The day has finally arrived! The WAC basketball tournament begins today on the women's side as four quarterfinal matchups will take place. The Aggies play at 3:30 p.m. MT against 4-seed Idaho. The Aggies and Vandals played very competitive games in the regular season with Idaho coming away victorious in both. In both games the Aggies held nine point second half leads only to see them disappear. Hopefully the Aggie players feel as though they "owe" Idaho for the two regular season losses.

The Aggies are averaging 66.8 points per game while Idaho averages 62.2 points per game in the 16 conference games. The Aggies are third in scoring defense allowing 63.1 points per game while the Vandals are sixth allowing 64.7 points per game. Both games between the Aggies and Vandals saw the winner reach the 60s as Idaho won 68-65 in Las Cruces and 60-59 in Moscow. Should the game come down to the wire as the first two did, free throw shooting will as always be important. In the first meeting in Las Cruces it was Idaho who hit free throws down the stretch (but not before missing a couple that had the Aggies gotten the defensive rebound they would have had a chance to tie or win). In the second game it was once again free throws that were a deciding factor. However, this time it was the Aggies' misses that cost them the game. Kaitlyn Soto and Madison Spence each missed the back ends of two shot fouls which could have won them the game and for Madison, her missed free throw would have tied the game and sent it to overtime.

The players to watch today on both sides are of course the usual suspects. For Idaho it's senior point guard Charlotte Otero. Clearly the heart and soul of the team. She averages 38.7 minutes per game and even though she is not the Vandals' leading scorer she is the calming force on the floor for Idaho. The Vandal scoring is led by Rachele Kloke who is averaging 14.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on the season but 17.0 points 4.9 rebounds in conference play. She is also the team's second best free throw shooting at 73 percent but has taken and made the most free throws on the team by a wide margin.

The Aggies will of course be relying on Second Team All-WAC honoree Crystal Boyd. Boyd is the fifth leading scorer in the WAC at 16.6 points per game in league contests. The Aggies are also hoping that fellow necomer Jasmine Lowe is at full strength after nursing an ankle injury for a good part of the conference race. Lowe is the ninth leading scorer in WAC play averaging 13.9 points per game. And of course not to be forgotten is Madison Spence who is the Aggies' heart and soul. Like Otero, she may not be the leading scorer on the team but she is the Aggies' calming force on the floor.

The key to today's game for the Aggies will be to take Rachele Kloke out of her comfort zone. Against the Aggies she has posted 14 and 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 7-of-15 shooting. In Idaho's loss to Louisiana Tech, Kloke scored just six points on 3-of-20 shooting.

Today figures to be another hotly contested battle between two good teams. The winner has the unenviable task of taking on behemoth Fresno State who went 16-0 in conference play. The Aggies are looking to win a conference tournament game for the fifth time in seven years under head coach Darin Spence who holds a 7-6 record all-time in conference tournaments (Sun Belt and WAC).

Today's game is scheduled to tip off at 3:30 p.m. MT and can be seen on WAC.tv. Streaming audio for today's game will be available via Aggie Access (subscription required) and the game can be heard on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces with Kyle Doperalski calling all the action. We will also provide scoring updates on our Twitter page @AgsBleedCrimson. Travis Mason-Bushman of the outstanding Vandal Nation blog will also likely have a Live Blog (check back later on his site).

Congratulations to Jahmar Young who earned USBWA (U.S. Basketball Writers Association) All-District Honors again this season. Last season Young was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Finally, the Aggie baseball team knocked off No. 22 New Mexico yesterday 14-10 at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque. The Aggies will go for the series win today at 3:05 p.m. MT. Live Stats will be available for today's game via the New Mexico athletic website.

And if you live in Albuquerque and can get away for the afternoon then head out to Isotopes Park. This message was sent out to alumni just a little while ago from head coach Rocky Ward.

"This is really short notice but the Aggie baseball team is playing UNM today, one or our Aggies , Dan Foley plans to have an RV for tailgating setup at 12pm today. Team will be there but will have to leave by 12:30-12:40 because batting practice is at 1pm. Team pregame ends by 1:45pm, so I (Rocky) might be able to head back out to the tailgate to mingle for a few minutes before the 3pm game time."

