It was a crazy day on the diamond yesterday for the Aggie baseball and softball teams. The baseball team lost to No. 4 Rice in a game that saw a pair of home runs, a double steal, a balk, a collision between the shortstop and third baseman, five double plays, two errors, a four out inning, 11 runs and 18 hits... and that was just the first four innings of the game and if that wasn't enough excitement, on the softball side we saw an inside the park grand slam from UTEP and what may or may not have been a three ball walk (in favor of the Aggies).

Back to the baseball game, the Aggies really should have won the game. Of all that action, one of the home runs was by the Aggies' Zach Voight, they were the ones who turned three of the five double plays but they were also the ones who had a collision between the third baseman and shortstop, the two errors and the four out inning (which in reality was a five out inning because of one of the errors).

Tyler Mack pitched well for the Aggies but was the victim of some suspect defense at times (again, this team turned three double plays in the first four innings and missed turning a fourth later in the game by a half step). Unfortunately for the Aggies and Mack, they allowed Rice extra outs, particularly in the second and third innings.

In the second, the Aggies turned one of those three double plays to start the inning and Tyler Mack struck out the next batter for the would-be third out, however, the pitch was a little wild, bounced off catcher Zac Fisher and caromed halfway to the Aggie dugout allowing the runner to advance to first. Two singles later that runner scored. Mack would seemingly get out of the inning inducing a ground ball to sure-handed second baseman Parker Hipp but Hipp uncharacteristically bobbled the ball which allowed the runner to reach safely and on the bobble, the runner from third scored. The Aggies did immediately get out of the inning as Fisher threw out the runner trying to advance from second to third but those were two runs that should not have been scored.

In the third Rice put the first runner on via an infield single to the third baseman Robert Lecount who made the throw in time but the threw pulled Tanner Rust off of the bag (scored an infield single). The next Rice batter dropped down an absolutely perfect bunt. The next batter also dropped down a bunt which was fielded cleanly by Mack who threw to Tanner Rust at first but Rust was unable to hold on to the ball (it appeared the Rice player may have run into Rust's glove) but in any event the Owls had loaded the bases instead of the Aggies retiring two of the first three batters. Rice would eventually score two more runs that should not have been scored.

You take those two runs away and the Aggies win 5-3. As head coach Rocky Ward noted after the game, championship-level teams make those defensive plays 100 percent of the time. Unfortunately for the Aggies, errors and defensive miscues have cost them two victories this season.

It should also be noted that the Aggies lit up (in relative terms) the Owls' starting pitcher Chase McDowell, who by the way is a projected Top 50 pick in the upcoming MLB June amateur draft and the Aggies were also able to handle the Owls' 97 mph pitcher who came in to close out the game. The Aggies got what they wanted, they had the top of the order at bat in the ninth. Parker Hipp drew a walk and Zac Fisher represented the tying run at the plate.

The Aggies get another crack at Rice today as they wrap up the two-game series today at 3:30 p.m. (MT). Live Streaming audio will be available via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie softball team also had themselves a bit of a crazy afternoon at the park. The Aggies loaded the bases in the first but failed to score, Alex Newman put two runners on in the bottom of the first but held UTEP scoreless. The Aggies eventually took a 7-1 lead but then gave up a rare inside-the-park grand slam which cut the lead to 7-5 but then came back and scored two runs in the top of the seventh to go ahead 9-5. Head coach Kathy Rodolph pulled Newman in the bottom of the seventh with one out and brought in freshman Karysta Donisthorpe who has struggled a bit to adjust to the Division I level bats but Donisthorpe came in and got a pair of strikeouts to end the game which will undoubtedly help her confidence immensely (she struck out two of the Miners' best hitters in Cami Carrera who had hit a solo home run earlier off of Newman and Stepanie Troupe).

The Aggies head to California this weekend for the Cathedral City Classic where they'll need to get outstanding performances from their defense and pitching.

Aggie basketball wraps up home conference play this week against Hawai'i and San Jose State. If the Aggies want to grab the two seed, then winning against Hawai'i will be very important. A loss against Hawai'i would drop the Aggies into a tie with the Warriors with UH holding the head-to-head tiebreaker and also potentially Idaho as well depending on whether or not they can win in Logan.

We worked out the majority of the seeding scenarios for the Aggies yesterday (which you may or may not have seen on Jason Groves' blog.

