NMSU Aggies vs Missouri Tigers Softball 3-20-16

Game 1, Game 2

I was back at the ballpark on a bright sunny afternoon, all of the previous night’s discomforts forgotten.  I had my boss Ron in tow for this one, having intrigued him about the sport.  Today’s game was on Aggievision, so there were people manning cameras around stadium.  They were probably happy that there was only a light breeze, as they were all exposed up on raised platforms.  Walking up to the stadium, we had no trouble seeing the team.  They were dressed in neon pink tops.  It was for cancer awareness and also to remember Lori Paulson, who was an assistant coach for the football team, who had died recently.  I’d read an interview with her last year.  She was beloved by the team and was their honorary captain.

Inside, the crowd was a bit smaller than yesterday, but not bad.  I saw a dapper-looking Adam Young heading up to the pressbox to call the game, dressed for TV.  There was actually an attractive woman in the stands this time, in short shorts and a tank top no less.  She was carrying a large camera, so I’m guessing she was working.  She was getting mine and Ron’s attention.  I, at least, felt guilty, like I was cheating on the players.  This is a problem I don’t have watching baseball.  We were seated at bit higher up than I was yesterday, but still next to the opposing dugout, so that we could see the Aggie dugout.  You could also see through the tree screen into the baseball field. 

We were near the knot of senior citizens, who were the regulars.  They were the smart ones who brought stadium seats with them.  One lady was keeping a scorecard, so it wasn’t just me being weird.  There were some young men behind us.  One of them was talking to an older lady regular, hoping to get an introduction to #3 Victoria Castro.  These fans picked up where they left on the ump in the last game, but quieted down as the game went on.  Perhaps he was calling a better game.  Perhaps, the game was close and they didn’t want to irritate him.  The Aggies’ cute trainer was bringing the ump a drink between innings.  Maybe that helped. 

There was a little Missouri fan kid in full team gear who was strapped into a very complex-looking stroller or an orthopedic device.  He was keeping his parents busy as he kept rolling himself around.  I think I saw one of the Tiger players on deck say “hi” to him as he rolled up to the fence.  Other kids were busy trying to corral foul balls as the PA said that anyone bringing a ball to the pressbox would get a prize.  I think it was just an Aggie cup, but it was something, and they wanted the balls back.  Even the Missouri fan kids were going after the balls.  A less successful promotion was the “Guess the Song.”  It took the full between innings intermission for somebody to identify a Mariah Carey song from the 90’s.  It was an extremely sad moment in pop culture knowledge history.

In this game, I finally noticed that #9 Tatum Reedy, the catcher, wasn’t calling the game.  The Aggie pitchers were getting their signs from the dugout.  They then consulted a list on their arm (like a quarterback’s playlist) to know what pitch to throw.  One of the directives seemed to be to pitch around yesterday’s bombers, #51 Sami Fagan and #7 Natalie Fleming, who were walked four times.  I could hardly tell the difference between any of the pitches, though Kayla seemed to be mixing in an offspeed that was catching the batters off guard.  I only noticed it, because the pitch was so different than anyone else’s.  Meanwhile, Ron noticed that the pitching rubber was getting cleaned by the ump every inning, and it was then immediately covered over by the next pitcher at the start of the inning.

Missouri never had a big inning in the game, but managed to scratch out five runs, one at a time, over five innings.  The Aggies certainly had their chances, but squandered all but one of them, leaving 13 runners stranded.  Aggies lose 5-1.  My player of the game for the Tigers would again be #14 Paige Lowary.  She was brought into the game in the second with the bases loaded and got out of it unscratched.  From there, even with a couple more bases loaded situations, she only gave up one run.  I thought #14 Kayla Green for the Aggies had a good effort in relief, giving up one run, but keeping the score close.  The Aggie defense really rallied for the game with only one error.  #33 Lucy Mendoza was introduced as the shortstop for the day, as #18 Rachel Rodriguez was moved over to second.  Being a local girl, Lucy got a big hand from the crowd.  The Aggie infield had had a rough outing the previous day and I think this move helped.

There were some noteworthy plays.  In the fifth, the Tigers again moved an outfielder into the infield against the Aggies’ swinging bunters.  This time the batters both managed to get infield hits.  Don’t ask me how.  There was a close play at first in the seventh.  The section where I was was occluded from a good view of the play causing Aggie fans to complain.  A Missouri fan with a better view spoke up, “Let me help you all.  She was safe.”  The defensive play in the game came later as #3 Victoria Castro threw out a runner at home.  Another Missouri fan became uncharacteristically upset after the call and screamed at the ump.  Generally, the Tiger fans seemed fairly content over the weekend otherwise. 

  

Again the Aggie girls thanked their opponents at the end of the game.  It was still sweet.  The game clocked in at a reasonable two and ½ hours, but thankfully it wasn’t hotter.  I noticed one Missouri fan kid took an Aggie poster with him, a nice little keepsake to remember the trip by. 

Ron and I went to nearby Scholotzsky’s for dinner.  I devoured a small pepperoni pizza.  On the one hand, it wasn’t great for a pizza, but was tasty for what it was, a pizza made in a sandwich shop.  We loitered around for a while as Ron may have not been eager to get home.  While we were there Kayla, Victoria, a couple other players, and a coach walked in.  Kayla had walked in first and I gave her a smile and small round of the applause.  As I was wearing an Aggie shirt and hat and was obviously a fan, she smiled back.  I kept wanting to go over to their table and offer to buy them ice cream (like its Little League or something and it’s probably an NCAA booster violation) and chat about the game for a minute, but my shyness overcame me.  At least they didn’t seem too upset about the weekend and will hopefully be in good spirits for conference play later in the week.  In spite of some light sunburn and disappointing results, I enjoyed seeing the girls playing again.  Ron found them pretty endearing as well and wanted to come back sometime.  Hopefully, that’ll work out for the both of us.