BASEBALL UPDATE: Today's game has been rained out and will be made up tomorrow (Saturday) as part of a doubleheader with the first pitch scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (MDT).

The Aggie baseball and softball teams are back in action this weekend in WAC play. The No. 23 ranked Aggie baseball team is in Sacramento for four games, the first three count towards the conference standings while the fourth is a standalone non-conference affair. "It was a way for us to pick up another game to help fill out our schedule," said Coach Ward when he explained the non-conference game against Sacramento. "It was purely a financial thing. We're already there, we've already spent the money to get there and we can stay over one more night and play an extra game to give us a full schedule."

It's actually not the first time the Aggies have faced a conference opponent in a non-conference game during the season. The Aggies did it back in 2008 facing Fresno State in the Bulldogs' home tournament, a meeting which the Aggies won.

Sacramento State was the surprise of the opening weekend in league. Picked to finish seventh by the coaches, the Hornets went to Ruston and won the series 2-1 winning the final two games of the series. The first game of that series the Hornets led 3-0 and 5-2 before giving up a five-run inning and falling 7-5. The Hornets defeated their in-state rival UC-Davis 11-4 earlier this week.

The Aggies won't be the first Top 25 team that Sacramento State has faced this season. The Hornets played three against then No. 24 UCLA losing all three but keeping it close the Bruins in the first two games losing 5-2 and 6-2.

Clearly the Hornets are feeling good about themselves and rightly so. The Aggies will need to play at or near the top of their games this weekend to win the series. The Aggies need to get better production out of their starters this weekend than they did against Nevada. It's a bit of a bounce back weekend for the Aggie starting pitching in that regard.

The Aggie softball team hosts Nevada in a crucial three game series. The Aggies are fighting for their postseason lives but enter tonight's game with a bit of renewed confidence after breaking out of a bit of an offensive funk in a 9-1 run-rule victory over the Lobos on Tuesday night. The Aggies put together an eight run inning in which 13 Aggie batters stepped to the plate and every single Aggie either recorded a hit or came around to score.

The Wolf Pack are coming off a two-game split with UTEP yesterday and are 14-27 on the season but 4-5 in league play with their four wins coming against Fresno State (1), Utah State (2) and San Jose State (1). Nevada defeated San Jose State 1-0 but lost the other two games in run-rule fashion, 11-2 and 10-0.

Nevada sophomore pitcher Karlyn Jones appears to be pitching the best for the Wolf Pack right now. She's 6-4 this season in 24 appearances with six starts. Jones has been the Wolf Pack's best pitcher of late picking up three wins in the past couple of weeks including the 1-0 victory over San Jose State and yesterday's 9-2 win over UTEP in the nightcap. The Aggies will likely face Jones tomorrow and senior Mallary Darby tonight. Darby is 6-12 on the season with 24 appearances and 20 starts and has a team leading 3.34 ERA.

Today's game is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. first pitch. Tonight's game will be broadcast on KSNM AM 570 with streaming audio available via Aggie Access.

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The Aggie softball team got their groove back last night crushing the Lobos 9-1 in a mercy-rule shortened five inning game. The Aggies got on the board first in the top of the first inning, UNM tied the game in the bottom of the second with a solo home run and then the Aggies sent 13 batters to the plate in the top of the third as the offensive floodgates opened and the team scored eight runs.

The nine total runs last night was one more than the Aggies had scored in the past six games, part of that due to the quality of pitching they faced (versus Hawai'i) but also part of that just due to the adjustments the Aggies were trying to make to offset the loss of Tehani Kaaihue and Kristi Covarrubia.

It was a collective effort offensively as six different Aggies recorded RBIs and eight different Aggies came around to score. Freshman pitcher Karysta Donisthorpe allowed just one run and struck out three but perhaps more importantly she allowed just one walk in the game. In the Aggies' three game series loss against Louisiana Tech the pitching staff allowed a dozen walks.

