-and-
NM State falls in its first sweep as CUSA member.
Source: NMSU Athletics
Photo and Story By Emilio Garcia for NMSU: Courtesy
EL PASO, Texas – NM State Softball suffered a 7-2 loss at UTEP on Sunday. The defeat dropped the Aggies to 21-17 overall with a mark of 8-7 in CUSA play. The Crimson & White wrapped up their series in El Paso and are set for a return home next weekend against Liberty.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jaileen Mancha earned the starting nod on Sunday in her second appearance of the weekend. For the third straight game, UTEP scored multiple runs in the first inning. Singles on back-to-back pitches were followed up by a walk that loaded the bases. A double to right field ensued, scoring a pair of Miners to open the afternoon.
In her first start at third base this season, Taylor Nicholson drew a leadoff walk. Later in the inning, a two-out single by Tamara Carranza put her on the basepaths, with a passed ball advancing her to scoring position. With catcher Kendal Lunar up to bat, the junior knocked a single up the middle to score Carranza and cut the Miner lead in half.
A trio of errors in the second increased the UTEP lead to 4-1, with both runs scoring on a single that eventually scored the batting Miner on the same play.
With one away in the top of the third, Kristiana Watson belted a solo home run to right-center field on the first pitch of her at-bat. The visitors’ deficit was trimmed to two on what was Watson’s 11th home run of the season.
On the third offering of the home half, a home run propelled the lead back to three. With a pair of doubles in frame four, UTEP’s advantage extended to four and Kathy Rodolph turned to Taryn Bennett. The junior escaped the fourth without any further damage, but the home side returned to form on the first pitch of the sixth.
In similar fashion to two innings prior, a leadoff double was followed up with a one-out double, scoring UTEP’s seventh and final run of the contest.
A six-pitch seventh inning would fail to produce an answer for the Aggie offense as they suffered their first sweep as a member of Conference USA.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- NM State fell into a tie with Sam Houston for fourth place in the CUSA standings at 8-7.
- NM State suffered its first-ever sweep in CUSA play.
- 2025 became the first year in which UTEP defeated the Crimson & White three times in a single season and marked the second instance of three straight Miner wins (2009-10).
- Tamara Carranza tallied her fourth multi-hit game of her young career.
- Bella Clapp’s sixth-inning single was the eighth hit of her freshman season.
- Skye Johnson notched her seventh career hit with a fourth-inning, pinch-hit single.
- Across 2.2 innings of relief, Taryn Bennett allowed just one earned run in what was her most innings pitched in a CUSA game.
- After giving up just seven runs in their previous five outings ahead of the series with the Miners, the Aggies allowed 22 runs to score over the weekend series.
- NM State fell to 42-17 all-time in matchups with the Miners, holding a 16-13 mark in El Paso.
- For the first time since March 15, Faith Aragon got the nod in the leadoff spot, going 1-for-2 with a walk.
- NM State fell to 6-12 when its opponents scored in the opening inning and 8-13 when opponents scored first overall.
UP NEXT
The Aggies will head home next weekend for a bout with Conference USA’s top seed. Liberty (33-8, 13-1), the nation’s 24th-ranked team, will head to Las Cruces for a three-game series at the NM State Softball Complex. First pitch is set for Friday at 6:00 p.m., MT. All the action 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).