With four games left here is what would happen based on the final four-game stretch:

4-0 -- Aggies earn the 2-seed because they would finish with a better record than both Hawai'i and Idaho.
3-1 -- L to SJSU and Idaho finishes 3-0. The Aggies earn the 2-seed because of a season sweep of Fresno State, Idaho spit the season series with Fresno State. (this also means Hawai'i would finish with at least 6 losses).
3-1 -- L to Fresno St and Idaho finishes 3-0. The Aggies earn the 2-seed because of higher RPI. Both New Mexico State and Idaho would have split with the same four teams and the tiebreaker would come down to better regular season RPI (per WAC tiebreaker rules).
3-1 -- L to UH. Hawai'i finishes 3-1 or worse, Idaho finishes 2-1 or worse, Aggies earn the 2-seed due to a better record than both Hawai'i and Idaho.
3-1 -- L to Nevada and Idaho finishes 3-0 then NMSU earns the 3-seed (this would mean Hawai'i finishes with at least 6 losses)
3-1 -- L to Hawai'i and Idaho finishes 3-0 then NMSU earns the 3-seed (Idaho splits the season series with Hawai'i while the Aggies lose the season series to Hawai'i and Hawai'i finishes with at least 5 losses).
3-1 -- L to Hawai'i and Hawaii finished 4-0. Hawai'i earns the 2-seed because of their head-to-head sweep and Aggies earn the 3-seed because Idaho finishes with at least 5 losses.

There are also other seeding scenarios with the Aggies finishing 2-2. Let's just say that the Aggies would finish fourth (but no lower) but would be unlikely to finish second unless Hawai'i were to go 2-2 and Idaho were to go 1-2 over their final respective games.

The 2-seed and 3-seeds are interchangeable as they would face each other in the semifinal. What everyone else is doing over the final two weekends of play is trying to avoid the 4-seed which would mean a semifinal date against top seed Nevada.

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Aggie baseball is back in action today as they take on nationally ranked Rice in Houston. The Owls are the highest ranked team the Aggies have faced in several seasons.

The Owls will trot out a pair of righties in Chase McDowell and Andrew Benak to face the Aggie offense while New Mexico State will counter with Tyler Mack and newcomer Evan Mott.

The Owls' best power hitter is Michael Ratterree, a right-handed left fielder out of Houston. The Owls' top four potential draftees are pitchers Austin Kubitza, John Simms, Chase McDowell and infielder Shane Hoelscher.

Their best incoming player this season is junior college transfer Christian Stringer. He transferred from Navarro College which won the JUCO national championship and he's their starting second baseman. They also have a trio of freshmen pitchers who may or may not see action against the Aggies.

Today and tomorrow's game both start at 3:30 p.m. (MT) and streaming audio will be available via Aggie Access (subscription required). Live Stats will also be available for the game via the Rice athletic website.

The Aggie softball is also back in action today as they travel down to the Helen of Troy softball complex in El Paso to take on the Miners. UTEP will surely be looking for a little payback for the Aggies' 13-3 run-rule victory a week ago.

The Aggies will be looking for some more consistency from their pitching and defense tonight as the team prepares to head west this weekend where the competition will be as tough as it gets all season.

Live Stats will be available for the game via the UTEP athletic website.

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It was a solid day for New Mexico State athletics as the men's and women's basketball teams both picked up victories, the Aggie softball team swept their two games and the baseball team split with Wake Forest.

The softball team kicked the day off with a 12-0 run-rule romp over Stephen F. Austin to break out of the temporary offensive funk they suffered against Nebraska. The Aggies hit four home runs in the game and freshman Kelsey Dodd has emerged as another power threat. She hit two home runs in the game and also hit a home run in the Aggies' game against Weber State, a crucial blast after the Aggies had given up a sizable lead. The other positive outcome from the win over SFA was the scoreless inning put up by freshman Karysta Donisthorpe. After walking the first batter, Donisthorpe was able to strike out two of the three batters she faced and recorded a scoreless inning which was in stark contrast to her first outing of her career where she was chased from the game after she gave up a solo home run, a walk and a two-run home run in the first three batters she faced.

The second softball game of the day saw the Aggies rally from a 2-0 deficit after four and a half innings to defeat Colorado State 5-2. The Aggies got a home run from freshman Staci Rodriguez to get the offense going. Celisha Walker and Alex Newman teamed up in the circle for the win, a common theme from last season and something that will likely continue to be a theme at least in the early going this season until the rest of the staff gets their legs under them.