The Aggies now turn their attention to this weekend's important series versus Nevada. The win last night could be the catalyst for a big weekend by the Aggies, one that could propel them back into the mix for a spot in the WAC tournament.

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The Aggie softball team is headed to Albuquerque today to try to sweep the season series from the Lobos and more importantly end a ten game skid. The Aggies have run into injuries, sickness and had a general reshuffling of the deck so to speak because of the two.

The thing about the Aggie softball team's losing streak is that they haven't necessarily been playing badly, they were competitive against Arizona in the loss (and really should have won that game), they suffered two last-at bat losses against BYU, had two competitive games with Hawai'i (the best team in the league and one of the best in the country) and played three competitive games against Louisiana Tech.

The injury situation in the middle infield has been the hardest on the Aggies because it has forced them to play players out of position. Teresa Conrad has moved back to shortstop (after playing first base and doing quite well there) last season. Shaleese Javillo is now playing second base and according to Coach Rodolph had not fielded ground balls in competition since high school (she is a senior who was primarily a pinch runner), Celisha Walker has played in the infield and this past weekend the Aggies' standout sophomore outfielder Valerie Swedberg was behind the plate catching. Right now the Aggies are trying to hold the ship together with duct tape and bubble gum while they try to figure out the best combination of offense/defense to put on the field.

This is a big, big week for the softball team. At 0-9 they are very much in danger of not qualifying for the WAC tournament which will be hosted in Las Cruces this year. The Aggies host Nevada this week and the Wolf Pack currently sit at 4-5 in WAC play and in the coveted 6th place spot (only six of the eight teams qualify for the WAC tournament). The Aggies are two games behind Utah State.

The Wolf Pack still have series versus Hawai'i, BYU and at Lousiana Tech while Utah State still faces BYU in Provo and hosts Hawai'i.

The Aggies have quite a bit of work to do but winning the series this weekend against Nevada would go a long way to getting back in the hunt for a spot in the WAC tourney.

Tonight's game against in-state New Mexico is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. (MDT) first pitch. The game can be heard on KSNM AM 570 (at 6:00 p.m., tape delayed) with Kyle Doperalski calling the action. Live Stats will be available via the UNM athletic website.

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The Aggie baseball team opened conference play with a 2-1 series victory over rival Nevada thanks to an amazing comeback over the final three innings. The Aggies fell behind 5-0 and then 6-1 after six and a half innings but made up those five runs over the final nine outs. The Aggies scored three in the bottom of the seventh and then three in the bottom of a wild ninth inning that saw the Aggies win on a walk-off throwing error.

This was a game that afterwards you really felt like the Aggies stole. Unlike the Thursday game in which the Aggies lost but had plenty of opportunities to pull of a come-from-behind victory, the Aggies had a runner in scoring position just twice through the first five innings. Meanwhile, the Aggies were lucky to only be down 5-0 because the Wolf Pack stranded 10 base runners through those first six innings. Nevada led nearly wire-to-wire in the Saturday game. The first Aggie lead came when Ethan Chavez crossed the plate for the game winning run.

Just like the Aggies' doubleheader sweep over Kent State (the games that started the 14-game win streak) were defining moments of the season, just like the wins at Arizona, New Mexico and Texas Tech were defining moments of the season so too was this win over Nevada. With only 18 games deciding the regular season champion every single game won or lost is magnified that much more. We stated last week that we believe that 14-4 will win the regular season title and losing two games on the first weekend puts a ton of pressure on any team over the remaining 15 games.

The Aggies' conference opponent this week is Sacramento State who went into Ruston and pulled off a somewhat surprising 2-1 series victory over the Bulldogs. The Aggies have historically played well in Sacramento but Sac St. has to be feeling good about themselves after their trip to Ruston and it should be a very interesting series.

