The New Mexico State baseball (5-19, 3-9 WAC) rolled into east Texas to take on the team atop the WAC standings, Sam Houston State (18-11, 10-2 WAC). No. 1 in the conference or not, the Aggies never fret when it comes to facing conference opponents. They were able to avoid being swept by the Bearkats behind impressive team play and a dialed-in Kevin Jimenez at the plate.

Watching this NMSU baseball team, you are quickly able to tell that they can hang with anyone in the conference. They reinforced that notion in the first and last games of the series – taking SHSU the distance in a 2-3 loss on Friday, and unloading the clip on Sunday with a 10-6 win to close out the series strong. Saturday’s middle game was one to forget; despite starting off strong, the Aggies gave up 15 runs in two innings of what would turn out to be a 4-17 loss in just seven innings of play.

A standout player for New Mexico State this series? Second baseman Kevin Jimenez. Jimenez was dialed in at the plate for the better part of the series, tacking on four hits, two homers, three walks, and six RBIs (four of them in the final game) on 10 trips to the plate.

The star second baseman continues to be one of the Aggies’ best and most consistent players. He is the only player that has started and played in every game this season (24) and bats a .303 average in a team-high 89 plate appearances.

Game One: 2-3 Loss | L: Meza, Treyjen (1-5)

As stated before, New Mexico State never backs down regardless of their opponents. They came into the series opener ready to compete. And compete they did. Aggie Ace, Treyjen Meza, couldn’t be touched until he gave up the tying run in the fourth inning. The Bearkats then scored another two runs in the next inning to go up 3-1. An Edwin Martinez-Pagani home run in the sixth inning would not be enough, though, as both teams remained scoreless for the remainder of the ballgame.

Game Two: 4-17 Loss | L: Cortes, Pablo (1-3)

This NM State campaign have seen better middle games this season. Despite a first-inning two-run homer for Kevin Jimenez and an RBI single courtesy of Romeo Ballesteros the next inning, Sam Houston went on a three-inning scoring onslaught from innings 2-4. The Bearkats scored all 17 of their runs in those innings and would eventually ten run rule the visitors in convincing fashion to end the game early in seven innings.

Game Three: 10-6 Win | W: Estrella, Noah (1-0)

Despite the blowout the evening prior, the Aggies came into Sunday’s closer locked in and ready to win. Behind the stellar play of Kevin Jimenez’s home run and four RBIs and an extra three from Nick Gore, the Aggies were able to assume control of the game from start to finish. Five runs in the first two frames and two more insurance runs in the eighth put NMSU over the Bearkats 10-6 to give SHSU their second conference loss.

The New Mexico State Baseball campaign has an opportunity to ride this momentum into this next week at home. The Aggies host the rival Lobos of UNM on Tuesday, April 4, and welcome the Lancers of California Baptist for another WAC series from Thursday to Saturday.

Coming out of these next four games with a winning record could boost the Aggies up in the WAC standings as they continue to look for a wave of momentum to ride during the middle of this season.