The Aggies wrap up the tournament this morning with a rematch against No. 22 Nebraska.

In between the softball games, the Aggie men's basketball team hosted Drake in a BracketBusters game. The Aggies dominated this one start to finish and it was perhaps the Aggies' most complete performance, both offensive and defensively, of the year. It certainly helped the Aggies' offensive cause that they were able to hit some early threes.

Defensively, the Aggies' length and athleticism really bothered Drake. On the flip side, it did not help their offensive cause the their second-leading scorer did not play. That's 16 points per game sitting on the bench. The Aggies were able to bother Drake's three point shooters and even though Drake hit seven threes in the game, the Aggies contested most of those shots and it was not easy for the Bulldogs all game long. The Aggies also dominated the boards and their defensive pressure forced the Bulldogs into several turnovers.

Wendell McKines turned in his 15th double-double and finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds and was one of the top performers on BracketBusters Saturday (although THE top performance went to Creighton's Doug McDermott who finished with a BracketBusters record 36 points and 11 rebounds on a ridiculous 14-of-20 shooting night).

If the Aggies can play like this for the remainder of the season they will win the WAC tournament, we have no doubt about that. We'll get a good indication on Thursday night when they host Hawai'i. IT's a very important league game with the winner of the game holding the inside track for the 2-seed. The Aggies.

The Aggie women played their final home game of the season and it was a thrilling finish. The Aggies got a pair of free throws from freshman Simone Ruedin with just under 20 seconds left to put the Aggies on top 56-55 which would be the final score.

The Aggies finally got that one stop on defense they've been looking for at the end of a game and in doing so, they notched their sixth win of the season.

The Aggies got a monster night from Tabytha Wampler who tied a season-high with 25 points. All three seniors who saw action had a huge impact on the game. Kelsie Rozendaal had 10 points and also had a crucial assist late in the game (finding Tabytha Wampler under the basket for a layup).

This came right after Rozendaal had gotten a layup (on an assist from Wampler) and had gotten fouled, missed the free throw but senior Erica Sanchez grabbed the offensive rebound, kicked it to Rozendaal who then found Wampler for the aforementioned layup.

Sanchez finished with nine points and a season-high eight boards, none bigger than that final offensive rebound.

But back to freshman point guard Simone Ruedin for a second. She (for whatever reason) is just a 46 percent free throw shooter and the odds of her making both of those free throws, with the game hanging in the balance, were pretty slim but she swished both. It's not unlike what we saw from Tyrone Watson earlier in the season at Cal State-Bakersfield when he had a perfect night from the line including sinking the two game-winning free throws despite being a 50 percent free throw shooter on the season (at that point)..

The Aggies finish out the season on the road with games at Louisiana Tech, at Nevada and at Fresno State.

The Aggie baseball team notched a split with Wake Forest and in doing so ensured at least a split in the season-opening series. The Aggies had a shot at a comeback victory in the first game of the day. The Aggies trailed 4-0, then drew three consecutive bases loaded walks to cut their deficit to 4-3 but then gave all three runs back and eventually lost 8-5.

The Aggies bounced back in the second game of the doubleheader and won 3-1 getting a masterful pitching performance from Adam Mott and Tim Torsney. Mott had nine strikeouts and three from Torsney.

The Aggies scored two in the bottom of the third and one int he bottom of the sixth.

The two teams will wrap up the series this afternoon as the Aggies try to get a series victory.

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Aggie baseball kicks off the 2012 season today at 4:00 p.m. (MT) as the team hosts the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Wake Forest was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic division of the ACC. While most fans associate the ACC as a college hoops league, the ACC is actually a very strong college baseball league with teams like Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia and Clemson annually making the NCAA Regionals and generally multiple teams heading to Super Regionals and the College World Series.

Here's a quick primer on Wake Forest from our colleagues at College Baseball Daily

Players to Watch
Mac Williamson (.273 BA, 12 HR, 49 RBI)
Matt Conway (.256 BA, 6 HR, 38 RBI)
Tim Cooney (7-3, 3.01 ERA)
Brian Holmes (3-4, 3.00 ERA)

Outlook
The Demon Deacons are coming off a seventh place finish in the ACC while returning most of their lineup with Steven Brooks as the only starter not returning. They also return all four starting pitchers from last season, led by Brian Holmes (3-4, 3.00 ERA) and Tim Cooney (7-3, 3.01 ERA).

