Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Freshman Kelsey Horton hit three home runs in her first four at-bats as the NM State softball team swept a double header against Incarnate Word on Friday at the NM State SB Complex. The Aggies defeated the Cardinals 11-1 in the first game and 8-0 in game two.

Game One

Overall, the Aggies (1-0) racked up 15 hits and nine RBI, while Incarnate Word (1-2) had four hits and one RBI. Pitcher Karysta Donisthorpe captured her first win of the season as she amassed five strikeouts in 10 batters faced.

NM State jumped out to an early lead as Rachel Rodriguez scored off an Emma Adams double. With bases loaded, Horton then hit a grand slam in her first at-bat as an Aggie, followed by a home run from Tatum Reedy. Haley Nakamura, Victoria Castro and Brenna Nakamura each scored to give NM State a 9-0 advantage after the first inning.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

TUCSON, AZ - The New Mexico State softball team defeated St. John’s (NY), 9-6, on Saturday at Hillenbrand Stadium, but later in the day lost for the second time in as many days to No. 11/15 Minnesota, 2-0, as the 2015 edition of Aggie softball was eliminated from the Tucson Regional and thus concluded the season.

The Aggies complete the greatest statistical season in program history. NM State broke softball school records in wins (47), winning percentage (.746), runs (465), hits (589), which it did on Saturday, home runs (103), doubles (100), RBIs (436), total bases (1,020), walks (283), team batting average (.348), slugging percentage (.602) and on-base percentage (.445).

The Aggies won the Western Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles for only the second time in 10 years in the conference to advance to the NCAA Regional round for the second time in program history.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

TUCSON, AZ - The New Mexico State softball team began play at the NCAA Championship Tucson Regional by losing to top-20 Minnesota 10-2 in six innings on Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium.

It is the second time this season the Aggies (46-15) have fallen at the hands of the Golden Gophers (47-9) and their superstar pitcher Sara Groenewegen.

The lone highlight of the day for NM State was a two-run home run by senior Staci Rodriguez in the top half of the first. Unfortunately, the long ball was one of only three hits mustered by the Aggies versus Groenewegen. Rodriguez, sister Rachel Rodriguez and shortstop Haley Nakamura, who was celebrating her 20th birthday, all went 1-for-2 on the day for NM State’s only hits.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The New Mexico State softball team took two games from Bakersfield on Saturday, 7-4 and 18-10 in six innings, to add the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Tournament title to its WAC regular-season championship.

After losing to the ‘Runners (21-25) on Friday, the Aggies (45-14) had to win three-straight games to take their second WAC Tournament crown in program history. NM State easily handled Utah Valley 18-3 in five innings during Friday’s nightcap to reach the championship series on Saturday where they came from behind in game one to stave off elimination before winning a barnburner in the final game of the tournament.

The Aggies now automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament next week, their second appearance to the NCAA Regionals.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - It was an up and down day for the New Mexico State softball team at the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday as the Aggies got run-ruled by Bakersfield, 10-2, in five innings before they themselves run-ruled Utah Valley, 18-3, in five innings to set up a rematch with the ‘Runners on Saturday for the WAC championship.

NM State (44-14) lost for the second time to Bakersfield (21-23) this season, ending a six-game current winning streak. The loss dropped the Aggies to the loser’s side of the bracket, but NM State rebounded quickly by pounding the Wolverines(18-41) by 15 runs to end their season, along the way tying the program record for wins with 44 and breaking the runs scored in a season record. The old record stood at 423 runs in 2011, the 2015 Aggies now have marked 429 runs.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The top-seeded New Mexico State softball team began play in the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Tournament by easily handling fifth-seeded Utah Valley, 13-3, in five innings on Thursday at the NM State Softball Complex.

The Aggies (43-13) only outhit the Wolverines (17-40) by one, eight to seven, but capitalized on 10 walks and a big grand slam homer by junior Fiana Finau. It was Finau’s 23rd home run of the season, leaving the Chula Vista, Calif., native one home run shy of the NM State record for home runs in a season, currently held by Hoku Nohara who slammed 24 in 2011.

“I thought we did a good job of coming out and playing our brand of softball,” Aggie head coach Kathy Rodolph said. “We have stressed all year that we are just a group of players who battle moments to the best of our ability. We did that again tonight and it paid off.”  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

EL PASO, TX - The New Mexico State softball team wrapped up the 2015 regular season by taking two games from I-10 rival Texas-El Paso on Tuesday at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex, winning game one 5-2 before taking a nail biter 2-1 in the nightcap.

The Aggies (42-13) got great pitching performances from freshman Dallas McBride and redshirt junior Karysta Donisthorpe as both NM State hurlers went the distance and allowed the Miners (14-36) a combined three runs on Tuesday.

McBride got the win in game one to improve to 15-5 after only allowing a couple of runs on five hits. Donisthorpe, meanwhile, also only allowed five hits and reached the 20-win plateau. She did McBride one better by only allowing a single run en route to finishing the regular season at 20-4.   Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A day after clinching the Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship, the New Mexico State softball team wrapped up conference play by taking two games against Grand Canyon on Saturday, completing the three-game sweep over the ‘Lopes.

The Aggies (40-13, 14-1 WAC) won game one 6-3 before taking game two 15-5 in five innings on what was Senior Day where NM State’s five seniors, Nikki Diaz, Malena Padilla, Kelsey Dodd, Lacey Rother and Staci Rodriguez were recognized at the conclusion of the second game.

With the two wins the Aggies get to 40 wins for the first time since 2011 when they also won the WAC regular-season title and also took home the WAC Tournament crown to advance to their only NCAA Regional appearance. NM State also finished the WAC regular season with a 14-1 record, its best record in conference play in program history.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The New Mexico State softball team won its second Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship after defeating Grand Canyon 7-6 on Friday off of a Rachel Rodriguez walk-off single to that concluded a three-run final inning for the Aggies.

The only other time NM State (38-13, 12-1 WAC) has won a conference championship was in 2011 when it brought home its first-ever title. Grand Canyon (28-20, 9-4 WAC) still had a shot at the title coming in, but had to sweep the three games from the Aggies this weekend.

“(I’m) very proud of the team’s battle tonight,” NM State head coach Kathy Rodolph said. “It took everyone battling every pitch on both sides of the ball. As long as we continue to do that we will be where we want to be.”  Continue Reading This Post >>