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The Aggie baseball team will face in-state rival New Mexico today and tomorrow in Albuquerque at Isotopes Park. The Aggies and Lobos split a pair of games last week with UNM winning the first game 9-6 and the Aggies winning the second game 17-8. We talked with head coach Rocky Ward about those two games as well as the four game series against St. Joseph's in this week's interview. The Aggies have had pretty good success in Albuquerque the past few seasons winning there in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Last year was the only time the Aggies and Lobos did not play two games in Las Cruces and two in Albuquerque. The Aggies are 9-6 on the young season while New Mexico is 8-4 and coming off a 2-1 series victory over Southern Cal.

Both games against UNM this week are scheduled for a 3:05 p.m. first pitch. They can be heard on the radio (tape delayed) on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces at 6:00 p.m. but live streaming audio will be available via Aggie Access (subscription required). Live stats for today's game will also be available via the New Mexico athletic website.

Be sure to check out our interviews with Aggie men's head basketball coach Marvin Menzies and Aggie women's head coach Darin Spence as the two coaches and teams head to Reno for the WAC tournament.

The women open up play tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. MT while the men will wrap up the first day's action on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. MT.

Both coaches are obviously very optimistic about their chances to win the tournament. Both of the top seeds in league play are on a roll, Utah State on the men's side has won 15 straight games and 14 straight conference games. On the women's side, Fresno State has won 17 straight games and went undefeated in WAC play winning all 16 games.

Both the Aggie men and the Aggie women face a dangerous first round opponent. For the men it's San Jose State, a team that defeated them in San Jose and a team that if they get hot behind the scoring of First Team All-WAC selection Adrian Oliver and Robert Owens, they have the talent to win the tournament. Likewise for Idaho, they have gotten hot at the right time. The Vandals struggled to open the season and lost their first two conference games but have won six of their final nine games and vaulted to a tie for 4th place over the final three weeks of the season.

For both teams to win the WAC title, they will have definitely had to take the toughest road. The Aggie men will have to defeat San Jose State, likely setting up a semifinal rematch with Nevada, a team that swept them this season and then if they can win that game they would face Utah State, a team that just beat them by 18 points.

The women have an equally daunting task. They must defeat Idaho, a team that swept them this season, then setting up a semifinal game with Fresno State who as we mentioned earlier is undefeated in league play this season. If they can get past that semifinal game it would set up a game against one of the teams from the other half of the bracket which includes Boise State, Nevada and Louisiana Tech.

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The Aggie baseball team fell 35-16 on Sunday to St. Joseph's in a game that saw the Aggies hit five home runs. The Aggies used nine different pitchers, none of them pitching more than two innings. The 51 combined runs were just three shy of the all-time record of 54 which was set by the Aggies and Nevada in a 38-16 loss by the Aggies all the way back in 1999. There were a whopping 126 runs scored by both teams in this series and the first and final games saw the winner score 30-plus runs.

The Aggies return to action tomorrow when they face New Mexico in Albuquerque in a two-game series with game two taking place Wednesday.

The Aggie men's and women's basketball team brought home a few accolades yesterday afternoon as the All-WAC teams were announced. The Aggie men's basketball team saw Jahmar Young earn First Team honors, Jonathan Gibson earn Second Team honors and Wendell McKines earn Honorable Mention. On the women's side Crystal Boyd earned Second Team honors and Camila Rosen earned All-Freshman honors.

The Aggie women will take the court on Wednesday afternoon against Idaho as they hope to win their first WAC title. The Aggies are much better than their 8-8 conference record indicates as they were probably about 30 seconds or less of game time from being 10-6 in conference play as they suffered last second losses on the road against Idaho and twice against Nevada and another three minutes of game time from being 12-4 in conference as they held late game leads over those same two teams at home before losing.

The men's team will play in the final game on Thursday against San Jose State. The Spartans lost eight of their final 10 games but are still a very dangerous team and also much better than their 6-10 record indicates. The main concern for the men heading into the tournament this week is defense. The Aggies' interior defense was exposed twice this past week as Nevada had their way scoring at will inside in a game that was reminiscent of last season's home finale against Boise State (from a defensive perspective). Then on Saturday Utah State similarly was able to score inside just about whenever they wanted in the first half and then when the UtAgs got hot in the second half from outside, combined with NM State's struggles offensively, it was game over.

