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NM State snaps Jax State’s seven-game winning streak with 8-7 victory.
Source: NMSU Athletics
By Matthew Knope
Photo By Emilio Garcia for NMSU: Courtesy
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – On Saturday, NM State Softball evened a high-stakes series with Jacksonville State with an 8-7 win at home. The Aggies plated multiple runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, generating enough insurance to stave off a late push from the visitors. In her second game back from injury, Devin Elam led the home offense with three hits and a season-high four RBI. Faith Aragon recorded her third complete game inside the circle, tying a career-high with eight strikeouts. The win vaulted the Crimson & White to 16-12 and 3-2 in CUSA play, snapping what was a seven-game winning streak for Jax State (20-8, 4-1).
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore Faith Aragon earned the starting nod on Saturday afternoon in search of her sixth win of the season. After a leadoff double, Aragon retired eight straight Gamecocks, doing so with five strikeouts. To cap off the third inning, Kendal Lunargunned down a stealing Emma Elrod, who fell to 11-for-14 on stolen bases this season.
The home team tallied the first runs of the contest in the bottom of the third inning. One of four walks on the day drawn by Desirae Spearman set up Devin Elam with a runner at first. On the first pitch she faced, Elam powered a double to right-center field, scoring Spearman from 180 feet away to put NM State on top 1-0. Fellow slugger Kristiana Watson stepped into the batter’s box next, punching another double to the opposite side of the field, scoring Elam to double the NM State advantage. A sacrifice fly by Riley Carley brought the third Aggie run home, sending it to the fourth with a 3-0 home lead.
The Gamecocks utilized four singles to post a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, shrinking the NM State lead to 3-2. However, the Aggies would answer back in the bottom half of the inning, with Tamara Carranza’s second hit of the weekend leading off the inning. Faith Aragon and Desirae Spearman followed Carranza onto the basepaths, setting up another Devin Elam hit, tallying another RBI to put NM State ahead 4-2. Later in the inning, Johnna Aragon knocked a single to drive home Spearman and her cousin Faith, increasing the Aggie lead to 6-2.
The Gamecocks would tack on a third run in the top of the fifth on an Aria Davis RBI groundout. The damage would stop with Davis, though, as quick reactions from Kayla Lunar one a lineout to third kept the bases clear ahead of Faith Aragon’s fifth strikeout.
Similarly to inning four, Aragon and Desirae Spearman reached safely ahead of Devin Elam, both doing so via walks. The junior outfielder belted her second double of the afternoon over the right fielder’s head, sending a pair of runs home to give the Crimson & White their largest lead of the game at 8-3.
A pair of Jax State home runs in the top of the seventh inning gave the visitors life as the tying run stepped into the batter’s box. The final play of the game was a fly to the left of Kenzie Nicholson, but the former Gamecock ranged far enough in time to make the victory-sealing catch. With the win, the Aggies improved to 3-2 in CUSA this season, and 16-12 overall. Jax State fell to 20-8 on the year, while recording its first loss of conference play (4-1).
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- Faith Aragon posted her third complete game of the season, notching eight strikeouts to tie a career-high. The win was her third-ever outing with eight punchouts, most recently doing so on March 8 at LA Tech in another complete-game win.
- After a Friday return ended an an eight-game absence, Devin Elam tallied three hits and four RBI in her second game back on Saturday.
- The win was Elam’s sixth multi-hit game of the season as she posted a new season-high in RBIs, falling one shy of her career high(five versus New Mexico; March 26, 2024).
- NM State jumped to 10-5 in home contests during the 2025 campaign.
- Faith Aragon extended her hitting streak to a career-best nine games, still holding the longest active streak among all Aggies.
- Aragon has now reached base safely in 12 straight outings, pacing the team and further extending a new career high.
- Kristiana Watson smacked a double to left-center field in the fourth inning for her 18th extra-base hit of the season, tying her for the team lead with Desirae Spearman.
- For just the third time this season, the Aggies won a game in which they did not hit a home run.
- Tamara Carranza’s two-hit outing was the first multi-hit game of her career. The true freshman has tallied half (four) of her eight career base knocks since the start of CUSA play just over a week ago.
- NM State evened the all-time series against Jax State 3-3, now holding a 2-1 record in Las Cruces.
FROM THE FIELD
Head Coach Kathy Rodolph, on the win: “I challenged us to limit the number of free pitches for Jax State. I wanted us to play cleaner and stay within ourselves. I feel like we absolutely did that today. Having Devin [Elam] back is huge, too. She’s a big bat in the lineup and I’m grateful she plays for me.”
Head Coach Kathy Rodolph, on the keys to victory in the series finale: “They absolutely are a good team and one of the best in the conference. For us to be able to come out on top tomorrow, we’re going to have to play pitch by pitch until every out is used up. You saw today that we’re going to battle, of course, but they are, too. I liked our composure much better today in terms of staying focused on one pitch at a time and passing the bat.”
Junior outfielder Devin Elam, on her offensive output: “I think today went so well offensively for a few reasons. The weather was going against us, but I just focused on hitting the ball hard and getting it on the ground, because I knew that the RBIs were going to come. Every time I’ve come back from an injury, I’ve come back even better than before. Practice is important, though. Obviously, I hadn’t seen live pitching in a while and this is a quality opponent, so practice was the biggest help for me before this series.”
Sophomore pitcher Faith Aragon, on her complete game: “I think, including me, our whole team kept our composure today. We had a couple errors, and they did score runs, but we continued to punch back throughout the whole game. On defense, I think everyone held their composure well. If we handle our business tomorrow and approach it the same way, I think we’ll like the outcome.”
UP NEXT
The Aggies and Gamecocks will meet again tomorrow for the weekend finale. Both sides will gear up for a 11:00 a.m. start time on Sunday as the home team eyes its second straight series victory to open league play. 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).