Friday is officially bounce back day for Aggie baseball and softball. The softball team is looking to get off the mat as they take on the Lady Techsters in Ruston, LA this weekend. The Aggies are off to an 0-6 start in conference play and can't afford to fall too much further behind. Louisiana and Utah State both have two wins in league while Nevada, BYU and San Jose State each have three wins. A series victory, whether that's two or three wins, would put the Aggies back into the middle of the WAC pack with the easier half of the schedule remaining.

The Aggies have had a four close losses against both BYU and Hawai'i in the past two weekends and really seem due to break out. The Aggies have had to shuffle players around defensively and offensively with the injuries and sickness that has struck the team in the past three weeks but it has appeared that the Aggies are starting to settle in with those adjustments.

Coach Rodolph noted in this week's interview that she and Coach Heifner have really challenged the upperclassmen to step up into a leadership role for the team while the talented freshmen get their feet under them.

The Aggies take on the Techsters today at 5:00 p.m. (MDT). Live Stats will be available via the Louisiana Tech athletic website.

The Aggie baseball team is also back in action today as they look to bounce back from a 10-5 loss to Nevada in yesterday's conference opener. The Aggies did not play particularly well yesterday as Ryan Beck struggled a bit with his command. Even though he struck out seven and walked just four batters, the freebies were costly, particularly in the top of the sixth when he gave up a walk and the hit batsmen and both came around to score in the inning giving the Wolf Pack a 6-3 lead.

The Aggie offense had their chances in the game. The Aggies put the leadoff runner on base in eight of the nine innings and loaded the bases in the seventh and eighth innings but only scored single runs in each and the eighth inning was particularly disappointing for the Aggies they had loaded the bases with just one out and had their two leading RBI men in Zach Voight and Zac Fisher strike out to end the threat.

The only other WAC series to get underway yesterday also had a bit of an eyebrow-raising result as Hawai'i defeated Fresno State 8-2 in Honolulu. It was close most of the game until Hawai'i exploded for a five-run seventh inning to pull away.

The Aggies and Wolf Pack return to action today at 6:05 p.m. (MDT) as the Aggies look to start a new win streak. The game will be broadcast on KSNM AM 570 and can also be heard online on Aggie Access (subscription required).

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The New Mexico State baseball team kicks off WAC play today as they host Nevada. The WAC has gone back to three game conference series this season meaning there will only be 18 conference games. That makes the margin for error very slim and one bad series can knock you out of contention. The Aggies are 23-8, have the best record in the league heading into WAC play and also have the highest RPI heading into WAC play. The WAC has historically been a one-bid league and that makes it that much more important that the Aggies continue to add to an already impressive resume with a top two finish in league play. The top two finishers in the WAC earn first-round byes and given the Aggies' stockpile of pitching that would be a major advantage for the Aggies.

As we noted yesterday, the Wolf Pack come into Las Cruces fairly hot having won six of eight. The Pack will send RHP-Bradey Shipley, LHP-Tyler Wells and RHP-Tom Jameson to the mound to face LHP-Ryan Beck, RHP-Michael Ormseth and RHP-Casey Collins. It should be a fantastic matchup of good pitchers.

The Wolf Pack average just over five runs per game and have allowed 4.74 runs per game. This is one of those series that could either see a lot of fireworks or could see runs at a premium, particularly given the solid pitching staffs on both sides.

The biggest key for the Aggies will be to continue to play clean defensively. If they do that, then the combination of that plus their pitching and offense should carry them to a series victory.

Today's game is scheduled for a 6:05 p.m. (MDT) first pitch and can be heard on KSNM AM 570 as well as streaming online via Aggie Access (subscription required).

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The Aggie baseball team kept the win streak alive last night defeating in-state rival New Mexico 7-5 in a game that the Aggies controlled throughout. It got interesting in the eighth inning when the Lobos loaded the bases with nobody out and cut the Aggies' lead to 6-4 but preseason All-American closer Scott Coffman showed why he was tabbed with that honor. Coffman came in and retired the next three batters allowing just one more run to score on a sacrifice fly (at that point the Aggies would gladly trade an out for a run).