Fatigue is also a bit of a concern as the winner of the tournament has to win three games in four days and in the second half of the last three games the Aggies have given up 54, 59 and 47 points (H/T to Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News for that stat). Since that outstanding defensive performance against Idaho at home in which they held the Vandals to just 30 percent shooting, the Aggies have given up 92, 100 and 81 points and in each of those three games a player from the opposing team either had a career-high (Robert Arnold's 35 points and Brandon Fields' 32 points) or season high (Tai Wesley's 24 points) scoring night. The Aggies will need to shore up that defense if they want to win the title this week.

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The Aggie men's basketball team got whacked in Logan last night losing 81-63. The Aggies were only down by four points at halftime but a lengthy second half drought did in the crimson-clad Aggies. New Mexico State was down by just six with 10:19 left to go after Troy Gillenwater hit a free throw to complete a three point play but then the Aggies' offense deserted them. The Aggies would not score a field goal until the 3:23 mark when Wendell McKines got a layup. In that stretch the Aggies scored just six points in nearly seven minutes, all from the free throw line while Utah State had scored 26 points via a barrage of three pointers, alley-oops, layups, jumpers and free throws.

It was a disappointing end to a disappointing road trip in which the Aggies failed to capitalize on a chance to win the regular season title. The Aggies also went from being a possible bubble/at-large to being squarely on the outside looking in and needing to win the WAC tournament to get a bid to the Big Dance.

Fortunately for Aggie fans and fans of the other six teams not named Utah State, recent history says that Utah State will not win the WAC tournament this year. In the past seven WAC tournaments have been won by different teams, there are repeat winners in that bunch but no back-to-back winners. The last team to repeat at conference tournament champions was Hawai'i who pulled off the feat winning the 2001 and 2002 titles. The 2000-2001 Warriors were also the last team outside the top four to win the WAC title as history says that you have to be inside the top four to win the conference tournament (we have the numbers to back it, we just can't seem to find the post we did last year with the data).

The one major concern heading into next week's tournament is fatigue. Jack Nixon alluded to it last night in his postgame interview with Coach Menzies. Coach Menzies acknowledged that he saw some fatigue in his players. The WAC tournament comes down to who can survive and win three games in four days. The Aggies play a high energy level of basketball both on offense and defense with the constant full court press. There is no doubt that the Aggies are one of the most physically talented teams in the league but defensively they have not been very good the past two games and that could be due in large part to fatigue. The Aggies don't play until the final game on Thursday in the quarterfinals, something that will hopefully aid in the fatigue level of the team.

The Aggie women's basketball team won their home finale last night defeating San Jose State 62-35. The Aggies will be the 5-seed in the WAC tournament and will face 4-seed Idaho. The Aggies have to be licking their chops at this matchup as they let the Vandals steal both games after they gave up nine-point second half leads in both games. The Aggies will play in the afternoon game of the quarterfinals with the game time scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. MT tip-off.

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The Aggie baseball team absolutely crushed St. Joe's in the Friday night opener beating the Hawks 33-1 (yes, you read that correctly). You may be asking yourself, how exactly does a team score 33 runs in a ballgame? Here's how: The Aggies scored six in the first, five in the second, nine in the third, two in the fourth, three in the sixth, one in the seventh and eight in the eighth. Their 33 runs came on 24 hits. St. Joe's scored one run in the top of the second on a solo home run. The Aggies' 33 runs were just four shy of the school record 37 put up by the 2006 team against Northern Iowa. The 32-run differential was the largest margin of victory in the Ward era (Rocky or Gary).

What gets looked past in a blowout like this is the job the Aggie pitching staff and defense did. You don't often hold teams to just one run at Presley Askew Field but that's exactly what the Aggies did. Three pitchers scattered 12 hits, Dan Reid went 5.0 innings allowing six hits and just the one run. Reid is quickly becoming this year's D.J. Simon.

Just as impressive however, was the Aggie defense. They turned five double plays in the game which breaks the old school record of four which had been done on several occasions, the last occurring in the 2006 season (it may have happened last season as well). The Aggies also did not commit a single error in the game, nor were there any plays by the Aggies that could have been called either an error or a hit. The Aggies played a pretty flawless game defensively.

The play that probably made Coach Ward the happiest all game came on defense in the seventh inning with the game already long since decided, the Hawks had a runner on first who according to play-by-play man Jeff Matthews decided to get a little "cute" and strayed too far off the bag. Aggie pitcher Corey Hill stepped off the bag, wheeled around and gunned the ball to the second baseman Mike Sodders who was able to get the St. Joe's runner in a rundown. Why was that play so significant? It showed that the Aggies were still mentally in the game even though they were up 25-1. It's that kind of mental focus that will win the Aggies a championship this season.

