Written by: NMSU Athletic Dept.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State softball head coach Kathy Rodolph announced Sunday, Sept. 2, that the Aggies have finalized their 2008 schedule. The schedule, a significant upgrade in non-conference competition is highlighted with eight teams who were 2007 NCAA tournament participants, a 13 game home-stretch and five tournaments.
Rodolph said she believes that this is the most competitive schedule the staff has put together since taking over the program in 2003 and should be looked at as a vote of confidence in the student-athletes.
"Our whole pre-conference schedule is designed to put us to the test mentally and see what we need to work on as a team while we get ready for conference play," Rodolph said. "The WAC has gotten so strong and is right there in being one of the best conferences in softball. Playing such a touch pre-conference schedule allows us to have the hardest part of our schedule not conference play."
For the first time in three seasons, the Aggies are not opening the year with a home tournament. Instead they head west to Palm Springs Calif., to compete at the Cathedral City Kick Off Tournament (Feb. 8-10).
NMSU challenges five different opponents in the two-day stretch, including UC Riverside, No. 17 Oregon State, Portland State, California and UC Davis.
Then the Aggies return home to defend their Troy Cox Invitational (Feb. 15-17) championship title from last season.
NMSU is competing against three teams from the north, Illinois-Chicago, Colorado State and North Dakota State. Two teams from the Lone Star State, Texas-Arlington and Texas-San Antonio are also included in the field.
Three days later (Feb. 20), NMSU goes head-to-head against I-10 rival, at the Aggie Softball Complex. Last season, the Aggies went 2-1 against the Miners, winning both games at home.
Then the Aggies look to reclaim their Hotel Encanto Invitational (Feb. 22-24) Champion status, after falling to Colorado State in the title game, 4-2, last season.
The 2008 opponents consist of Oklahoma State, Samford, Indiana State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Utah Valley State.
The following weekend the Aggies load up the bus and test their ability at the University of Arizona Tournament (Feb.29-March 2), in Tucson, Ariz.
The Aggies play top-quality competition against No. 18 Virginia Tech, Southern Florida, Iowa State, defending NCAA Champions Arizona and Illinois-Chicago for the second time of the season.
Two days later NMSU challenges Georgetown University (March 5), to a doubleheader, in Aggie Country. This marks the first time in program history that these two teams will battle each other.
Then NMSU is off to Las Vegas for a two-day, UNLV Tournament (March 3-9). At the tournament the Aggies will face No. 17 Oregon State for the final time this season, the 2007 Big-10 Conference Champions Ohio State, Portland State and UNLV.
"We are going to UNLV partly because of the good weather, I can pretty much guarantee no rain and partly because it draws other big schools in," Rodolph said. "We are going to be playing Pac-10 schools and Big-10 schools which is a great challenge."
Three days later the Aggies travel to El Paso, Texas to play UTEP for the final time of the season (March 12). Currently the Aggies hold the all-time winning record against UTEP, 10-3.
Two days later, NMSU travels to the Golden State to compete in the San Diego State University Tournament (March 14-16), where the Aggies meet Long Beach State, Iowa State, San Diego State and Utah.
The final pre-conference tune-up is in Los Angeles, Calif., at Loyola Marymount (March 20).
The first conference play for the Aggies is against the 2007 WAC Champions, No. 12 Hawai'i (March 24-25), in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
"Hawai'i is a tough place, they have tremendous amount of fans, almost 1,000 fans per game, which makes a hostile environment, in the best way," Rodolph said. "But I feel we will be ready to play and are really excited."
After the long journey to the islands, the Aggies return home to play a 13-game home stretch, which is the longest game home-stretch in the history of the program.
NMSU plays in its 15th all-time appearance against the Nevada (March 29-30) and it should be quite a battle as the two teams are tied 7-7 in the all-time record. However, the Aggies did have the edge over the WolfPack last season, dominating 4-1.
The following weekend, Louisiana Tech (April 4-5) comes to the Land of Enchantment, followed by I-25 rival, New Mexico (April 8).
Three days later NMSU goes head-to-head against Utah State (April 11-12), a team that the Aggies swept in 2007. And rounding out the home games is Cal State Bakersfield (April 20).
"Having multiple home games was a huge point of emphasis, when putting the schedule together," Rodolph stated. "We wanted to try to get us some time at home where people could see us play, in the heart of our season. This will be a great opportunity for the team to play in front of our crowd."
Then NMSU ventures up the road to Albuquerque to challenge UNM for the second time of the season (April 22). This is the 128th all-time meeting between these two squads and the Aggies will look to redeem themselves after a 1-4 record in 2007. This game also marks the last in-state competition for the 2008 season.
The squad heads back to California to play San Jose State (April 25-26) and then onto Fresno, Calif. to face the defending WAC Tournament Champions, No. 27 Fresno State (May 3).
"Going into Fresno, I don't know if there is more a hostile environment, they average more than 5,000 fans per game. I guess it's a blessing and a curse because it's a great atmosphere to play in, but the majority of fans are not cheering for you," Rodolph said. "This is another reason the beginning of the season is so challenging to prepare us for Fresno and Hawai'i."
Four days later the Aggies return to Hawai'i to participate in the WAC Championship (May 7-10). Last season, the Aggies finished in third place at the conference tournament.
"Obviously having your conference tournament in Hawai'i is a real treat," Rodolph said. "But the bottom line is that we want to go to the conference tournament to win it and get that NCAA bid."
