squad to the Bayou State for a battle with Louisiana Tech to open league play. The Crimson & White roll in with a 12-10 record after picking up three wins last week in Austin at the Longhorn Invitational. The hosting Bulldogs are 11-9 thus far, most recently shutting out Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: NM State (12-10, 0-0 CUSA) at Louisiana Tech (11-9, 0-0 CUSA)
Where: Dr. Billy Bundrick Field – Ruston, La.
When: March 7-9 | Friday (5:00 PM CT) / Saturday (12:00 PM CT) / Sunday (11:00 AM CT)
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Statistics: nmstatestats.com
All-Time Record vs. LA Tech: 19-15
All-Time Record in Ruston: 4-9
Last Meeting: LA Tech 0 @ NM State 6 – April 28, 2024
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies spent a weekend in Austin, visiting the nation's top-ranked team at the Longhorn Invitational. NM State picked up two wins over Abilene Christian before wrapping up the weekend with a nine-inning triumph over Alabama A&M. The squad suffered a pair of losses; a one-run defeat in 10 innings to South Florida and a solid showing at No. 1 Texas, falling 5-2.
 
FEARIN' SPEARMAN
On 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 leads the team in innings pitched (44.1), strikeouts thrown (44) and ERA (2.84). In nine starts, the two-way star has amassed a 6-2 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 .475 batting average, she paces the conference in RBIs (29), home runs (10), slugging percentage (1.051), on-base percentage (.608), OPS (1.659), total bases (62), walks drawn (19) and runs scored (25). 
 
SUPER SLUGGERS
Spearman is 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 ninth in the nation. The second-year Aggie is on pace (70.43) 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 .528, while ranking third in CUSA with a .325 batting average. The unit leads the league and ranks within the top 25 nationally in both hits (200) and home runs (27), with exactly half of its base knocks (100) courtesy of seven incoming transfers. 
 
Four Aggies rank among the conference's top 20 in hits, due in large part to two newcomers; Kristiana Watson (29) and Faith Aragon (25). The former leads CUSA with nine doubles, putting her second in the league with 27 RBIs. Watson is only second in the metric to teammate Desirae Spearman and is on track to tally 63.82 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 19 of 22 games this season, including each of the past 14 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 (25) and runs (17) while her 11 walks drawn put her second. Four doubles her first career home run have punctuated a campaign in which she has already tallied six RBIs, 32 total bases and an OPS of .890.
 
Johnna Aragon jolted into the lineup as a pinch hitter, but launched her first collegiate home run in 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 last week's Longhorn Invitational. Her 10 hits and five walks drawn have produced 11 RBIs on a .345 batting average and an OPS of .877.
 
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 BULLDOGS
LA Tech is under the direction of Josh Taylor, who boasts a record of 114-75 in his four years with the program. Last season, Taylor led the Bulldogs to the third-best record in the conference at 13-11, earning CUSA Coach of the Year honors. 
 
The 2025 squad is out to an 11-9 start, highlighted by two upset wins over No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 17 Auburn. Allie Floyd took the win in both, holding each opponent to one run apiece.  On Tuesday, LA Tech shut out Stephen F. Austin at home by a score of 4-0.
 
On the field, the Bulldogs are led by Claire Raley, who holds a .403 batting average and 45 total bases. The pitching staff revolves around 2024 First Team All-CUSA selection Allie Floyd, who has tossed 53.7% of all innings (68.2 of 127.2). The junior paces the team in ERA (3.26) and has pitched 51.2 more innings than the next closest Bulldog.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Aggies and Bulldogs have met 34 times in history. NM State holds a 19-15 edge in the matchup, but LA Tech has the 9-4 advantage in Ruston. The two programs were each in the Sun Belt for the 2001 campaign before later sharing the WAC for eight seasons from 2006-13. Last year was the first the pair shared Conference USA as each team finished 13-11 in league play.
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
The Bulldogs came to the NM State Softball Complex for the Aggies' Senior Weekend in 2024. LA Tech prevailed in the first two meetings by scores of 11-7 and 5-4. Emily Dix got the starting nod in the circle on her Senior Day and nearly tossed a no-hitter. The Bulldogs were forced to wait until one out in the seventh inning before recording their first hit as the home team took the series finale by a score of 6-0. 
 
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).