LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Following a series against Oakland, the Aggies will travel to College Station, Texas, for their first road series of the season. First pitch against No. 14 Texas A&M on Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. MST with Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and Sunday's finale at Noon.
 
All four games will be streamed live on SEC Network plus which is included in subscriptions to ESPN+. The series opener will mark the first of five consecutive road games for the Aggies who have played 11 of their first 12 games in their home park. Friday's game will mark the seventh all-time meeting between Texas A&M and NM State with each of the previous six games also taking place in College Station. NM State will also seek its first-ever win over Texas A&M.
 
SERIES INFO
NM State (7-5, 0-0 CUSA) at No. 14 Texas A&M (7-5, 0-0 SEC)
Blue Bell Park
College Station, Texas
 
Friday, March 7 – 5 p.m. MST
Watch: SEC Network Plus
Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Saturday, March 8 – 1 p.m. MST
Watch: SEC Network Plus
Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Saturday, March 9 – Noon MST
Watch: SEC Network Plus
Stats: StatBroadcast
 
LAST TIME OUT              
• NM State welcomed Oakland for a four-game series at Presley Askew Field and split the series after tallying wins on Friday and Saturday before dropping Sunday and Monday contests.
• Friday marked the Aggies' first walk-off win of the season as they defeated the Golden Grizzlies 5-4 in 10 innings.
• In Friday's win, Jack Turner continued an impressive start to his Aggie career as he tossed six innings and recorded a season-high three strikeouts.
• NM State then used a six-run seventh inning on Saturday to earn a 13-8 win on Saturday before falling in the next two games.
• Despite losing on Monday, the Aggies recorded their third three-home-run game of the season as Steve Solorzano, Camden Kaufman and Sheehan O'Connor all went yard.
 
SET THE TONE                
Last weekend, center fielder Jonatan Clough was moved to the top of the order and provided a spark for the Aggie offense. In Saturday's 13-8 victory over Oakland, Clough recorded three hits and an RBI while tallying four runs. He also recorded three stolen bases to become the first Aggie to do so since current Milwaukee Brewer Joey Ortiz did so in 2017.
 
FACING THE SEC            
NM State will be seeking the program's first ever win over Texas A&M and first win over an SEC opponent since 2018 when it knocked off Alabama 3-0 in the opener of a three-game series versus the Crimson Tide.
 
Since the program's start in 1962, the Aggies have faced off against eight current SEC schools and hold a 4-25 all-time record. At six games, Texas A&M represents the second most common SEC opponent for NM State as it has only squared off against Oklahoma (12 games) more. The Aggies have also faced Alabama (3 games), Arkansas (2 games), Mississippi State (2 games), Missouri (2 games), Kentucky (1 game) and Vanderbilt (1 game).
 
Most recently, the Aggies collided with Vanderbilt in the 2022 Corvallis Regional and suffered a 21-1 defeat.
 
SAY HIS NAMIE                                 
Entering the 2024 campaign, returner Mitch Namie was slated to be one of the Aggies' key contributors once again after appearing in 50 of the Aggies' 54 games and making 49 starts during his sophomore season. The Mesa, Ariz., serves as the leading returner in batting average (.333), at-bats (183), runs (50), hits (61), doubles (13), triples (2), home runs (5), RBIs (35) and walks (31).
 
Through the Aggies' first 12 games, Namie's offensive power has been on full display as he is currently the only Aggie to register a hit in every game thus far. Including a pair of hits in the Aggies' final two games of the 2024 season, Namie has now logged a hit in the Aggies' last 14 games.
 
The junior from Mesa, Ariz., currently leads the team in batting average (.419) and ranks second among Aggie hitters in on-base percentage (.556), doubles (4), RBIs (12) and walks (9).
 
CONFERENCE USA CONTENDERS                          
Though the season is only in its infancy, the Aggies look to have one of the strongest offenses among Conference USA teams. Entering the weekend, the Aggies currently pace the league in batting average (.319) and slugging percentage (.543) while ranking among the top three in doubles (2nd, 29), hits (3rd, 130), on-base percentage (3rd, .418) and triples (2nd, 7).
FRESHMAN ARMS                            
The Aggies have leaned on their young arms this season as seven of the Aggies' eight available freshman have appeared in at least one game this season. The lone freshman pitcher that has not spent any time on the mound is two-way player Chris Daniels, who has tallied three starts this season at either first base or designated hitter.
 
In total, the Aggie freshmen have combined to throw 31.0 innings and have given up just 26 earned runs while combining for 26 strikeouts. This weekend, freshman right-hander Matthew Yarc will make his third start.
 
SHEEHAN O'CONNOR NAMED CUSA PLAYER OF THE WEEK                
On Monday, Feb. 17, it was announced that standout second baseman Sheehan O'Connor earned Conference USA Hitter of the Week honors after an impressive trio of games to open the season.
 
Following a two-hit performance on Sunday, O'Connor entered Monday's finale with a .583 batting average, three home runs, eight RBIs and a pair of doubles to help guide the Aggies to a pair of wins and earn the season's first hitter of the week honor, which is announced every Monday.
 
As of Thursday, O'Connor ranks first in the league in home runs (7), second in slugging percentage (.952) and fourth in RBIs (15). With seven long balls, O'Connor ranks tied for sixth in home runs among Division I hitters.
 
YEAR TWO                          
NM State is amid its second season under Head Coach Jake Angier and looks to continue to make strides after increasing its win total by 11 games and posting the highest number of wins since 2019.
 
In year one under Angier, the Aggies landed three on the all-conference awards list as Keith Jones II earned first team All-CUSA honors, Titus Dumitru earned second team honors and Steve Solorzano secured all-freshman team honors.
 
