NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball 4-22-17

I was flying solo today with Ron having a family lunch.  I was still happy to go on such a beautiful day in the high 80’s and a breeze to keep things cool.  The Aggies had nearly won last night by run rule, so I was excited to see if the streak would continue.  I think I was behind second baseman, Brent Sakurai’s, family in line for tickets.  I wonder if they brought any pineapples with them from Hawaii to be the team’s new mascot.

I picked up three player cards on the courtesy table inside.  Cool.  At the concessions trailer, I got a hot dog, corn in a cup, and $1 ice cream.  I had issues with the ballpark food at the Diablos game this week, but this hot dog’s bun went stale before I finished it.  The food just isn’t that great at Aggie events (except for the cinnamon roasted almonds, which aren’t available at every event).  The crowd was pretty good inside, but it was great when it came to enthusiasm.    

The girl announcer was back for this game.  It seemed like she turned down the flirting when introducing the players.  Maybe some players’ girlfriends said something.  She got through 2/3 of the visitor’s lineup before having to stop to introduce Bernie Olivas of the Sun Bowl selection committee, who threw out the first pitch.  She also welcomed a little league team to the game, who shouted “Play ball!” after the player introductions.  (There was also a “Go Cardinals!” shout.  I’m not sure what that was about.)  I appreciated that the stadium music volume was a little lower for this game (though the music kept getting cut off instead fading out).  Again, the Diablos game had music going all the time, but it never got overpowering.  That’s the way it should be.

There was no radio for the game, since it was an Aggievision TV game.  Given that my scorecard didn’t add up with the scoreboard at the end, I could have used Adam Young’s help as usual.  He probably interviewed Bernie during the game.  I wonder why he was not only at a baseball game, but at a rival university (as he’s affiliated with UTEP).  NM State Athletic Director Mario Moccia went up to the booth during the game.  Once again, he probably had to talk about losing another coach.  More on that in a moment. 

Jonathan Groff started off the game on the mound for the Aggies.  He was working pretty slow in the early innings, which turned out to be a good thing here.  After two previous chances [4-4-17 and 4-15-17], I finally got to congratulate somebody on the Women’s Basketball team on having a great season.  Brandee Walton, who had charmed the heck out of me when I got her autograph earlier this year, came to me.  She was working with the stadium staff for game and was going around handing out player baseball cards to the fans.  Unfortunately, this may not have been the greatest day to talk Aggie basketball with Brandee.  She seemed a bit down and have a lot on her mind, and there was good reason for that. 

Oh, I hate to backtrack and talk basketball here, especially since this was such a great baseball game.  I talked about this with a bunch of people I know, but not on the blog, because there wasn’t a reason to.  Last week, Men’s Basketball Coach Paul Weir left the program to go to coach our arch-rivals UNM in Albuquerque.  It was just a money move and upset a lot of fans.  Yesterday (Friday), Women’s Coach Mark Trakh left to go coach the USC Women’s Basketball team.  While this may likely be devastating loss for the Aggie program, it is a good move for Coach Trakh that he’s earned, and I wish him well.  It’s been a bad two weeks for Aggie fans and certainly the players too.         

With that context, I congratulated Brandee and told her how proud the fans were of the team’s performance this season, but had to ask her about the coach.  She sat down next to me, and we actually talked for a couple of minutes.  I feel like I'd be violating some kind of implied trust by writing out our short conversation, since what she told me isn't public knowledge and may be personal too.  Since I didn't tell her I'd be blogging about meeting her, it doesn't seem right to write it out.  Suffice to say, Brandee is sad about the coach leaving, and she is a wonderful person.  (Given some of the embarrassing personal stuff I've written about myself on this blog, restraint is going to seem like an alien concept.)

