LAS CRUCES, N.M. ? The New Mexico State baseball team (20-3) jumped into the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division I baseball poll, Monday, March 23 after an impressive showing against San Francisco.
The Aggies, at No. 24 in the poll, are off to their best start in program history and continue to be among the best teams in the nation offensively with 58 home runs, while boasting a team batting average of .381. NM State hasn’t had a start close to this since the 1990 team went 19-3 to open the season.
“What this does is recognize what we have done to start the season and it justifies that we beat a well respected team in San Francisco,” head coach Rocky Ward said. “People were waiting to see if we could be a team like USF and we did just that.”
The Aggies have won 10 games when their opponents have scored first and have won five games when going into the sixth inning without a lead. Senior shortstop and the Louisville National Player of the Week (March 15) Bryan Marquez (Bonny Lake, Wash.) helped in a few of those come-from-behind victories, coming up with a clutch hit in a 5-4 victory over No. 20 New Mexico and hitting a game-tying grand slam against Hartford. Junior Mike Sodders (Moreno Valley, Calif.) has also been clutch for NM State as he heads into week six second in the Western Athletic Conference in batting average at .429, behind senior catcher Jeff Farnham (Las Vegas, N.M.), who is hitting .430.
“This is good for our program and good for recruits, because it shows them that we are building a good team here,” Ward said. “This also shows that we are working hard and the players are putting in the time and effort to get the wins. They deserve the recognition.”
This is the first time NM State has been ranked in any polls since 2004, when the Aggies started 19-4. The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll is the oldest college baseball poll, which started during the 1957 college baseball season.
NM State is on its first extended road trip taking on the University of Texas-Brownsville, March 24-25 before playing the University of Texas-Pan American, March 26-28. Four of the five games can be heard on KSNM AM 570 with Jeff Matthews giving the play-by-play action. Fans should go to www.NMStateSports.com for more information.