"They're a program on the move," said Coach Ward. "When Tom took over they were basically in the cellar. He got them to the ACC tournament last year, they didn't do well in the tournament but he got them there. His players are talking about Omaha, they're talking about making that extra step."

As you may or may not know, Wake Forest is coached by Tom Walter, former head coach at New Orleans. Coach Walter and Aggie head coach Rocky Ward forged a special bond after the Aggies hosted the Privateers after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Walter also made headlines before the start of last season when he made an amazingly selfless decision to give one of his kidneys to one of his players, Kevin Jordan.

"Tom and I are very close. It's a neat story that he continues to tell and I continue to tell. We didn't like each other much before the hurricane hit and then when he came here we became very close. When Tom made the decision to have the surgery and give the kidney to his player, I was among the few people that he called, to tell me first before it hit the media. He wanted to give me heads up and I gave him my support and also did what I could to be a friend. It'll be a neat deal. With Tom coming in, he's a very, very competitive guy. I haven't been around a guy that hates losing much more than he does."

"The weekend itself will have a lot of interesting side notes. Kevin, the player he gave the kidney to will be in the starting lineup and will be playing his first college game in Las Cruces."

"I'm very pleased with where we are offensively and there's not much that I'm really looking for other than the new players getting off and getting some numbers under them," said Ward. "I think the most important thing I'll be looking for is how well we bridge, how well we're able to transition from our starters into our middle relief guys. Who's the next Adam Heredia, who's the next Frankie Duran? That was the biggest weakness a year ago. When a starter got in a little trouble, we just didn't have a middle of the inning fireman."

The Aggies are slated to send Ryan Beck to the mound today against Wake Forest junior lefty Tim Cooney. The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. first pitch.

The Aggie softball team returns to action looking to build on their 5-0 start. The Aggies face Weber State at 11:30 a.m. (MT) and Nebraska at 4:00 p.m. (MT) with the second game of the day being called on KSNM AM 570 by Kyle Doperalski.

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The Aggie women's basketball team is back in action tonight at 6:30 p.m. (MT) as they host Hawai'i, the first of two home games this week, also the team's final two home games of the season. The Wahine defeated New Mexico State 51-48 in the meeting in Honolulu, Tabytha Wampler had 24 points and nine-rebounds and nearly single-handedly kept the Aggies in the game.

Wampler is certainly capable of having another big night against Hawai'i but if the Aggies are to win, they'll need to get some help from their younger players.

The Wahine are mired in a four-game losing streak including a loss to San Jose State who visits Las Cruces on Saturday afternoon.

Hawai'i is dead last in the league in field goal percentage both from inside and outside the three point arc. They're also last in assists per game and second to last in turnovers per game and turnover rate.

The Aggies are last in the league in turnovers per game and turnover rate and it's something that has plagued the team all season long.

With the two teams sitting 7th and 8th at turnovers, it almost goes without saying that the team that is able to control their turnover situation will likely come out victorious tonight. In the first meeting Hawai'i won that battle handily only turning the ball over 10 times compared to 17 for the Aggies.

The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. (MT) tip and can be seen on AggieVision and ESPN3.com.

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The Aggie softball team wrapped up the Hotel Encanto Invitational with a resounding 13-3 victory over UTEP last night to take the tournament title. The Aggies jumped out to a 6-0 lead and led 9-3 after five and a half innings. Then in the bottom of the sixth inning, Tiare Jennings unleashed a walk-off grand slam to give the Aggies the mercy rule victory.

Through five games this season the Aggies have scored a whopping 52 runs, that's already ahead of the pace they had set through five games last season (48). Obviously the competition will continue to get tougher and the pitching the Aggies will face will certainly get better as we documented yesterday but despite losing the seven seniors, the Aggie offense has not skipped a beat thus far.

Perhaps just as importantly as the offense, which will always be the main focal point for the Aggies, the team's defense has committed just three errors.

This weekend the team hosts the Troy Cox Classic and will face Weber State, Stephen F. Austin, Nebraska twice and Colorado State twice with the Nebraska games as the marquee games of the weekend.

