New Mexico State Aggies baseball

The New Mexico State Aggies baseball team represents New Mexico State University, which is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Aggies are an NCAA Division I college baseball program that competes in the Conference USA. They began competing in Division I in 1962 and joined C-USA before the 2024 season.

New Mexico State Aggies
2024 New Mexico State Aggies baseball team
UniversityNew Mexico State University
Head coachJake Angier (1st season)
ConferenceC-USA
LocationLas Cruces, New Mexico
Home stadiumPresley Askew Field
(Capacity: 1,000)
NicknameAggies
ColorsCrimson and white[1]
   
NCAA Tournament appearances
2002, 2003, 2012, 2018, 2022
Conference tournament champions
Sun Belt: 2002
WAC: 2018, 2022
Regular season conference champions
WAC: 2012, 2019

The New Mexico State Aggies play all home games on campus at Presley Askew Field. The Aggies have played in four NCAA tournaments. Over their 15 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, they have won two WAC regular season titles and one WAC Tournament.

Since the program's inception, 5 Aggies have gone on to play in Major League Baseball. A total of 64 Aggies have been drafted, including Joey Ortiz who was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.

Conference Membership History

edit

Presley Askew Field

edit

Presley Askew Field is a baseball stadium on the New Mexico State campus in Las Cruces, New Mexico that seats 1,000 people. It opened in 1981. A record attendance of 1,615 was set on February 27, 2015, during the home opener against Incarnate Word.[2]

Head coaches

edit

Records taken from the 2020 NMSU baseball media guide.[2]

Season Coach Years Record Pct.
1962–1965 Presley Askew 4 42–69–3 .378
1966–1968 Pat Ryan 3 23–59 .280
1969–1982 Jim Kwasny 14 300–380 .441
1983–1986 Curt Cook 4 78–104 .429
1987 Sal Gonzalez 1 20–34 .370
1988 Mike Ryan 1 38–18 .679
1989–1996 Elliott Avent 8 225–213 .514
1997–2000 Rocky Ward 4 81–136 .373
2001–2002 Gary Ward 2 69–48 .590
2003–2014 Rocky Ward 12 374–322–2 .537
2015–2019 Brian Green 5 158–122–1 .564
2020–2023 Mike Kirby 2 32–38 .457
Totals 11 coaches 60 seasons 1,440–1,543–6 .483

Year-By-Year Results

edit

Records taken from the 2020 NMSU baseball media guide.[2]

Statistics overview
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Independent (1962–1970)
1962 Presley Askew 10–14–1
1963 Presley Askew 13–13–1
1964 Presley Askew 11–27
1965 Presley Askew 8–15–1
1966 Pat Ryan 11–17
1967 Pat Ryan 5–22
1968 Pat Ryan 7–20
1969 Jim Kwasny 9–27
1970 Jim Kwasny 18–26
Missouri Valley Conference (1971–1983)
1971 Jim Kwasny 23–24 3rd
1972 Jim Kwasny 32–18 3rd
1973 Jim Kwasny 14–41 7th
1974 Jim Kwasny 18–35 5th
1975 Jim Kwasny 23–18 4th
1976 Jim Kwasny 19–24 4th
1977 Jim Kwasny 19–30 5th
1978 Jim Kwasny 28–23 4th
1979 Jim Kwasny 26–27 5th
1980 Jim Kwasny 30–27 6th
1981 Jim Kwasny 18–33 3–13 6th
1982 Jim Kwasny 23–27 0–12 7th
1983 Curt Cook 17–20 0–8 7th
Independent (1984–1991)
1984 Curt Cook 23–33
1985 Curt Cook 18–25
1986 Curt Cook 20–26
1986 Sal Gonzalez 20–34
1988 Mike Ryan 38–18
1989 Elliott Avent 34–22
1990 Elliott Avent 40–19
1991 Elliott Avent 22–36
Big West Conference (1992–2000)
1992 Elliott Avent 20–33 6–18 T-8th
1993 Elliott Avent 31–23 9–12 T-4th
1994 Elliott Avent 21–31 4–17 8th
1995 Elliott Avent 32–22 9–12 5th
1996 Elliott Avent 25–27 8–13 T-5th
1997 Rocky Ward 21–33 8–22 T-7th
1998 Rocky Ward 23–29 8–21 7th
1999 Rocky Ward 18–38 7–23 8th
2000 Rocky Ward 19–36 4–26 8th
Sun Belt Conference (2001–2005)
2001 Gary Ward 32–23 9–17 10th
2002 Gary Ward 37–25 10–14 6th Sun Belt Tournament
Tempe Regional
2003 Rocky Ward 43–18 15–9 T-2nd Sun Belt Tournament
Tempe Regional
2004 Rocky Ward 33–25–1 12–12 T-5th Sun Belt Tournament
2005 Rocky Ward 28–29 13–11 5th Sun Belt Tournament
Western Athletic Conference (2006–present)
2006 Rocky Ward 19–36 6–18 7th
2007 Rocky Ward 22–34 6–18 7th
2008 Rocky Ward 28–33 15–17 5th WAC Tournament
2009 Rocky Ward 44–17 12–12 T-3rd WAC Tournament
2010 Rocky Ward 36–23–1 14–9–1 T-2nd WAC Tournament
2011 Rocky Ward 34–24 9–15 6th WAC Tournament
2012 Rocky Ward 35–24 11–7 T-1st WAC tournament
Tucson Regional
2013 Rocky Ward 29–28 13–14 T-6th WAC tournament
2014 Rocky Ward 23–31 11–13 7th WAC tournament
2015 Brian Green 11–38–1 7–19–1 8th
2016 Brian Green 34–23 20–7 2nd WAC tournament
2017 Brian Green 35–22 19–5 2nd WAC tournament
2018 Brian Green 40–22 17–7 T-2nd WAC tournament
Lubbock Regional
2019 Brian Green 38–17 19–8 T-1st WAC tournament
2020 Mike Kirby 12–4 Season cancelled on March 18
due to Coronavirus pandemic
[3]
Total: 1,420–1,509–6

