NMSU baseball lands six players on All-WAC First Team

The New Mexico State baseball team landed six of its players on the All-WAC First Team, the league announced Tuesday.

Headlining the selections was shortstop Joey Ortiz, who was named the WAC Player of the Year after leading the nation in runs (82), triples (10), and total hits (102).

Ortiz also excelled in the field with a .975 fielding percentage and 31 double plays turned.

No other team in the WAC saw more than two of its players receive first-team accolades, so the Aggies tripled the total of the next best teams (three teams had two selections).

Ortiz was joined by five other Aggies including first baseman Tristan Peterson, second baseman Nick Gonzales, third baseman Eric Mingus, outfielder Tristen Carranza, and starting pitcher Chance Hroch.

NMSU just wrapped up the regular season and was able to secure the top seed in the WAC Tournament.

The Aggies are now headed to Mesa, Ariz. to compete for the tournament title and lock up an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

NMSU plays its first game on Thursday against an opponent still to be determined. The tournament is double-elimination, so even an early loss won’t necessarily cost a team a shot at the title.

The Aggies are the defending WAC Tournament champions having bested Sacramento State in the final a year ago.