The Aggie basketball team cruised past Northern New Mexico last night winning 100-68. The Aggies really had no trouble with the Eagles after the 10 minutes of play. Wendell McKines did not play and was able to get some rest, Hamidu Rahman joined the 1,000 point club and Bandja Sy had a career-high scoring night with 19 points. The Aggies also got valuable minutes for Remi Barry, Renaldo Dixon and D.J. Lewis in this game. Barry played 25 minutes, Dixon played 18 and Lewis played 19.

The Aggies won, nobody got injured and it's on to Bracketbuster Saturday where the team will face Drake.

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It's a busy day for the Aggies as the softball team squares off against I-10 rival UTEP and the men's basketball team hosts in-state foe Northern New Mexico.

The softball team has started the season 4-0 and the offense has picked up where it left off last year having amassed 39 runs already this season. Tonight's game, a 6:00 p.m. first pitch, will determine the champion of the Hotel Encanto Invitational. The Miners have started off the season 4-0 as well and have been equally as potent on offense scoring 32 runs.

These two teams always have outstanding battles and it should be a highly entertaining game tonight.

The Aggies' schedule only gets harder starting tonight. The Aggies will face Nebraska twice and Colorado State twice this weekend. ESPN's Graham Hays has tabbed Nebraska as his sleeper team to reach the College World Series.

The Aggies also take on Cal, Stanford and Oregon next weekend at the prestigious Cathedral Classic. Stanford is Hays' sleeper pick to win the national title, he's also picked Cal as the team to beat nationally this year. The Aggies also face defending national champion Arizona State fellow softball powerhouse Arizona later in the season.

But back to tonight's matchup. The game is at the NM State Softball Complex with a 6:00 p.m. start time.

The Aggie men's basketball team is back in action tonight as they host NAIA Northern New Mexico. Northern is winless on the season, 0-29 and really there won't be much to take away from this game except that it should be an excellent opportunity for some of the Aggie reserves to play as well as perhaps getting some more playing time for Remi Barry, perhaps getting him more acclimated on the offensive and defensive end in a game that really, truly does not matter (it does not affect the RPI system nor is it even counted in the Aggies' final win/loss total in the RPI system).

Northern New Mexico's leading scorer is Demetrio Wade and he is averaging under eight points per game.

A side note, the Aggies' largest margin of victory is 59 points according to the media guide, unfortunately it does not say who it was against or when it was recorded but that record could be ink play tonight. Montana State defeated Northern by 50 points earlier this season and Weber State won by 59.

Also keep an eye on Hamidu Rahman tonight. He's just 10 points shy of 1,000 points for his career, he'll be the third Aggie player this season to cross that threshold joining Wendell McKines and Hernst Laroche.

Tonight's game will be televised on AggieVision and tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (MT). Radio coverage will be available on the Aggie Sports Network.

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The New Mexico State men's basketball team went into Logan and came away with a much needed win. The victory not only keeps them mathematically in the picture for a share of the regular season title which is less important at this point than the simple fact that it keeps them a game ahead of Hawai'i and Idaho, both of whom currently own tiebreakers over the Aggies.

The difference between yesterday's win and Thursday night's loss to Idaho? Take a look at the final six minutes of each half and you have your answer. Against Idaho the Aggies simply failed to execute down the stretch of each half. Against Utah State? The Aggies did the opposite and in the process playing some of their best ball defensively and offensively all season. At Idaho the Aggies were outscored 27-10 in those two halves and coughed up leads of seven and eight points respectively. Against Utah State the Aggies outscored Utah State a combined 30-6 in the two halves and erased an eight point deficit in the first half and went from down one to up 11 by the end of the game in the second half.

Absolutely without a doubt the biggest play of the game was Henst Laroche's outstanding defensive play (seen below). The play stopped a wide-open three point look from Preston Medlin (who could have made it a one-point game with that shot). That sparked a 9-2 run to end the game, it also may have been a defining moment in this season. Had Utah State hit that shot, there's a decent possibility that they win the game last night. Instead, it was one of those deflating plays and it propelled the Aggies to the win (USU looked rattled the rest of the way after that, uncharacteristically awful execution by a normally crisp Utah State team).

This might also be the win that propels the Aggies to the finish line after hitting a really rough patch in the middle of the season with losses at Hawai'i, versus Nevada and Thursday against Idaho.

The Aggies have now won at two of the toughest home environments in the west, The Pit and The Spectrum. It's something the team has not accomplished since the 1994-95 season.