The Aggies and Hawks resume their series today with a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled for a 3:05 p.m. start.

The Aggie men's basketball team is in Logan tonight as they wrap up the regular season. Unfortunately this game does not have the significance that both Aggie fanbases had hoped. With New Mexico State's loss to Nevada on Thursday night, Utah State wrapped up the regular season title for the third consecutive season, including the second consecutive outright title and second consecutive 14-2 conference record.

New Mexico State still has much to play for despite not having a shot at the regular season title and the number one seed. The Aggies must win tonight to secure the 2-seed in the conference tournament. The Aggies could fall to the 3-seed if they lose to Utah State and Nevada defeats Louisiana Tech (which is a very likely outcome in Reno). As we mentioned yesterday, the Aggies can wrap up the 2-seed with a victory or a loss by Nevada.

We were a little off in our seeding predictions yesterday, San Jose State has locked up the 6-seed in the WAC tournament. Idaho is definitely in the tournament, however, their seeding is still undetermined as they could finish as the 7-seed or 8-seed. Boise State and Hawai'i are the two teams who could miss the WAC tournament. Boise State hosts San Jose State and Hawai'i faces Idaho in Moscow. Boise State just has to win and they're in, their seeding will be determined by what other teams do. The Las Cruces Bulletin's blog has a rundown from the WAC Media relations department on seeding scenarios.

The Aggies also have a chance to do something they haven't done since the 2005-2006 season and that is sweep Utah State. The Aggies are one of just a short list of teams to have beaten Stew Morrill in Logan and a win tonight would be huge for the Aggies heading into the conference tournament. The Aggies certainly don't want to enter postseason play on a two-game losing streak.

Tonight's tip off is set for 7:00 p.m and the game will be televised on AggieVision with streaming video also available via ESPN360.com. Streaming audio will be available via Aggie Access (subscription required). The game can also be heard on the Aggie Sports Network across the state of New Mexico.

The Aggie women will play their final regular season game tonight as they host San Jose State for Senior Night. The Aggies also have much to play for in the way of seedings. They are in a three-way tie for fourth with the two Idaho schools but can finish with the 4-seed if they win tonight and Nevada defeats Idaho. If the Aggies somehow lose tonight, they would potentially drop to the 6-seed if Boise State (vs. La. Tech) and Idaho (vs. Nevada) both win. It's an unlikely scenario but one that must be mentioned.

The Aggies will honor three seniors tonight, two players, Crystal Boyd and Ashley Scroggins, and the Aggies' four-year student manager, Sierra Spence.

The Spartans are already eliminated from postseason play and one has to wonder if this might be SJSU head coach Pam DeCosta's final game at the helm of the Spartans. DeCosta is in her third season and currently has an 11-78 record overall and just a 4-43 record in conference.

In any event, the Aggies should win this game tonight. They're playing a lesser team, at home, on Senior Night with a chance to finish in the top half of the league and knowing that they gave away four conference games (both Idaho games and both Nevada games) and could have finished second in a season that they were picked to finish fifth and sixth by the coaches and media respectively (and for the record, we picked them to finish second).

Tonight's game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff. Streaming audio and video will be available for tonight's game via Aggie Access (subscription required). The game can also be heard on KSNM AM 570 with Kyle Doperalski calling the action.

The Aggie softball team is back in action today in Las Vegas after splitting two games yesterday at the Eller Media Stadium Classic. The Aggies run-ruled Southern Utah 11-3 and then fell 6-0 to No. 13/15 Cal. The Aggies will face UNLV and Weber State today. The games are scheduled for a 4:45 and 7:00 p.m. MT first pitch. Live Stats will be available for both games and can be accessed at the Eller Media Stadium Classic page on the UNLV athletic website.

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The Aggie men's basketball team lost last night to Nevada in Reno and were swept by the Wolf Pack this season. The loss means that the Utah State Aggies are regular season champions and the New Mexico State Aggies will have to settle for a shot at second place in the regular season. However, there is still some work to be done on the crimson Aggies' part.

