New Mexico State University President Garrey Carruthers will make good on a promise he made to the NMSU softball team and serve as the batboy during the Aggies’ game Friday in Tucson, Arizona, at the NCAA Softball Tournament.
“I made a commitment to Coach Kathy Rodolph that if she took her team to the NCAA Tournament, I would be the batboy for the team,” Carruthers said. “I made that commitment to her more than a year ago, and she didn’t forget it, so I’ll be on my way to Arizona this Friday. The team may now have the oldest batboy ever in the NCAA Softball Tournament.”
Carruthers, 75, holds two degrees from NMSU and has served as the university’s president since 2013. Previously, he was dean of the NMSU College of Business and the university’s vice president for economic development. Carruthers was also a successful businessman and served as New Mexico’s governor from 1987-1990.
The Aggie softball team won the WAC Tournament earlier this month to advance to the NCAA Softball Tournament. The team will first play the Minnesota Golden Gophers Friday in the four-team, double-elimination Tucson Regional Bracket. Host team Arizona as well as St. John’s are also in the same bracket.
“This year, when we won the WAC Tournament, we got a call from him saying he’s going to live up to the promise,” Rodolph said. “We’re excited to have that kind of support from the university and it will be fun for him to kind of see the inner workings of our team.”
Rodolph’s team has one of the best offenses in the country. The Aggies are among the top 10 in the nation in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs per game, runs per game and on-base percentage.
Junior Fiana Finau, tied an Aggie record for home runs on Saturday with No. 24 on the season. She is tied for fifth in the country for home runs and is ninth in RBIs with 71. That is just two away from tying the NMSU record for RBIs in a season.
Information from NMSU