The Aggies take a break from conference competition as they take on Northern New Mexico (an NAIA team) on Tuesday and then a suddenly reeling Drake squad for the ESPNU Bracketbusters matchup. Unfortunately Drake has gone the opposite direction as the Aggies since the announcement and instead of a battle between two 17/18 win teams, Drake has lost three in a row and sits at 13-12. The Bulldogs have two league games this week and could conceivably come into the Pan Am under .500.

The Aggie women's basketball team was not so fortunate yesterday and did not escape Logan victorious. The Aggies put up another good battle on the road but Utah State was just too much in the end. The Aggies were the victim of a questionable no-call midway through the second half with the Aggies trailing by seven and on a little bit of a comeback. The Aggies' freshman point guard Simone Ruedin drove into the lane and put up about a five foot shoot but her shot was blocked and it looked like there was quite a bit of contact (Ruedin ended up in a heap on the ground). Devyn Christensen ended up with the ball on an outlet pass and took it the other way for a layup and was fouled. She completed the three point play and instead of the Aggies down by seven and shooting free throws, they ended up down by 10 and even though they cut the lead to nine late, they were unable to execute in the late game situations committing a turnover and missing consecutive defensive rebounds allowing Utah State to essentially run roughly 90 seconds off the clock.

The Aggies are back in action this week with a pair of winnable games against Hawai'i and San Jose State, two games the they nearly won on the road earlier in the conference season.

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Moscow was not kind to New Mexico State's hoopsters. Both the men and the women lost in difficult fashion last night. The Aggie women trailed throughout the game and by as many as 10 with just over 12 minutes left to play but made a furious rally, took the lead on a three pointer by Kelsie Rozendaal with 22 seconds left only to have Idaho bury a three with seven seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the overtime period the Aggies managed to score just one point -- a free throw from Tabytha Wampler 19 seconds into overtime and then they failed to score the rest of the way.

That drought, combined with a nearly seven minute scoring drought in the first half directly contributed to the Aggies' loss last night.

It was a pair of lengthy scoring slumps that doomed the Aggie men as well. They led by seven in the first half but scored just six points over the final six and a half minutes of the first half and the game went into the halftime break tied and then the team led by eight points with just over six and a half minutes left and did not score the remainder of the game, losing by one as they gave up a layup out of a timeout with under 10 seconds left to play.

The Aggies had been solid in "winning time" recently but did not play well at all down the stretch of either half, particularly the second half. In those final fateful six minutes the Aggies turned the ball over four times, missed four shots (including the prayer at the buzzer from Wendell McKines) and also saw Bandja Sy miss the front end of a one-and-one free throw.

Unfortunately those are not winning plays and as a result, the Aggies did not win.

We knew this would be a difficult game for the Aggies and we alluded to the fact that Idaho played the Aggies tough in Las Cruces and were greatly aided by a 20 free throw attempt advantage in that game. We also pointed out that the Aggies could not count on that type of advantage last night nor did they get it. The Aggies shot just three more free throws than Idaho did.

Another pattern has emerged with this team as well. The Aggies are a fast paced team that is tops in the league in possessions per game (just over 70). When teams are able to slow the game down it hurts the Aggies chances of winning. The Aggies are just 2-5 in games where they score fewer than 70 points.

The Aggies have shown that they can win when a game is in the 60s, beating New Mexico and Fresno State, but those games also saw the Aggies play well defensively. Last night they allowed Idaho to shoot 60 percent from inside the three point arc (neither team shot the ball well from deep).

Now the Aggies must bounce back quickly and figure out a way to get a win at Utah State. The Aggies (and everyone else's) regular season title hopes are pretty much over, Nevada went on the road and gutted out a win over Hawai'i last night to retake a two game lead in the standings (owning tiebreakers over everyone).

The Aggies absolutely must win on Saturday. A loss would drop them into a tie for second with Idaho and Hawai'i (assuming both win) and both of those teams would own the tiebreakers with the Aggies (for the moment). No team wants to be the 4-seed/5-seed because it means a second round matchup against Nevada in the WAC Tournament.

The Aggies have arguably the toughest conference slate remaining of the three teams fighting for second with a home date against Hawai'i and a road date against Nevada (and a Fresno State team that defeated both Idaho and Utah State in successive games). A loss would also bring Utah State back into the second place picture as they currently have five losses.

