January is almost in the books, and that can only mean one thing for fastpitch fans across the country…

Time for some softball.

Head coach Kathy Rodolph and the New Mexico State softball team look put together another successful season after claiming their third-straight WAC title and making the program’s third ever appearance in the NCAA Regionals in 2017.

Expectations for this team are definitely high considering the program’s success under Rodolph, NMSU’s all time winningest softball coach, but that’s even more the case this year, with nearly everybody from last season’s team returning for another run at a championship.

“The way that I like to compare the start of the season is I feel like we have an amazing puzzle that just came out of the box… you have all of the pieces on the table and you know that they’re going to fit together — it just takes some time,“ Rodolph said of her team. “It’s definitely great to start the season with a lot of kids back that have played at that high level against some of the stronger power five teams in the country.”

Last season’s impressive showing speaks to the maturity and talent of a team that featured a lot of underclassmen, so a year of experience that featured an NCAA regional visit can only bode well for these “young guns.”

Junior Kelsey Horton will look to build on her dominant 2017 season that saw her bringing home the WAC Player of the Year award, and despite her eye popping stats from last year, the standout utility player hasn’t had to carry the Aggies and likely won’t have to again. Key players like Fahren Glackin, Rachael Rodriguez and Nikki Butler are all looking to build off of their strong 2017 seasons and make this upcoming year another balanced team effort. Rodolph also called the current pitching staff the “deepest in [her] time at NMSU,” meaning this team will be as dangerous as it’s ever been.

NMSU is primed to be good all over the field, but their money has been made with the bat in their hand and runners on base, and 2018 looks to be no different.

“I feel like our program over the last 10 years has basically vied as a top 10 team in the country offensively, so we recruit it year in and year out. We’re of course looking for kids that can defend but if I had to give up defense, I would definitely take the offense,” Rodolph said. “I think that this year’s team is going to be really exciting to watch — we have an ideal mixture of power and speed.”

The Aggies are coming off a season where they ranked in the top-20 nationally in batting average (.325), on-base percentage (.414), slugging percentage (.501) and scoring (5.93 runs per game). An all-around offensive attack is tough to overcome, so Rodolph’s approach to winning is as effective as it is entertaining.

While NMSU does have a good shot at coming away with their 4th straight conference title, the road ahead of them will be far from a cakewalk, as they play defending national champion Oklahoma as well as six other teams that made it to the NCAA tournament last season. To coach Rodolph, though, facing tough battles like that early are necessary for the program to elevate to the next level.

“I believe that if we want a chance to vie for a national title and be successful in the post season, we have to figure out what those teams do,” Rodolph said when asked about her team’s daunting schedule. “The difference between mid-majors [like NMSU] and the elite top-10 is the ability to play fast without rushing, so when I’m able to have them play against that competition, it helps us speed up so that it’s not so overwhelming.”

There, of course, will be a lot standing in NMSU’s way of continuing their success under Rodolph, especially with rival Grand Canyon’s being tournament eligible this season, but this team full of talented returners and a promising recruiting class is primed to make another run, and there’s little reason to doubt that they won’t take that next step in 2018.

The Aggies open the season with a double-header against Kentucky on Feb. 10 at the NMSU Softball Complex.