The Aggies will need to beat Utah State to assure themselves of the number two seed or have Louisiana Tech beat Nevada on Saturday night in Reno. Should New Mexico State lose to Utah State and Nevada defeat Louisiana Tech, then Nevada and New Mexico State would both finish the regular season 11-5 but Nevada would earn the No. 2 seed by virtue of their sweep over the Aggies. If the Aggies get the No. 2 seed or the No. 3 seed, it would set up a semifinal showdown between the Aggies and Wolf Pack should both teams advance past the first round.

However, should Louisiana Tech defeat Nevada on Saturday night, La. Tech would earn the No. 3 seed by virtue of their sweep over Nevada and the Aggies would get the No. 2 seed regardless of the outcome of their game versus Utah State.

The first round opponent for the New Mexico State will either be San Jose State or Idaho, that much we do know. Fresno State's victory over Louisiana Tech last night assured them of the No. 5 seed in the WAC tournament.

Here's where it gets really interesting. Should San Jose State defeat Boise State and Hawai'i defeat Idaho, then Hawai'i would sneak into the WAC tournament by virtue of their victory over Nevada (as Boise State was swept by the Wolf Pack). Idaho would earn the No. 6 seed if they beat Hawai'i AND Boise State beats San Jose State. Both Idaho and SJSU would finish with a 7-9 conference record but Idaho swept the Spartans and would therefore earn the higher seed. Basically only two seeds, No. 1 Utah State and No. 5 Fresno State have been decided. The remaining six seeds are all up for grabs.

The Aggie baseball team is back in action today as they open up a four game series against St. Joseph's. The Hawks are 0-3 on the season and have not played since last weekend as their home opener on March 2nd was cancelled due to unplayable conditions. The Aggies are 6-5 and are coming off a big 17-8 victory over No. 20 New Mexico which earned them a split in the two-game series in Las Cruces. Last season the Aggies had started out hot but it was a victory over an equally hot New Mexico in Albuquerque that really legitimized their fast start and propelled them to the big season that they had. Hopefully this season, despite not quite getting out to as fast a start as they had hoped, their victory over No. 20 New Mexico will propel them to the season that they are hoping to have. One in which they win the WAC title and reach the NCAA Regionals.

Today's game is scheduled for a 6:05 p.m. start. Streaming audio and video will be available for today's game via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie softball team is back in action as they're in Las Vegas for the Eller Media Stadium tournament. The Aggies are looking to rebound from a doubleheader sweep at the hands of No. 2 Arizona. The Aggies were held scoreless in back-to-back games and it was the first time since the 2004 season that the Aggies have been run-ruled in back-to-back games.

The Aggies will face Southern Utah and No. 13/15 Cal today at 10:00 and 12:15 p.m. respectively. Southern Utah is 1-9 on the season but has faced some incredibly tough competition so their record is a bit deceiving. Live Stats for the Aggies' game versus Southern Utah are available via the Eller Media Stadium Classic tournament page. The Cal Golden Bears are 11-4 overall and have a strong offense and a solid pitching staff. Live Stats for today's game versus Cal are available via the Cal athletic website.

The Aggie football team signed an Junior College All-American yesterday. Kenny Turner is a standout talent who spent five years in prison but has turned his life around and is getting a second chance at New Mexico State. Shannon J. Owens of the Orlando Sentinel has more on Turner's reformation. Turner rushed for 1,496 yards and 19 touchdowns during the 2009 season earning him National Junior College All-America and All-California Community College first team honors.

Finally, we'd like to congratulate Kyle Doperalski who broadcast his 500th game at New Mexico State this past weekend during the Aggies' baseball series with Akron. Kyle is one of the best play-by-play men in the business and we always look forward to his broadcasts, whether they be on the radio or on television. Congrats Kyle!

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The Aggie baseball team knocked off No. 20 New Mexico yesterday 17-8. The Aggies put an eight spot on the board in the bottom of the second inning to take an 8-0 lead and never looked back. Wade Reynoso belted a grand slam in that inning as part of those eight runs. The Aggies had loaded the bases with two outs the previous inning but were unable to score any runs so it was increasingly important that the Aggies be able to capitalize on the opportunities they had.

It's the second consecutive season that the Aggies have defeated a ranked team at Presley Askew field as last year they split a four game series with then No. 20 Hawai'i. The Aggies host St. Joseph's this weekend for a four game series.

The Aggies will look to bounce back as they travel to Las Vegas for the Eller Media Stadium Classic where they'll face more quality competition in Cal, Portland State, UNLV, Southern Utah and Weber State. They'll kick off their play tomorrow against Southern Utah at 10:00 a.m. and Cal at 12:15 p.m.