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

NCAA tournament History

edit
Year Record Pct Notes
2002 0–2 .000 Eliminated by San Diego in Tempe Regional
2003 1–2 .333 Eliminated by UNLV in Tempe Regional
2012 0–2 .000 Eliminated by Missouri in Tucson Regional
2018 0–2 .000 Eliminated by Kent State in Lubbock Regional
2022 0–2 .000 Eliminated by Vanderbilt in Corvallis Regional
Totals 1–10 .091

Awards and honors

edit
  • 12 Patriots have been named to an NCAA-recognized All-America team.
  • Over their 15 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, 26 different Patriots have been named to the all-conference first-team.

All-Americans

edit
Year Position Name Team Selector
1980 OF Kevin Wilner 3rd NCAA
2002 OF Ryan Kenning 1st NCBWA
DH Gabe Veloz 1st CB
2003 1B Billy Becher 1st NCBWA
3rd BA
2004 1B Billy Becher 1st NCBWA
3rd BA
2009 SS Bryan Marquez 1st ABCA
2nd NCBWA
2016 OF Daniel Johnson 3rd ABCA
2017 C Mason Fishback 2nd CB
2018 P Jonathan Groff 2nd CB
2019 2B Nick Gonzales 1st ABCA
CB
2nd BA
NCBWA
SS Joey Ortiz 1st CB
2nd ABCA
NCBWA
1B Tristan Peterson 1st CB
3rd NCBWA
OF Tristen Carranza 2nd NCBWA
3rd ABCA

Freshman First-Team All-Americans

edit
Year Position Name Selector
2016 P Kyle Bradish CB

Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year

edit
Year Position Name
2016 OF Daniel Johnson
2019 SS Joey Ortiz

Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year

edit
Year Handedness Name
2018 Left Jonathan Groff

Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year

edit
Year Position Name
2018 2B Nick Gonzales

Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year

edit
Year Position Name
2003 1B Billy Becher

Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year

edit
Year Position Name
2005 1B Luke Hopkins

Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year

edit
Year Position Name
2003 1B Billy Becher
2004 2B Xardiel Cotto

Taken from the 2020 NMSU baseball media guide.[2] Updated February 28, 2020.

Aggies in the Major Leagues

edit
= All-Star = Baseball Hall of Famer
Athlete Years in MLB MLB Teams
Jerry Hinsley 1964, 1967 New York Mets
Fernando Ramsey 1992 Chicago Cubs
Mark Acre 1994–1997 Oakland Athletics
Jason Rakers 1998–2000 Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals
Tyler Sturdevant 2016 Tampa Bay Rays
Joey Ortiz 2023-present Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers

Taken from the 2020 NMSU baseball media guide.[2] Updated February 28, 2020.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Conference USA Brand Identity Guide" (PDF). June 22, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e "NMSU Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  3. ^ "WAC Announces Cancellation of All Sports for Remainder of Academic Year". Retrieved March 19, 2020.