-and-
Faith Aragon and Desirae Spearman tally home runs in 9-7 defeat.
Source: NMSU Athletics
By Matthew Knope
Photo By Emilio Garcia for NMSU: Courtesy
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jax State | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| NM State | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 1 |
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – On an unseasonably frigid March night, the Aggies (15-12, 2-2) welcomed Jax State (20-7, 4-0) to the NM State Softball Complex for a Friday bout. Despite 14 total hits and an early lead from the home side, the production proved not enough down the stretch, with NM State falling by a final score of 9-7. The loss was the second in a row for Kathy Rodolph‘s squad in CUSA play while the visitors extended a seven-game overall winning streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After tallying a strikeout to begin the contest, Desirae Spearmanwrapped up a 1-2-3 inning to open the series. On just the third pitch of the home half, Faith Aragon picked up her second career home run with a deep drive to left field. Just four pitches later, Spearman followed suit with her team-best 11th home run of the season.
With an early 2-0 advantage, Devin Elam drew a walk with Riley Carley powering an RBI double to right, scoring Elam and putting the Aggies ahead 3-0 after the first inning. The home offense chased Jax State starter Kat Carter from the contest before the ending of the inning, as the 2024 All-CUSA selection tallied just two outs and allowed three earned runs.
After a zero-run first inning, the Jax State bats awoke on the frigid Friday night, tallying five runs on four hits in the top of the second. Reliever Jordan Esligner held the home side quiet in the second inning, establishing a 5-3 lead that would hold for another pair of frames.
Following explosive production over the first two innings of action, neither team tallied much on the basepaths until the fifth inning, when the Gamecocks put two runs on the board to take a 7-3 lead. Returning to the NM state lineup for the first time since Feb. 28, junior outfielder Devin Elam tallied a single to lead off the inning. She was followed by another base knock from pinch-hitter Bella Clapp, putting two Aggies on the basepaths. A passed ball brought the duo into scoring position for fellow pinch-hitter Johnna Aragon. The UTEP transfer recorded the third single of the inning to score Clapp and make it a 7-4 game.
A wild pitch from Jax State scored Clapp for the second run of the inning, sending the contest to the sixth with a score of 7-5 in favor of the visitors.
Taryn Bennett entered the circle in the top of the sixth inning, finishing the night with 1.2 innings pitched, one strikeout and one run allowed. A hit batter and a pair of singles scored the final run of the night for Jax State, expanding the margin to 9-5.
A quiet home half of the sixth preceded a 1-2-3 stanza from Bennett, giving her offense one final shot at a win.
Trailing 9-5 in the final frame, another single from Bella Clapp was followed by the first double of freshman Tamara Carranza’scollegiate career. Kenzie Nicholson brought one run across home plate on an RBI groundout, shrinking the Gamecock lead to 9-6. Faith Aragon drew a walk ahead of Desirae Spearman, who earned a free base before a passed ball brought Carranza in to score. Back-to-back outs ended the night with the tying run aboard and the winning run at the plate, however. With a result of 9-7, NM State fell to 15-12 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA action.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- Tamara Carranza notched her first extra base hit with the Aggies, tallying a double in the seventh inning.
- Devin Elam returned to the field for the first time since Feb. 28, recording two hits while scoring a pair of runs. The contest was her fifth multi-hit game of the season, and the first since a two-hit performance against No. 3 Florida on Feb. 22.
- NM State fell to 9-5 in home contests during the 2025 campaign.
- The Aggies recorded 14 hits on Friday night, matching a season high they previously set in a 13-10 defeat against Northern Colorado on Feb. 14.
- Faith Aragon extended her hitting streak to a career-best eight games, still holding the longest active streak among all Aggies.
- Aragon has now reached base safely in 11 straight outings, pacing the team and further extending a new career high.
- Kristiana Watson smacked a double to right-center field in the fourth inning for her 16th extra-base hit of the season, placing her second on the team behind Desirae Spearman.
- With home runs from Faith Aragon and Desirae Spearman, the Aggies tallied their 9th multi-home run game this season, now holding a 6-3 record in such outings.
- NM State now trails the all-time series against Jax State 2-3, with a 1-1 record in Las Cruces.
FROM THE FIELD
Head Coach Kathy Rodolph, on the loss: “I feel like we’ve got to really work to do hard better. We had all kinds of opportunities to take care of business. Through errors and mistakes, we kind of coughed it up. You could say it was cold, but to me, we have to make those hard plays more consistently.”
UP NEXT
The Aggies and Gamecocks will meet again tomorrow for the halfway point of the weekend bout. Both sides will gear up for a 4:00 p.m. start time on Saturday as the home squad looks to even the series. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via nmstatestats.com.
For complete coverage of NM State Softball during the 2025 season, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of the Aggies – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Softball), Twitter (@NMStateSoftball) and Instagram (@NMStateSoftball).
