LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State baseball team (9-6) heads to Salt Lake City, Utah for a three-game weekend series against the Utah Utes, March 10-12. First pitch to open the series on Friday is slated for 3 p.m. MT.
PROBABLE STARTERS
New Mexico State will roll out three starters from last weekend's series against Yale. On the bump to open the series on Friday will be rolling out sophomore
Kyle Bradish who currently holds a 2-0 record with 17 strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA over 18 innings of work. Saturday's contest will feature
Marcel Renteria (2-0/3.14 ERA/15 K) on the mound, while
Jonathan Groff (1-2/4/41 ERA/18 K) will close out the weekend series.
WHERE TO WATCH
Aggie fans can watch a live stream of each game over the weekend against the Sun Utes by going to
http://pac-12.com/live/university-utah. The stream is free can also be viewed on your mobile/tablet device by downloading the Pac-12 App.
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State baseball team all season on Twitter, and Instagram by following @NMStateBaseball and on Facebook.com/NMSUAthletics.
GET YOUR SEASON TICKETS NOW!
With the start of the 2017 season tickets, Aggie fans can be a part of the action for all 23 home games (including three double-headers) for just $100 per seat. Season tickets will guarantee fans a seat in the reserved section of 104 behind home plate. Fans can purchase 2017 Aggie baseball season tickets by going to the Pan American Center ticket office or by calling 575-646-1420.
BATTLE IN THE MOUNTAINS
The Aggies first road series of the season is set to take place at Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City against the Utah Utes, a team ranked 14th in the latest RPI.
This will be the 21st meeting all-time between the Aggies and the Utes as NM State currently trails, 13-7. These two teams last met at the Johnny Quick Classic on March 12, 2008 as NM State fell, 8-5.
Utah is 7-3 on the year after winning two of three games during a series last weekend at UTSA. The Utes outscored the Roadrunners 27-12 on the weekend.
Dallas Carroll leads Utah at the plate as he leads the Pac-12 and is ranked 11th in the NCAA in batting average (.525). He is ninth in the country in hits per game (2.10) and tied for 21st in total hits (21) and also leads the league in both categories. Carrooll holds a .700 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage. Chandler Anderson is second on the team with a .450 BA with a team-leading five doubles. As a team, Utah is batting .326 at the plate with 28 extra-base hits and four home runs.
On the mound, Riley Ottesen leads the squad with a 2-0 record with a 2.95 ERA and 14 strikeouts in three appearances. Out of the pen, Chase Bauerle has pitched eight innings in four appearances without allowing a run and only allowing six hits.
ROAD WARRIORS
Beginning with the trip to Salt Lake City, the Aggies begin an eight-game road swing playing against the Utes, BYU, Arizona and UC Santa Barbara. Three of the four teams coming up played in the NCAA Tournament in 2016 (Arizona, Utah and UC Santa Barbara), while Arizona and Santa Barbara advanced to the College Baseball World Series which featured the Wildcats making it to the finals before falling to Coastal Carolina.
IN THE NATION
Through the game on Wednesday, March 8, here's how the Aggies are compared to other teams in the country.
NM State (Rk) Category NCAA
.363 (2)
Batting Avg. .367
201 (1)
Hits 201
157 (1)
Runs 157
73 (12)
Walks 97
.455 (1)
OBP .455
.527 (13)
SLG% .600
38 (4)
Doubles 42
7 (8)
Triples 15
13 (30)
Home Runs 32
27 (2)
HBP 35
10.5 (1)
Scoring 10.5
Senior
Austin Botello is second in the NCAA with 26 hits, and is also in the top-10 in several other categories. He's 16th in the country with 13 walks drawn, third in RBI (23) and 25th in total bases (38).
Shortstop
LJ Hatch is 15th in the country with seven doubles and only trails the NCAA leader by three. He's also 21st in runs with 17 along with
Joey Ortiz.
Brent Sakurai is also eighth in runs with 19.
STRAIGHT FLEXIN'
Sophomore first baseman
Tristen Carranza has been flexing some serious power at the plate the last two series at home. The El Centro, Calif., product has feasted on pitchers last Sunday, belting two homers versus Bryant (Feb. 26) and then again this Sunday versus Yale. His four home runs so far are good for the team lead, second in the WAC and 33rd in the country.
GETTING STREAKY
Second baseman
Brent Sakurai is currently on an eight-game hitting-streak, which is tied for the longest on the team this season with freshman
Joey Ortiz (8). Meanwhile,
Marcus Still has reached base safely in 15-straight games while Ortiz is right on his tails with 12-straight. Sakurai is not far off from his two teammates, reaching base safely 10-straight times.
EARLY AND OFTEN
With 15 games under its belt, the 2017 NM State team has been most productive the early innings. The Aggies have plated 57 runs to their opponent's 10 in the first two innings and have only been outscored in the sixth (22-19) and the ninth (2-1).
With its offensive power, NM State has only lost one game when leading after the fourth inning (9-1) while anytime the Aggies have led after the fifth (9-0), sixth (8-0), seventh (9-0) and eighth (9-0) innings they've been undefeated.
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies latest came on Wednesday, March 8 as the team hosted Battle of I-25 rival New Mexico at Southwest University Park in El Paso, Texas. A game that featured 17 pitchers, nine for NM State and eight for UNM, saw the Aggies drop the first rivalry contest of the season 8-2.
Five Aggies finished the night with multiple hits, led by
Mason Fishback and
Joey Ortiz with three, followed by
Brian Kiser,
Brent Sakurai and
Marcus Still adding two each.
UP NEXT
After the weekend series, NM State will remain on the road as they travel just down the road to Provo, Utah to take on the BYU Cougars on Tuesday, March 14 at 6 p.m. MT. The midweek contest can be heard on 91.5 FM KRUX or TuneIn Radio as Adam Young will have the call.