The Aggies were able to get an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth and Coffman came back in the ninth and worked an easy 1-2-3 inning getting a couple of pop up outs and then a line out to center field.

The Aggies return to action tomorrow as they open up conference play. It'll be an interesting and competitive series as the Wolf Pack are also a hot team coming in to Las Cruces. While the Aggies were busy beating the Lobos last night the Wolf Pack was busy taking it to the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Pack won 7-3 in the exhibition which was played in spring training format and lasted seven and a half innings. The one thing to note is the Aces sent pitchers to the mound for both sides so Nevada did not use any pitching last night.

As for the Aggies, we really feel that despite the current 14-game winning streak that the Aggies have yet to play their best baseball and that bodes well for the future.

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The Aggie baseball team is riding a 13-game winning streak and has broken into the national rankings this week. The Aggies are ranked 20th by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Aggies are back in action tomorrow after a week off and they'll be taking on in-state rival New Mexico in the third game of the season-long four game series. The Aggies have won the first two games between the two clubs. The Lobos are coming off a 2-1 series victory over Fresno State in Fresno.

On Thursday the Aggies open up conference play and with Nevada. This year the WAC has gone to a three-game conference series and with just seven teams in the league, the title will be decided with just an 18-game schedule. That leaves very little margin for error in trying to win the regular season title. The winner of the league will in all likelihood win all six series that they play and we'd venture a guess that the league winner will have no more than four losses. That means sweeping at least two of the series and perhaps even more importantly, protecting home field. The Aggies' conference schedule is favorable in that they host Nevada, Fresno State and Louisiana Tech while traveling to San Jose State, Sacramento State and Hawai'i. The Aggies have had success at all three of those road venues.

The Aggies also head into WAC play with an RPI of 15 and while the rest of the league does not have a particularly stellar RPI (though Nevada and Hawai'i are both inside the Top 100) we don't think the Aggies' RPI will take as big a hit as one might think. Since the WAC will only play an 18-game schedule which means there are fewer opportunities for the Aggies' RPI to take a hit. The Aggies also have two games against Baylor who currently has an RPI of 10 plus another game against Texas Tech (RPI 88) and as long as New Mexico continues to do well in Mountain West play, the Aggies' wins over them will continue to help bolster the Aggies' RPI as well as the Aggies' two wins over Arizona and their RPI of 6.

With all that being said, the best thing the Aggies can do is just continue to win.

The Aggie softball team faces a critical road WAC series this weekend as they travel to Louisiana Tech. The Aggies lost all three games against No. 16/18 Hawai'i this past weekend and now sit at 0-6 in WAC play. The Aggies sit two games behind Louisiana Tech and Utah State in the win column and only the top six teams make the WAC tournament. The Aggies could pass Louisiana Tech with a sweep and could even pass Utah State who plays Fresno State this weekend.

The Aggies need to pick up at least two wins to feel comfortable heading into the final four series of the WAC season. The Aggies can ill afford to start conference play 1-8 or 0-9. It would make the Aggies' task very difficult, however, not impossible.

In 2010 the Aggies got off to exactly the same start they have this season and in almost identical fashion. The Aggies opened on the road at the league newcomer (Boise State) and lost all three, then came home and lost all three to Hawai'i before going to Louisiana Tech and winning one of three. The Aggies would eventually start 2-10 in WAC play and were forced to win five of their final six to squeak into the WAC tournament which they were hosting (just like this year).

Suffice to say that the Aggies would really like to avoid that scenario again this year and winning at least two games this weekend would really help avoid that situation.

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The Aggie softball team hosts No. 16/18 Hawai'i this weekend as the Aggies try to bounce back from an 0-3 start to conference play. Aggie play-by-play man Kyle Doperalski also points out that the Aggies have a chance to beat a Top 25 team for the third consecutive week, something not many Aggie teams in any sport can claim.

