The Aggie softball team lost another heartbreaker last night to Fresno State in the first round of the WAC Softball tournament. The Aggies went up 1-0 in the first inning, Fresno State came back to tied the game in the bottom of the first inning, then took the lead in the bottom of the third 2-1 and then the Aggies scored one run in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 2. In the top of the seventh inning the Aggies had the first two batters reach base on walks and then advanced the runners to second and third on a put out but could not capitalize and score with either of the next two batters. The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and with one out scored on a fielder's choice to end the game. Once again the Aggies put themselves in a position to win the game but came up just short. This is the second walk off win for the ninth-ranked Bulldogs over NMSU in the past five days.
The Aggies have proven they can play with the top teams, they must now take the next step and prove that they can beat the top teams. Unfortunately with the loss the Aggies fall into the loser's bracket and will face 7-seed Utah State today at 6:30 p.m. MDT. NMSU swept Utah State in Logan in the regular season and the loser of this game goes home while the winner will advance to face the loser of the Louisiana Tech/Fresno State game. You can follow all the action via Live Stats through the Hawai'i athletic website (click on the Live Stats link from the WAC website).
Between the Bulldogs' miracle buzzer beater by Haley Munro on senior night in Las Cruces and then the women's basketball championship game in Las Cruces, Fresno State eliminating the women's tennis team in the WAC tennis championship semifinals, and the equestrian team losing in the national championships, and now two walk of wins by the softball team in five days, the Aggie women's teams are probably sick and tired of seeing Fresno State. Only the volleyball team has had success this season against the Fresno State women (thank goodness for the volleyball team). (Editorial note: We almost forgot about the women's golf team which finished second behind yep, you guessed it... Fresno State in the WAC championships).
The Aggie baseball team kicks off their weekend series with Hawai'i today in Las Cruces. The Aggies are the league's hottest team entering this weekend's WAC action and will be looking for some revenge against the Warriors. Coach Ward mentioned in this week's interview that his team is very much looking forward to paying the Warriors as they feel that their park in Hawai'i, Les Murakami Field, does not suit the Aggies' offense whatsoever but that the exact same is true for the Warriors when they visit Presley Askew Field. If the Aggies can win three of four it would go a long way towards securing the 4-seed in the conference tournament. The first pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. and you can follow all of today's action on AggieVision (New Mexico only), streaming video is also available via Aggie Access and as always Live Stats are available via the NMSU athetic website.
Be sure to check out this week's interview with Aggie Track and Field coach Orin Richburg. The Aggies had 38 top ten performances in this past weekend's Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque and are now preparing for next weekend's WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Boise, ID.
On to today's links...