Angier was previously at the University of Oregon where he operated as the pitching coach for the 2020-2023 seasons. Before Oregon, Angier was at Sacramento State from 2014-2019. Angier was named by Baseball America as one of the 50 names to watch in the 2023 coaching cycle.
 
PRESEASON DOUBT   
On Jan. 30, Conference USA released is preseason poll and preseason award recipients and, notably, no Aggies were included on the preseason all-conference team while NM State landed in a tie for eighth place as a team on the 2025 CUSA Preseason Poll which is based on a vote of the league's 10 head coaches.
 
However, the Aggies did receive one first-place vote in the preseason poll as Head Coach Jake Angier has publicly backed his team and made known that he was the lone coach to not cast his first-place vote for preseason favorite Dallas Baptist.
 
TRENDING UP                  
After finishing No. 297 in RPI in 2023, the Aggies jumped to No. 138 at the conclusion of the 2024 season to mark the largest RPI increase in the nation.
 
BIG SPIKES TO FILL    
NM State entered the 2025 season with nearly two-thirds of its 2024 roster no longer in the picture. This year, NM State brings back just 12 players while 22 individuals have departed.
 
With a new-look roster comes opportunity as the Aggies will be looking to replace nearly all of its offensive and pitching production. With the departures, the Aggies lost over 70% of their runs (72.9%), hits (72.4%), home runs (86.1%), RBIs (78.2%), stolen bases (87.8%) and innings pitched (72.6%). NM State will also be without Keith Jones II, Romeo Ballesteros and Nick Gore who were the only three Aggies last season to start more than 50 games - starting 53, 53 and 52, respectively.
 
Stat        Returning           Lost        Total     % Returning    % Lost
Starts    137         349         486         28.2%   71.8%
Runs      120         323         443         27.1%   72.9%
Hits         154         404         558         27.6%   72.4%
HR           11            68            79            13.9%   86.1%
RBI          90            323         413         21.8%   78.2%
SB            5               41            46            12.2%   87.8%
IP             124.0     329.1     453.1     27.4%   72.6%
SO            121         267         388         31.2%   68.8%
 
LOCAL PRODUCTS       
The 2025 NM State roster features four Aggies from the Land of Enchantment. This includes Kade Benavidez (Belen), Jaden Davis (Jemez Pueblo), Steve Solorzano (Las Cruces) and Hazen Wright (Carlsbad).
 
WELCOME ABOARD    
This offseason, NM State added Assistant Coach Camden Duzenack to its staff. Following an impressive playing career which included six seasons in the farm system for the Arizona Diamondbacks, he will assist primarily with the infield for the Aggies.
 
In college, Duzenack spent four seasons with CUSA foe Dallas Baptist where he recorded a career batting average of .291 and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American as a freshman in 2014. He was also named MVC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and garnered All-MVC honors three years in a row.
 
ONCE AN AGGIE...          
This season, Head Coach Jake Angier is supported by a pair of former Aggies on his staff as both Assistant Coach David Bellamy and Director of Pitching Analytics Aaron Treloar each spent time during their collegiate playing days at NM State.
 
Bellamy, a two-year letter winner at NM State, is amid his second season on Angier's staff. As a player, he was a standout outfielder for both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He batted .307 his senior year to help lead the Aggies to the Lubbock Regional before being named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First-Team and Academic All-WAC First-Team. Bellamy now serves as the Aggies' hitting coach and is tasked with calling the offensive plays.
 
Meanwhile, Treloar is in his first season on staff after wrapping up his playing career just last season. Treloar ultimately spent his final two years with the Aggies and appeared in 35 games while totaling 42 strikeouts, including 26 in 2024.
 
EASTWARD EXPANSION           
This season, the Aggies will spend their fair share of time on the road as they are slated to play 27 games away from Presley Askew Field. Unlike American settlers, the Aggies will do most of their traveling to the east as their contests against Arizona will represent the only two times that the Aggies will travel west of Las Cruces.
 
During its season, NM State will rack up frequent flyer miles as seven of its 11 road trips will include games that require over 700 miles of travel. This includes three extra lengthy trips as its road trip to UNC Greensboro and Liberty (1,789 miles to UNCG), its trip to FIU (2,030 miles) and its trip to Kennesaw State (1,461 miles) all exceed 1,000 miles.
 
SCOUTING THE (OTHER) AGGIES       
NM State's weekend opponent will enter the week with a 7-5 overall record and are 2-5 in their last seven after opening the season with five straight wins. Most recently, Texas A&M submitted a 6-2 victory over Texas Southern on Wednesday night. Additionally, Texas A&M opened the season as the consensus No. 1 ranked team in college baseball, however, they have since dropped to No. 14 in the most recent D1Baseball.com Top 25 poll.
 
As a team, the Aggies are maintaining a .245 batting average and are scoring 6.1 runs per game. They are currently led by infielder Wyatt Henseler who hoists a .364 average to serve as one of three qualified Aggies maintaining an average of above .300 this season.
 
While the Aggie offense has struggled at times, Texas A&M has leaned on its pitching which enters the weekend with a combined 3.32 ERA to rank 35th in the nation. This has been supported by Friday starter Ryan Prager who is maintaining a 0.55 ERA across his first three starts this season. Prager is once again expected to start on Friday while Justin Lamkin will throw Saturday and Myles Patton will get the start on Sunday.
 
The Aggies are led by first-year head coach, Michael Earley who took over after serving as Texas A&M's hitting coach for the last three seasons and helped the Aggies to two College World Series appearances and a national runner-up finish just last season.
 
UP NEXT             
Following the three-game series against the Aggies, NM State will make the three-hour drive to Beaumont, Texas, for a pair of midweek matchups against Lamar. The Aggies will take on the Cardinals at 5 p.m. MST on Tuesday before returning for a Noon first pitch on Wednesday.