Saturday's game will tell us a lot about what this team is made of. Talking with Jason Groves late last night after the game, he believes the Aggies need to win this game just to prove that they can win the big game. Right now their signature conference victory is over Idaho in the Pan Am. They've lost the "prove something" games against Hawai'i, Nevada and last night's road game against Idaho. Even though Utah State is down this season, winning in Logan is still a major accomplishment and given the circumstances (coming off a tough loss, tough travel, early game and limited prep time), this will be a game that the Aggies can prove their mental toughness.

The Aggie softball team kicks off their season today as they host Indiana in the Hotel Encanto Tournament. The Aggies have 13 returners and nine new players which they are trying to integrate into the mix. The biggest question marks right now are on defense where they have to replace arguably the best third baseman in the league the past four years in Ashley Maroda. Additionally on offense, the Aggies must find replacements for the one and two spots in the batting order. Those two spots have been critical for the Aggies with their powerful middle of the lineup hitters waiting in the wings to drive those players in.

"The biggest thing I want to find out is against another team is what are our strengths and weaknesses and what areas do we function well as a team and what areas do we need improvement," said Coach Rodolph.

Streaming video will be available for the game today (subscription required through Aggie Access) which is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. (MT) start.

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The Aggie men's and women's basketball teams are back in action today as they both take on Idaho in another WAC women's and men's doubleheader. The Aggie women will battle Idaho at 6:30 p.m. (MT) while the men will go at 9:05 p.m. (MT).

We talked yesterday about the challenge that the women face without two of their guards, Hannah Womack and Paige Melville. The Aggies have not won in Moscow since the 2007-2008 season and the Vandals are on a two game winning streak having gone into San Jose and Honolulu and come away with victories, something that the Aggies came oh-so-close to doing themselves.

Idaho leads the league in field goal percentage defense in WAC play allowing teams to shoot just 37.5 percent per game and just 38.8 percent from inside the three point arc. The interesting thing about that stat is that the Vandals are at the bottom of the league in three point shooting defense as teams are hitting 33.9 percent against them. The Vandals also lead the league in blocks per game averaging six per contest.

You can listen to the game on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces with streaming audio available via Aggie Access (subscription required).

As for the Aggie men, this is a difficult game to predict. As we noted on Monday, Idaho was likely to have a little bit of an emotional letdown coming off their upset victory over Nevada, the bad news for the Aggies was that the Vandals had a game to play before playing the Aggies in order to get that out of their system. The scenario played out just as we expected, the Vandals got down by 17 points to Seattle at home but to their credit, they rallied and won the game by a single point.

A sweep on this road trip would be monumental but the Aggies may only need a split to stay in the regular season title race. With Nevada at Hawai'i tonight and then at San Jose State on Saturday (on short rest with a bench that doesn't score), the Aggies could still find themselves either within a game or even tied for first even with a road split.

The one thing the Aggies absolutely have to do is avoid getting swept on the road.

One factor that hasn't been mentioned much in regards to this week's games is that the first time around the Aggies played Utah State first and then played Idaho two nights later. This time the Aggies play Idaho first and then head to Utah State. We think that could be significant in that the Aggies have much less time to prep for the UtAgs the second time around whereas they had five days to get ready the first time. Throw in the fact that the trip from Moscow to Logan is not an easy one with a lot of travel time involved, there is a lot of "dead" time in which it may not be possible to prep for USU.

As for the game tonight, the Aggies wore down the Vandals late in the win in Las Cruces and pulled away for an 80-68 win. The final score does not indicate just how close this game really was. Idaho gave the Aggies a good game and we would really expect the Vandals to try to get the ball to big man Kyle Barone a bit more this time around. Barone scored just 11 points and took only seven shots the first time around. Both he and fellow big Djim Bandoumel were in foul trouble (both finished with four personal fouls).

The Aggies also had a mammoth 32-12 free throw attempt advantage in Las Cruces and you can be certain that the Aggies won't have that kind of advantage again tonight.

The biggest key for the Aggies tonight will be to take care of the basketball and utilize their advantage in the paint and also turn Daniel Mullings loose. We don't think there's anybody on Idaho's team that can guard Mullings of the bounce (there are probably very few in the league who can do so) and Mullings had just six points and attempted only five shots in the first meeting. Expect him to have a much bigger role tonight.

Tonight's game can be heard on the Aggie Sports network with streaming audio available via Aggie Access (subscription required).

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