The Aggie women's basketball team was downed by a three point buzzer-beater by Nevada last night as they fell 61-59. The Aggies trailed by 12 at halftime but had rallied to take a 59-58 lead. Nevada's last second shot bounced in and the Aggies were defeated. The loss drops them to 17-12 and 7-8 in league play. They do stay tied for fourth place with Idaho and are a game ahead of Boise State who sits in sixth. The Aggies are guaranteed to finish no worse than fifth place because of their sweep over Boise State. They will either face Idaho or Boise State in the first round of the tournament and as Coach Spence mentioned in this week's interview, it will either be a team that the Aggies have beaten twice this season or a team that the Aggies have lost to twice this season. The Aggies return home for Senior Night on Saturday at the Pan Am.

The Aggie men's basketball team will take the court tonight as they try to move one step closer to claiming a share of the regular season title. A very angry Wolf Pack squad awaits them tonight as Nevada is coming off a shocking loss at Hawai'i this past Saturday night. Nevada is looking to lock up the three seed in the WAC tournament and needs two victories to close it out. The Aggies as you know need two victories to earn a share of the regular season title, an automatic entry into the NIT should they fail to win the WAC tournament, and the number one seed in the WAC tournament.

The Aggies and Wolf Pack met earlier this season in Las Cruces and it was all Wolf Pack. Luke Babbitt dominated the game finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 77-67 final that wasn't quite as close as the final score indicates. Since then the Aggies have added another inside presence in Troy Gillenwater who just by sheer presence of having a solid big inside, should change what the Wolf Pack can do with Luke Babbitt. This will be GIllenwater's first game in Reno as he was benched for last season's victory over the Wolf Pack.

Tonight's game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. MT start. The game can be heard on the Aggie Sports Network and streaming audio will be available for tonight's game via Aggie Access.

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It's a very busy day for Aggie fans. The Aggie softball team is in Tucson to take on No. 2 Arizona. The Wildcats are 12-1 overall and coming of a perfect 5-0 showing at the prestigious Cathedral City Classic tournament in Palm City, Calif. These two teams met last season in Las Cruces and it was the Wildcats who came out on top of the doubleheader but not before the Aggies gave the Cats a good scare. NM State held the lead in the first game of the doubleheader going into the top of the seventh inning but couldn't hold on for the victory. The Aggies then took an early lead in the second game but once again came up just short.

Arizona has an offense that at is just as potent as the Aggie offense and this season the Wildcats have an ace in the circle, something they lacked last season. Kenzie Fowler has a 10-0 record and has pitched in 11 of Arizona's 13 games and has started eight. She enters today's game with a 1.21 ERA and a whopping 88 strikeouts in 57.2 innings pitched.

Today's doubleheader is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. MT. Live stats will be available via the Arizona athletic website. Streaming video is also available via Arizona All-Access for a small fee.

The Aggie women's basketball team is in Reno tonight to take on Nevada. A win would keep the Aggies in the hunt for a third place finish along with Nevada. The Aggies need a little help from Louisiana Tech and Idaho for that scenario to unfold as they need La. Tech to defeat Idaho tonight in Moscow which will be a tougher task than it may appear on the surface. The Vandals took La. Tech to overtime in Ruston and the Vandals are one of the league's hottest teams having won five of their last seven conference games. Then on Saturday the Aggies would need to defeat San Jose State on Senior Night in the Pan Am and have Idaho defeat Nevada in Reno. The Vandals knocked off Nevada in Moscow earlier this season. The Aggies would get the number four seed by virtue of Nevada having a win over La. Tech while the Aggies were swept by the Lady Techsters. At this point the Aggies' likely first round opponent in the WAC tournament looks to be either Idaho or Boise State.

Tonight's game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. MT tip-off and can be heard on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces. Streaming audio will also be available for today's game via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie baseball team dropped a close game with No. 20 New Mexico last night at Presley Askew Field. The Lobos jumped out to a 3-0 lead and despite the Aggies' best efforts, that early three run lead would hold up. The Aggies took the lead at 4-3 in the bottom of the third inning after Ben Harty hit a mammoth shot to dead center field over the trees which was followed a couple batters later by an RBI from Nate Shaver. However, the Aggies fell behind 8-4 just a few innings later. The Aggies cut the lead to 8-6 on a Kyle Decater blast over the right-centerfield wall but couldn't push any more runs across the plate. The Aggies left the bases loaded twice in the game.

