NMSU baseball travels to WKU for final series of regular season
(Courtesy: NMSU Athletics)
BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky – The Aggies are traveling to Kentucky to play conference foe Western Kentucky in final three game series of the 2024 regular season.
Game one will start on May 16 at 2 p.m. MT with the second game of the series starting 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. The Series finale will be played on Saturday, May 18 at noon MT.
Titus Dumitru: Hot at the Plate
Dumitru has had an impressive run over the past ten games batting a team leading .465. In the last ten games, Dumitru has recorded eight homeruns, two more than Logan Gallina in that same span, and three doubles.
Dumitru has brought in a total of 19 runs for the Aggies which is also leading the team. With 43 at bats in the past ten games Dumitru has recorded 20 hits which leads the team by four hits. Dumitru has a slugging percentage of 1.093 and on-base percentage of .520.
Keeping up with Jones
Keith Jones II has had a stellar year so far, with a .387 batting average Jones is second in the conference. Jones has 77 hits on the season which puts him in second in the conference.
With 66 runs, Jones leads the conference and 16th in the nation. Jones has recorded 67 RBIs, which leads the conference and 19th in the nation. Jones has 153 total bases on the season which puts him 18th in the nation and first and in the conference. Jones also has 17 big flies on the season, putting him first in the conference.
Ticket Punched
The Aggies have clinched a spot in the 2024 Conference USA Baseball Championship tournament. In their first year as a part of the Conference USA the Aggies will be headed to Ruston, La. on May 22.
In the preseason coaches’ poll the Aggies were picked to finish in last place in the conference. There will be eight teams in the tournament with the winner of the tournament receiving an automatic bid to a NCAA regional.
Scouting the Hilltoppers
The Hilltoppers are batting .258 at the plate with their top hitter, Blake Cavil hitting .313. At the plate, WKU has recorded 36 home runs, with 88 doubles and 422 total hits on the season.
On the mound the Hilltoppers have a team ERA of 5.07. WKU only has one pitcher that meets the requirement of 1.0 IP/G and that is Jack Bennett who has an ERA of 5.43. The Hilltoppers have allowed 244 earned runs on 460 hits.
Series History
The Aggies and Hilltoppers have played each other in 17 total games throughout program history. The Aggies currently hold the advantage with 11 wins and six losses. The Aggies are 3-3 in games played in Bowling Green, Ky.
These two teams first faced off against each other in 2001, Western Kentucky came to Presley Askew Field to play in a three-game series, WKU won all three games of the series. The last time they played was in 2005 in Las Cruces, the Aggies swept the Hilltoppers in three games.
Across the Conference
- Louisiana Tech, 15-6
- DBU, 15-6
- WKU, 13-8
- Liberty, 11-10
- Sam Houston, 10-11
- FIU, 11-13
- NM State, 9-12
- MTSU, 7-14
- Jax State, 5-16
UP NEXT:
The Aggies will play WKU May 16, at 5 p.m. MT, game two will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one and May 18, at noon MT. The Aggies will then head to Ruston, La. to play in the Conference USA Tournament starting May 22. For complete coverage of NM State Baseball, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics – and follow us on Twitter (@NMStateBaseball), Instagram (@NMStateBaseball) and like us on Facebook (NMState Baseball)