The Aggies have been battling the injury and sickness bug for the past several weeks and it has taken its toll on the team. The Aggies have lost both middle infielders, Tehani Kaaihue and Kristi Covarrubia, to ACL injuries and eight of the 22 players on the team have been battling mono.

For the Aggies to win the series this weekend they'll need to get strong pitching performances from both Karysta Donisthorpe and Alex Newman. Donisthorpe continues to improve week after week and she'll get a stiff challenge from the Hawai'i offense. Last weekend BYU's Delaney Willard really hurt the Aggies in the cleanup spot for the Cougars and the Wahine have a similarly dangerous hitter in Jessica Iwata who is 6th in the league in batting average. Iwata is second in the league in RBIs. Fellow UH batter Kelly Majam is tied for first in the league in runs scored.

For the Aggies they'll have the difficult task of figuring out the puzzle that is the Hawai'i pitching staff. Kaia Parnaby and Stephanie Ricketts have the two best ERAs in the league at 0.68 and 0.88 respectively. Aggie head coach Kathy Rodolph says the Aggies will need to be aggressive early in the count against both of these pitchers in order to be successful.

Today's game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. (MT) first pitch and the game will be televised on ESPNU but is tape delayed for an 8:00 p.m. (MT) broadcast.

The New Mexico State equestrian team picked up some national recognition as they had four riders earn All-American honors. Four riders were named to the All-American Honorable Mention team -- Stephanie Gershon and Ruby Jenkins in Equitation on the Flat and Amy Lang and Emily McConnell in Equitation over Fences. Congratulations to those four Aggie student-athletes.

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The Aggie baseball team notched their 13th consecutive victory yesterday rallying from a 6-5 deficit in the top of the ninth against Texas Tech to win 7-6. The Aggies trailed in the game 2-1, 4-2 and 6-5 but each time they fell behind they were able to answer. It was an interesting day on the mound for the Aggies as well. Aggie ace Ryan Beck didn't have dominating stuff by any means. He came into the game having walked just 10 batters in just over 40 innings pitched but gave up six walks in 5.1 innings, hit a batter, gave up a home run and allowed six earned runs. However, Beck also had seven strikeouts. He also had a wild pitch but that led to a Red Raider runner being thrown out at home plate. Trey Ross, Robert Kraft, Tyler Mack and Scott Coffman were all outstanding in their outings.

Ross came in with the bases loaded and one out, got a fielder's choice that allowed the Aggies to force out the runner at the plate and then got a line out to the third baseman to keep Texas Tech from scoring. Freshman Robert Kraft came in with the bases loaded and one out and got a strikeout and was replaced by Tyler Mack who came in with the bases loaded and two out and got a strikeout. Mack then pitched the next inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced and Scott Coffman was dominating striking out the side on 12 pitches and all three batters struck out swinging at Coffman's slider.

It was a significant win for the Aggies because it sets a new consecutive wins record at 13 and it improves the Aggies to 5-0 this season against their regional rivals, UNM (2-0), Arizona (2-0) and Texas Tech (1-0) and the Aggies still have two more against UNM and Texas Tech visits Las Cruces later in the season as well.

This Aggie ball club has the same feeling about it that last year's Aggie softball team had when they made their run through the WAC and WAC tournament. You just get the feeling that if the game is close heading into the final innings, the Aggies are going to find a way to win and much like the softball team last year, the Aggies can hurt you in the top of the lineup, in the middle of the lineup and at the bottom of the lineup (but of course it never hurts to have the top of the lineup coming up in the ninth when you're trailing).

The Aggies now have a weekend off and it probably couldn't come at a better time for the team. It's been a pretty grueling first half of the season. The Aggies have played an average five games per week since opening the season and this will provide a nice break before the Aggie jump into conference play next week (they also play New Mexico next Tuesday).

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