The highlight of the night, aside from the two towering home runs from the Aggies, was Aggie reliever Scott Coffman coming into the game in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and nobody out and UNM threatening to blow the game wide open and Coffman proceeding to retire three straight batters (two on strikeouts) to get the Aggies out of the jam and keep them within striking distance.

The Aggies and Lobos resume the rivalry today at 3:05 p.m. at Presley Askew Field as they try to snap a seven game home losing streak to the Lobos. NM State has won in Albuquerque a few times in the past few seasons but has not defeated UNM at home since the 2005 season. The game will be televised on AggieVision with Jeff Matthews and Glen Cerny calling what should be a very exciting game.

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The Utah State Aggies clinched at least a share of the regular season WAC title last night winning big over Fresno State 76-39 in a game that was never in doubt. That means that New Mexico State's game with Nevada now becomes a must-win if the crimson Aggies want to clinch a share of the regular season title and the top seed in the WAC tournament.

If the Aggies want any hope of consideration for an at-large bid they have to win the regular season title and at least get to the conference championship game and even then we're still not completely convinced they'd on the bubble. Just ask Utah State and Missouri State about their experiences with "the bubble". In the 2003-2004 season Utah State finished 25-3 and 17-1 in the Big West and got left out (they lost in the first round of the Big West tournament) and in the 2005-2006 season Missouri State finished 20-8 with a conference record of 12-6 in the Missouri Valley (which sent four teams to the NCAAs that season and had two Sweet 16 teams) AND they had two non-conference wins over NCAA tournament participants AND an RPI of 21 and still got left out. We're pretty sure that even Utah State fans don't feel completely at ease about their at-large chances even with a 22-5 record and an RPI of 34.

The other (perhaps lesser-known) reason the Aggies want to win the regular season title is that the winner of the regular season (top seed) earns an automatic invitation to the NIT should they fail to make the NCAA tournament. This season that team would be New Mexico State should they clinch a share of the WAC regular season title.

The Aggie baseball team kicks off a two-game series with in-state rival and No. 20 ranked New Mexico. As we mentioned yesterday, the Lobos started off their season by beating then No. 1 Texas in Austin two out of three times. The Lobos took three of four from Northern Colorado this past weekend while the Aggies swept the University of the Southwest and then took three of four from Akron.

The Lobos enter today's game with a 5-2 record while the Aggies are 5-4. The two teams split their series last season with each winning on the other's home turf.

Today's game is scheduled for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch and can be heard on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces. Streaming audio will also be available via Aggie Access. Tomorrow's game is scheduled for a 3:05 p.m. first pitch and will be televised on AggieVision.

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The Aggie baseball team is now over. 500 for the first time this season after defeating Akron 17-5 in the final game of their four game series. The Aggies crushed six homers and Aggie shortstop Ryan Aguayo hit three of them. The Aggie offense came alive this past weekend as they scored 11, 8, 10 and 17 runs as they went 3-1 in that stretch, their lone loss a 13-11 setback on Friday, but a game that saw them score seven runs in the bottom of the eighth and build some offensive momentum heading into the remainder of the weekend.

The Aggies have today off and then they host a two-game set with in-state rival New Mexico beginning tomorrow. The Lobos opened the season two weekends ago with a 2-1 series victory over then No. 1 ranked Texas in Austin. This past weekend they went 3-1 against Northern Colorado in Albuquerque. The Lobos are currently ranked No. 20 by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

It's a big week for Aggie men's and women's basketball as the regular season comes to a close. The Aggie men are on the road to finish the regular season. Wins at Nevada on Thursday and at Utah State on Saturday would give them a share of the regular season title with Utah State (assuming USU doesn't lose to Fresno State tonight) but it would give NM State the number one overall seed by virtue of owning a sweep over Utah State.

The Aggie women's basketball team is on the road to face Nevada on Wednesday and then returns home to close out the regular season against San Jose State. The Aggie women can finish as high as third place if they win out if Louisiana Tech defeats Idaho and then Idaho defeats Nevada. If Idaho and New Mexico State both win out then the Vandals and Aggies would finish tied for third but Idaho would own the tiebreaker having swept the Aggies this season.

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