NM State Aggies vs UTSA Roadrunners Softball 2-11-17 Game Two

Game One Recap

For night-cap, the wind picked up, making note-taking more an exercise in keeping a hold of my papers than writing.  My gift popcorn got spilled down the aisle.  The temperature also started dropping, and I regretted not getting my pullover from my truck during the intermission.  The crowd thinned out considerably.  The two cute female security guards didn’t have much to guard while roaming around the park.  Last years’ catcher, Tatum Reedy was at the scorer’s table along with another girl, who seemed familiar.  These softball girls really look different out of uniform, so I don’t know if it was somebody else from last years’ team.   

There was a little girl doing play-by-play behind me for awhile, but that didn’t help my scorekeeping.  The little boy in front of me finally settled down to eat his nachos, which had been out in the sun for over two hours by this point.  I lost my appetite for the rest of the night.  He taunted the opposition and encouraged the home team with a voice that vaguely reminded me of Urkle from Family Matters.  He was also wearing a hat that was the same style as my own, except in desert camo colors.  So much for having a custom hat.

The Aggie Game Two starter was Samaria Diaz, a new freshman player.  I had seen her in a couple of exhibition games in the fall and was impressed with her.  She seems to have a fairly easy, relaxed attitude out in the circle.  Samaria has a nice smile, which strangely seems to come out on ball calls by the ump.  Right now, she seems to be working on an off-speed pitch, that’s not quite there yet.  She needs to be able to throw it for strikes more consistently.  Anyway, Samaria’s pleasant to watch work.

Also for Game Two, freshmen, Caity Szczesny (there’s a spellcheck word for you, I’m looking right at it and it took me four tries to type it correctly) and Jeanelle Medina, were in the starting lineup.  This paid off dividends immediately in the first inning.  Caity tripled in two runs and Jeanelle knocked her in right after.  The Aggies led 3-0 after one frame.  The PA suddenly gave the usual end of inning stats that you usually get at a ball game that help you with the scoring.  Unfortunately, this is the only time this happened over the course of the double header.  Thankfully, the scoring in this game would be more straightforward than Game One. 

In the 3^rd, Lindsey Stewart knocked in Angelica Nino for the Roadrunners.  Caity made a great dive at the ball from second, but it just got through.  3-1 Aggies.  The defense picked up in the 4^th with Brandy Hernandez making a great catch, high and deep in left field, and Jeanelle following that with a great catch on a liner at third.  In the top of the 5^th, the Roadrunners had a serious threat going with two runners who got on via tough balls that the fielders just missed making spectacular plays on.  Samaria, un-rattled, quietly closed out the inning.

In the bottom of the frame, Brandy got a nice round of applause as she came up, being a local girl.  Misty Hoohuli, next, reached on an error.  Kelsey Horton drove her in with a powerful double to right field.  The fielder just missed it.  I wonder if the wind was playing with those balls to the outfield.  4-1 Aggies.  During the game, I’m noticing Kayla Green in the Aggie dugout.  She seems to always be standing when inside and having fun with the other girls outside the dugout between innings.  She seems like a bundle of energy.       

By the 6^th, much of the remaining crowd was deserting.  The PA told the crowd to get up and dance.  On his way out, the nacho kid started dancing for Tatum at the scorer’s table.  Presumably, he was on his way to the hospital to have his stomach pumped.  Freshman Destiny Blueford pinch hit for Freshman catcher Shelby Shultes in the 6^th.  I mention this mostly because she got on in a painful fashion, as her grounder to short bounced up and hit the girl in the face.  No harm done, I think.  In the 7^th things got interesting as, with two outs, two runners got on with a pair of dinks that just went  past the infield.  Again un-rattled, Samaria struck out the final batter looking to end the game.  Aggies win 4-1.

First, let’s give it up to Lindsey Stewart for going 4 for 4 with an RBI in a losing cause for the Roadrunners.  On the Aggie side, Kelsey again showed some muscle going 2 for 3 with an RBI on a deep double.  The two freshmen infielders had a great game with Caity going 2 for 3 and 2 RBI’s, and Jeanelle also driving in a run.  Are they going to impress enough to start at their positions this season is the question.  Samaria went the distance and never looked labored out there.  Her delivery is apparently as easy on her as her demeanor appears to be.  There were runners on in six out of the seven innings, but she scattered her 7 hits and 2 walks, only allowing 1 run.  Looking good so far.  And whatever the scoring was for errors for the Roadrunners, the Aggies didn’t have any for two games, so good team effort there.

I was glad for a fairly quick end to the game, because the temperature had dropped with nightfall.  If the wind had kept blowing, I would have been freezing.  I had no trouble getting out the university and getting home.  However, the enormous crowd that was coming for the WWE show was backed up severely trying to get in.  If I had any thoughts of getting a ticket to see if Sasha Banks was here, they were completely dashed.  But, I was more than content with the softball entertainment I’d gotten for Opening Day.