LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Coming off a tough Tuesday loss to its in-state rival, NM State will have a quick turnaround as they prepare for a Conference USA home series against Jacksonville State. Both sides will be looking to right the ship this weekend as NM State enters the series on a three-game losing streak, while Jax State comes to Las Cruces following its fifth straight loss after falling to No. 8 Auburn on Tuesday.
 
Thursday's series opener will represent just the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs after meeting for the first time just last season when the squads collided in Jacksonville, Ala., as CUSA foes. Currently, the Aggies are a perfect 3-0 against the Gamecocks and have outscored Jax State by a combined score of 39-13.
 
SERIES INFO
NM State (18-19, 6-6 CUSA) vs. Jacksonville State (21-16, 5-7 CUSA)
Presley Askew Field
Las Cruces, N.M.
 
Thursday, April 17 – 6 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets
 
Friday, April 18 – 4 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets
 
Saturday, April 19 – 11 a.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets
 
FRIDAY ACE     
Last Friday, starter Jack Turner produced one of the deepest outings by an Aggie pitcher in quite some time when he tossed 8.0 innings on his way to picking up the win against FIU. This marked the longest outing of any Aggie pitcher since March 13, 2022, when Ian Mejia also threw 8.0 innings.
 
PATIENCE AT THE PLATE        
In Tuesday's loss, NM State hitters tallied 11 walks to mark the second time this season that the Aggies earned 11 free passes after also doing so against Dallas Baptist on March 29.
 
Bryce Campbell has exhibited this patience especially in conference play as he has earned 12 walks against CUSA pitchers to rank tied for second in the league.
 
TURN TWO       
With 37 games down, the Aggie infield has been the best team in the nation at turning double plays. With another double play against New Mexico on Tuesday, NM State now has 40 double plays on the season, which ranks first in the country.
 
This year, the Aggies have tallied multiple double plays in 12 games, including recording three double plays in five different contests.
 
LEADOFF LEADER        
Aggie leadoff hitter Brandon Forrester has been exceptional at the top of the order this season and has maintained his strong season into conference play. In league play, Forrester ranks seventh in total hits (19), seventh in batting average (.386), fifth in on base percentage (.491), fourth in runs scored (14) and fifth in stolen bases (6).
 
WHEN YOU'RE WRIGHT, YOU'RE RIGHT        
This season, true freshman Hazen Wright has proved to be one of the Aggies' top relievers and once again looked mature beyond his age last week. The right-hander from Carlsbad, N.M., has now appeared in 10 games this season and has allowed an earned run in just two games, including surrendering only one earned run across his last 9.1 innings, which include appearances against No. 17 Dallas Baptist and No. 25 Arizona. In total, Wright has pitched 14.1 innings, allowed five earned runs and tallied 19 strikeouts.
 
JOEY BOMBS   
In the three-game series against FIU, redshirt junior outfielder Joey Craig smashed two home runs to bring his season total to six, which ranks second on the year behind only Sheehan O'Connor. Craig also now has three home runs in league play, which ranks tied for fourth among CUSA hitters.
 
LIVE FROM LAS CRUCES            
This weekend's games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with play-by-play provided by Adam Young, who will be alongside Trey Gonsalez, who will handle the analysis for the series.
 
SOMETHING ABOUT SUNDAYS              
Despite a loss on Sunday at FIU, NM State has been dominant in Sunday games and currently boasts a 7-2 record on Sundays, including stacking wins over two ranked programs in No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 17 Dallas Baptist.
 
LIMITING THE DAMAGE            
On Tuesday, NM State once again fell victim to a big inning from its opponent as New Mexico posted six runs in the first inning on its way to defeating the Aggies 12-10. This season, big innings from their opponents have been one of the primary contributing factors to the Aggies' losses. Thus far, NM State is 16-5 when it doesn't allow its opponent to score four or more runs in a single inning. On the contrary, the Aggies are just 2-14 when their opponent produces four or more runs in a single frame.
 
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 37 games, Namie's offensive power has been on full display as he has recorded a hit in all but three games this season, including posting a hit in each of the Aggies' first 15 games. Additionally, Namie is the only Aggie to appear in the starting lineup in every game this season and is riding a 10-game hitting streak.
 
Currently, the outfielder paces the Aggies in hits (52), RBIs (29) and his 13 doubles rank first on the team and tied for second among CUSA hitters.
 
BEATING THE BEST    
With the Aggies' win over No. 17 DBU on March 30, NM State now has two wins over ranked opponents this season, which marks just the fifth time in program history that NM State has notched multiple ranked wins in a single season. Prior to this season, the Aggies had only accomplished this in 2012, 1999, 1997 and 1996.
 
TRIPLE PLAY ALERT  
On March 23 against Liberty, the Aggies accomplished something they hadn't done in over 10 years. A ground ball hit to Brandon Forrester ultimately turned into the program's first triple play since April 29, 2014, when the Aggies recorded a triple play on the road against Arizona State. NM State is one of just three Division I teams to pull off a triple play this season, joined by UIC and Stetson.
 
STELLAR STEVE             
Two-way player Steve Solorzano turned in one of the most impressive individual performances of the season in the Aggies' win over Liberty on March 23. At the plate, the Las Cruces native finished with two hits and drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning. In addition, the right-hander who started at first base moved over to the mound, where he ultimately earned the win after tossing three scoreless innings to close out the game.
 
Entering Tuesday, Solorzano paces the Aggies in batting average (.360), slugging percentage (.605) and on-base percentage (.503) while ranking among the conference's best in batting average (6th), on-base percentage (2nd) and slugging percentage (9th).
 
CRAIG NAMED CUSA HITTER OF THE WEEK                 
After a stellar weekend in which he played a pivotal role in the Aggies' series win on the road against Liberty, outfielder Joey Craig was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week. Over the three-game series, Craig batted .600 (6-10) and was tied for the team lead in RBIs with five, including a four-RBI performance on Saturday. He finished the weekend with a home run, one double and three walks to help support a .692 on-base percentage.
 
BRING OUT THE BULLPEN      
On April 12, the Aggie relievers that came into the game to record a combined 13 total strikeouts in just 5.2 innings of work. This marked the fourth time this season that the Aggie bullpen has accounted for 10 or more strikeouts in a single game, as it also tallied exactly 10 strikeouts against Lamar on March 11 and UNC Greensboro on March 19 before recording 13 strikeouts against UNM on April 1.
 
In the loss to the Lobos on April 1, the Aggies finished the game with 17 total strikeouts to mark the most strikeouts in a single game since March 11, 2022, when NM State tallied a program-record 20 strikeouts against Seattle U
 
FRESHMAN ARMS         
The Aggies have leaned on their young arms this season and all eight of the Aggies' freshmen pitchers have now appeared in at least four games this season.
 
In total, the Aggie freshmen, who make up eight of the team's 19 pitchers, have combined to throw 116.1 innings and have given up 89 earned runs to maintain a 6.89 ERA while combining for 106 strikeouts.
 
This has been bolstered by Matthew Yarc, who has tossed 29.2 innings and has 23 strikeouts. Yarc is one of five freshmen pitchers with 10 or more strikeouts as Hazen Wright (19), Dylan Weekly (17), Carson Timmons (16) and Jaden Davis (13) each have double-digit strikeouts this year.
 
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.
 
AGGIES > AGGIES          
On Sunday, March 9, 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.
 
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).
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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