Looking to climb even higher in conference standings, the fifth-place New Mexico State Aggies competed against the last-place University of Texas El Paso Miners in the 59th edition of the Battle of I-10 on April 10, in the first game of a three-part series.
Battling to move up in rankings, the Miners came out with fire in their eyes, but with the Aggies’ 17 out of 29 wins at home, they were faced with a definite challenge early on. Former UTEP pitcher Faith Aragon launched the game with a fierce start, striking out the first three Miners to bat and sending the Aggies to play defense.
After NMSU’s Devin Elam, one of two Aggies with double-digit home runs, struck out, Aragon laid down a bunt single to reach first base. Kendal Lunar and Lauren Garcia then delivered two more successful hits, allowing Faith Aragon to run home.
Heading into the second inning at 1-0, UTEP’s Kenna Carranza became the first runner for the Miners, and ultimately ran home for a double with Miner Marissa Burchard due to a throwing error by Lunar. As the Aggies came to bat, a three-run home run by freshman Destan Burks lit up the home crowd and dugout in cheers, now 4-2.
In the third inning, a slow top half launched into an electric bottom half, starting off with Aggie runners almost immediately covering two bases, Allowing Garcia to score and an RBI double for Bachman. With another hit by Burks causing an indecisively late throw by the Miners, Bachman and Carranza added two points, racking up NMSU’s lead to 7-2.
With all three bases full again, an easy slide in from NMSU’s Johnna Aragon boosted the Aggies further away from UTEP. Closing out the third inning with an 8-2 lead and seven unanswered points.
After a powerful three innings, scoring stilled for the next three, spotlighted by tensions on the field growing by the minute, strikeouts, and unproductive base runs.
With the seventh inning looking promising due to the crowd’s growing cheers, UTEP stepped up to bat first with a new sense of determination to close in the score.
After Burchard struck out against a catch by Johnna Aragon, Miner Halle Hogan stepped in, and on her third batting attempt, sailed the ball clear out of the park to grab a final home run point for UTEP, finalizing the score at 8-3.
After finishing this series, Aggie softball will be back for a three-day tournament against Middle Tennessee State University.
![Group leaders [left to right] Jacarthie Brazil, Kira Baum, Carter-Elise Keating, and Abby Watkins pose for a picture after a successful interview. April 21, 2026.](https://nmsuroundup.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/01_AnnaB_Health-Club_LowRes.jpg)
