Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The New Mexico State softball team split a doubleheader with Omaha on Friday night at the Softball Complex.

The Aggies hit six home runs on the day with two each from Ramsay Lopez and Nikki Butler. NM state and Omaha are set to play another doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 15, beginning at 2 p.m.

GAME ONE
The two sides were locked in a tight battle early with Omaha’s Sydney Hampton and Matalasi Faapito going toe-to-toe in the circle. Trailing 1-0 in the 3rd, and with runners on first and third, Janelle Medina swiped second base and Caity Szczesny scored on throw down to second base to pull the Aggies even.

Then, Nikki Butler scored Medina on a sacrifice fly before Ramsay Lopez blasted a two-run home run to give NM State a 4-1 lead through three. The Aggies extended their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth after Szczesny drew a bases loaded walk.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Mike Kirby era is off to a strong start.

NM State rolled to an 11-2 win against Texas Southern in Friday afternoon's season opener at The 'Skew behind senior pitcher Chance Hroch's arm and junior infielder Nick Gonzales' bat.

The Aggies (1-0) scored nine unanswered runs, including three on Gonzales' eighth-inning tater, to pull away from the Tigers (0-1).

HOW IT HAPPENED
Hroch cruised through Texas Southern's order before Roderick Coffee got the scoring started in the top half of the third. The outfielder hit his first of two home runs over the wall in left center to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

The deficit would not last long, as sophomore outfielder Zerek Saenz provided the Aggies' first two runs in the bottom half of the frame. His RBI single tied the game at one apiece before his sac fly in the bottom of the fifth put NM State ahead, 2-1.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - By his own admission, junior forward Johnny McCants had been dealing with some difficulty getting off to a good start as of late for the New Mexico State men's basketball team.

Thursday night inside the Pan Am Center, McCants started well and never let up. That spelled trouble for Seattle U.

In one of the most dominant nights of his collegiate career, McCants generated a team-high 14 points and completed a monstrous double-double effort by hauling in a career-high 18 rebounds to help lead the Aggies to a scrappy 72-64 victory over the Redhawks.

With the win NM State hit the 20-win mark for the ninth-consecutive season and maintained a three-game lead for the top spot in the WAC standings with five regular season games to go.

FIRST HALF  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

SEATTLE, WA - Playing its second-straight game without leading scorer Gia Pack, the New Mexico State women’s basketball team fell 67-57 at Seattle U in Western Athletic Conference play in Seattle on Thursday night.

Aaliyah Prince continued to play well in Pack’s absence, going toe-to-toe with Seattle U’s Kamira Sanders and dropping 19 points.

NM State (8-16, 5-6 WAC) started slowly and trailed 16-9 after one. Despite the offensive struggles, the Aggies competed on the defensive end and held the Redhakws to 30.4-percent shooting for the quarter.

New Mexico State pulled within three, 17-14, at the start of the second quarter but Seattle U quickly responded. The Redhawks made three-straight triples to take a 16-16 lead with 3:26 to play in the half. After Seattle U extended its lead to double-digits, the Aggies finished the half strong and trailed by nine, 31-22.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Aggies run the WAC.

NM State senior Brooke Wallace and freshman Dascha Robinson have been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Track & Field Athletes of the Week for Feb. 3-9. The Aggies last swept the conference's weekly indoor award in 2017, when Katara Nelson (track) and then-freshman Keyarha Wilson (field) received the honor.

Wallace competed in the 400m race at the UNM Collegiate Classic last weekend, placing sixth with a new personal-best time of 55.99. Her effort in the event is the third-best time in NM State history and ranks as the top time in the WAC this season.

The native of Baltimore also ran in the 200m and came across the line in 25.29, which ranks among the top-10 performances in the WAC this season.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

DENVER, CO - That’s one way to start your career. Freshman Matalasi Faapito was named Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week after dominating the Troy Cox Classic to open her collegiate career.

The native of Temecula, Calif., went 8-11 (.727) at the plate to start her career and bashed four home runs. Faapito is slugging a jaw-dropping 1.909 and is reaching base safely at a .750 clip. The 5-11 slugger only struck out once and drove in eight runs. In a 13-4 run-rule win over Bradley, Faapito went 3-3 with two home runs, a double and four RBI.

Faapito also made two solid appearances in the circle for the Aggies. She started NM State’s season-opener against Nebraska and worked 3.1 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on four hits. She also started against nationally-ranked Arkansas and threw 6 innings, striking out five.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

KANSAS CITY, MO - Beset by more bad news on the injury front when it learned in late Janaury leading scorer Trevelin Queen was to miss two weeks with a knee injury, the New Mexico State men's basketball team has done one thing on a consistent basis: pound the ball inside.

Because it's there that senior Ivan Aurrecoechea does his best work and over the last five games he has gone from a run-of-the-mill Spaniard to the WAC's most feared conquistador.

The Spaniard sparkled once again, matching his career with with 23 points, helped the Aggies build up a 16-point second half lead and NM State held off a hard charge by Kansas City in the game's final 3:10 to claim a 67-61 triumph over the Roos Saturday night in the Swinney Recreation Center.

FIRST HALF  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Aggies put up a thrilling fight against the nationally ranked Razorbacks, but it ended in heartbreak.

#20 Arkansas rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh, clipping NM State, 5-4, Saturday evening in front of a crowd of 994 at the Softball Complex.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Facing their second Power Five opponent in three days, the Aggies threw the first punch.

Back-to-back-to-back home runs in the second inning by freshman Ramsay Lopez, sophomore Casie Roberto and freshman Matalasi Faapito electrified the crowd, as the Aggies took a commanding 3-0 lead in the span of six pitches.

After Lopez and Roberto went back-to-back with no-doubters to left center, Faapito swung at the very first pitch she saw and also drilled one over the wall in left center.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Down two starters, the New Mexico State women’s basketball battled but fell to league-leading Kansas City 55-50 in Western Athletic Conference play at the Pan American Center on Saturday.

Aaliyah Prince scored 17 points to lead the Aggies for the second-straight game. Tayelin Grays also reached double-digits for the second-straight game, dropping 12 points on 50-percent shooting and flited with a double-double, grabbing a career-high nine boards.

The Aggie defense played well, holding Kansas City to sub-.400 shooting and coming up with seven steals on 11 forced turnovers. NM State outrebounded the Roos 46-31, the ninth time in the last 10 games that New Mexico State has had a positive rebound margin.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

CHICAGO, IL - On paper it looked like it would result in a blowout from start to finish.

Early on it didn't quite work out that way for the New Mexico State men's basketball team Thursday night in the Windy City. That is until one of Chicago's favorite sons - playing in front of nearly 100 family members who made the journey to the Jones Convocation Center - stepped to the forefront of the action to make sure no doubts remain on what team remained the favorites in the WAC.

Playing in his home town for the first time in his collegiate career, Evan Gilyard II sparked a 20-4 New Mexico State run over that last 7:24 of the opening half by scoring seven-straight points and the Aggies rode that surge to a 71-49 triumph over Chicago State.

A fifth-straight road victory helped the Aggies maintain a two-game lead for the top spot in the WAC standings.

FIRST HALF  Continue Reading This Post >>