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Mancha tallies season-high four punchouts as graduating Aggies show out on Senior Day.
Source: NMSU Athletics
Story and Photo By Matthew Knope for NMSU: Courtesy
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Some moments just mean more. NM State Softball has proven to be in the midst of a highly emotional stretch, resulting in its second straight win on Saturday. The home side welcomed back 21st-year Associate Head Coach Cat Heifner for a walk-off series-opening win on Friday. Less than 24 hours later, the Crimson & White celebrated Senior Day for five graduating Aggies following a 5-2 win over Middle Tennessee. Kristiana Watson and Taylor Nicholson each belted home runs, while Jaileen Manchadelivered a surgical performance as the starter on her big day.
The win improved the Aggies to 11-12 in CUSA play, while MTSU dropped to 10-13. The series-clinching victory guaranteed that NM State will finish the weekend ahead of MTSU in the league standings due to a one-game lead with the head-to-head tiebreaker.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In similar fashion to Friday’s instant classic, the first two innings were controlled by the pitchers. Senior Jaileen Mancha got the nod from Kathy Rodolph on a special day for the local product, picking up right where she left off on Tuesday at No. 13 Arizona. The second-year Aggie set a season high with three strikeouts in game one against the Wildcats four days prior, but had already matched that total through two innings of work, allowing just one hit.
Kendal Lunar led off the bottom half of the third inning with a double to left-center before Desirae Spearman picked up her second of three walks on the day. After a fielder’s choice retired the leading pinch runner, Joleeanna Hair, a Blue Raider fielding error brought Spearman around from second base as Lauren Garcia’s at-bat produced the first run of the ball game.
The lead would last just two pitches before Jana Want sent a home run over the right-field wall and knotted the affair at one run apiece. The visitors’ damage stopped there, however, due in part to Mancha’s fourth and final strikeout that came on a swinging miss to solidify a season high.
It took just three pitches for the Aggies to answer and take the lead right back. Taylor Nicholson watched two balls pass before crushing a 2-0 pitch straight back over the wall in center field, granting her side a 2-1 lead. The first-year Aggie punctuated her ceremonious day with her second home run of her career and her second RBI extra-base hit of the weekend.
Later in the inning, Jaileen Mancha, who started the game as the ninth batter in the NM State lineup, walked up to the plate. While the second-year Aggie was pinch hit for the first time around, Kathy Rodolph gave the senior one opportunity to wave the bat. Mancha showed discipline, however, watching four straight balls to earn a walk in her first Division I at-bat. Spearman’s third and final walk of the day was intentional with the catcher out of her stance, much to the dismay of the Aggie faithful. Unfortunately for the home fans, the two-out bases loaded opportunity resulted in a popup and sent the contest to inning five.
For the second straight frame, the second pitch went over the fence, once again tying the action at 2-2. The blast marked the end of the day for Mancha, who finished the night with 4.1 innings pitched, allowing four hits, two runs and tallying a quartet of punchouts without a walk. The senior passed the torch to sophomore Faith Aragon, who got side out of the stanza unscathed before momentum flipped sides once more.
After two outs were recorded on the first four offerings following the fifth-inning stretch, Taylor Nicholson knocked another hit to center field, standing on first for Kristiana Watson’s chance. On a 1-1 pitch, the fellow future graduate belted the ball down the left-field line and just inside the foul pole, taking a 4-2 lead with her 13th home run of the season.
In the bottom of the sixth, NM State struck one final time. Aragon notched a single to right field before stealing the Aggies’ third base of the day and her first since March 11. Lauren Garcia later brought in the two-way star with a double to right field that established the final score of 5-2.
In a powerful moment of resiliency, fifth-year senior and third-year Aggie Kayla Lunar entered for her last appearance in the Crimson & White. The third baseman dealt with injuries throughout much of her NM State career, including a season-ending wrist injury earlier this month. With Lunar unable to field or enter the batter’s box, the Alamogordo, N.M., native trotted out to pinch run for Garcia at second base with two outs in the sixth. While a strikeout kept Lunar from advancing, the senior soaked in one last appearance in front of her friends and family at the NM State Softball Complex, including her younger sister, Kendal, in the dugout.
After a pair of quick flyouts to fellow two-way standout Desirae Spearman in center field, Faith Aragon struck out the final batter of the game, sending the Blue Raiders off the field with a swinging miss and collecting her sides’ fourth series win of 2025.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- NM State vaulted back into a tie for sixth place in the CUSA standings at 11-12, sitting alongside FIU while just one game behind fifth-place Sam Houston.
- The Crimson & White improved to 10-24 all-time in matchups with the Blue Raiders, holding an 8-12 record in Las Cruces.
- After 25 days without a single such outing, the Aggie bats produced their second straight five-run performance on Saturday.
- NM State jumped to 9-7 on Saturdays this year, including a 5-3 mark in CUSA play.
- Jaileen Mancha recorded her first Division I plate appearance in the fourth inning, earning a four-pitch walk to establish a perfect 1.000 on-base percentage.
- At Eastern Arizona, the pitcher also went 1-for-1 at the plate during her sophomore campaign in 2023, giving Mancha a collegiate career OPS of 2.000 with one RBI.
- The Las Cruces native also notched four strikeouts in the win, surpassing her previous season high of three that she recently set at No. 13 Arizona on Tuesday.
- Taylor Nicholson was the lone Aggie to record a pair of hits, tallying her second multi-hit outing of 2025.
- The senior also picked up her second home run of her career, doing so for the first time since another two-run shot at LA Tech on March 9.
- With three stolen bases on Saturday, NM State set its 2025 single-game CUSA high, matching a season best that had only previously been set against Alabama A&M on March 2.
- Entering Friday’s sixth inning, the Aggies were on a nearly 10-game stretch in which they had scored just 12 total runs. In their eight offensive innings since, the squad has tallied 10 runs while holding MTSU to just two.
FROM THE FIELD
Head Coach Kathy Rodolph, on the win: “I feel like when we went to Arizona, we kind of found ourselves and started playing with a purpose again. Cat [Heifner] gave us a shot in the arm to give us a different narrative. Fifty games in, the season starts to wear on you, so I thought having her show how she believed in them changed things. I feel like Middle Tennessee swings it, so we knew we’d have to play hard and hold them in the circle. We knew we’d need a total team effort, and I think that’s what we’ve seen in the past couple days. I’m super happy for this group because they worked so hard all year. While that doesn’t always buy you something, they deserve what they’re getting.”
Head Coach Kathy Rodolph, on the 2025 senior class: “I would be remiss if I didn’t say how honored I am to have coached them. To see Riley [Carley] come in as a young girl and see her leave as a woman is really special. Jaileen [Mancha] came in and wondered whether she was talented enough to do it at this level, but what you love about her is that she just gets to work. We’ve got Kayla [Lunar], who is one of the best leaders by example that I’ve ever had the ability to coach. I know that her next chapter is going to be even more amazing, and all of the seniors’ are. Then, you add Kristiana [Watson] and Taylor [Nicholson] into the mix and both of them have been key for different reasons this year. Taylor went through so many injuries and had to fight her way back to see that she could do it, and I’m so proud of her. Kristiana being away from the game and deciding she wanted to finish and do it with us is just a tremendous honor.”
UP NEXT
The two squads will clash once more on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 11:00 a.m. MT. NM State will look to close out its second sweep of the season and conclude its home slate on a high note. The Blue Raiders have their eyes on salvaging a key win late in the conference season and avoiding their second sweep of 2025. The Aggies’ home finale 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).