Back to the game.  In the second, Groff worked into some trouble.  The Bears used some “small ball” to manufacture a run, but it was just one.  0-1 Bears.  In the third, a member of the Women’s Golf team was present and recognized over the PA.  The team had won the conference for the fourth time in a row.  The girl seemed a bit embarrassed, even though she’s obviously great.  Inspired, Brent Sakurai drove in Marcus Still to tie the score in that inning.  He did it by beating out an infield hit that hit third base.  Hustle and luck.  By this inning, the fans, who were into the game, were getting annoyed with the strike zone.  It seemed a bit wide.  “Good guess, ump!” said one of them. 

Groff seemed to be working faster, but unfortunately gave up a home run to the first batter of the fourth.  1-2 Bears.  Again, the damage was limited.  A little leaguer went out for the broken glass challenge.  Unfortunately, he never got close to hitting the pane.  I hope he wasn’t the team’s pitcher.  A young couple sat down behind me in the bottom of the inning.  The girl made the immediate observation that the field needs a new scoreboard.  It really heartened me to hear them talk baseball and get into the game. 

Here came the fifth and Sakurai drove in another run to tie the score.  We went to the sixth.  Aggie trivia asked, “Who’s the tallest player on the team?”  I quickly consulted the program and, as usual, got the wrong answer.  Okay, but seriously, Kody Jones?  Who?  He’s a junior and (gasp) 6’11”?  Are you kidding me?  And this guy isn’t on the basketball team?  Also in this inning, a foul ball bounced off the press box and rebounded off the inside of the net.  No injuries.  And a fan came in wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers hat and a White Sox t-shirt.

Oh, what happened on field in the sixth?  Groff had his final inning.  The first two batters grounded out, and he struck out the final batter.  Unfortunately, he gave up another home run in between.  The wind seemed to alternate between knocking fly balls down and helping them out.  2-3 Bears.  To start the bottom, Austin Botello doubled and Dan Hetzel drove him in with another double.  This tied the score and chased the Bear’s starter.  Mason Fishback would bring in Hetzel, and Marcus Still would single in LJ Hatch (which was the card Brandee was handing out).  A third Bear pitcher got the last two outs to end the inning.  Finally, a big inning and the lead, 5-3 Aggies.

The seventh was the pivotal inning.  Alex Reyes started the frame.  He gave up a hit to the first Bear batter.  On the second batter, Brent made a great stop and, falling away from first, made the play on the runner.  Unfortunately, two walks and a hit batter later, and it was 5-4 Aggies.  Dalton Shalberg was brought in with the bases loaded and one out.  Whoever said baseball is boring has obviously not sat through one of these kind of high tension situations.  Shalberg was up to it.  A high popup to short, kept the runners from advancing and a strikeout looking ended the inning.  The crowd came to its feet, applauding, and Shalberg got a hero’s welcome in the dugout. 

In the bottom, Botello once again got it started with a single.  Hetzel then blasted a homer to left center.  The fielder scaled the wall trying to bring it back, but it was gone.  7-4 Aggies.  Meanwhile in this inning, a foul bunt actually popped high into the stands.  No harm done.  A gentleman picked it up and gave it to a little leaguer nearby.  Elsewhere, a young woman came back to her families’ seats bearing freshly baked cinnamon rolls.  What?  Where did these come from?  A guy came in with a couple of Coke Zeros earlier, and I was jealous enough.  I need some better friends at the ballpark.

Joey Ortiz had a quiet game hitting, but still had the mitt and ended the top of the eighth with a great pick and throw.  I’m still wondering about what I thought I saw in the bottom of the inning.  Greg Popylisen popped up to the pitcher with two on.  He then handed his helmet to Sakurai, who used it for his at bat.  I can’t have seen that right.  Aggie closer, Ruger Rodriguez came in for the ninth.  Firing 90+, he struck out the first two batters.  The crowd was clapping and stomping on the next two hitters, hoping for a strikeout.  They had two strikes on them, but both managed to single.  Brent was injured diving for one of those hits, but stayed in the game.  Ruger finally gave the crowd a backward “K” as he struck out the last batter looking.  Aggies 7, Bears 4, Crowd happy and exhausted.      

The game went three and half hours, but when it’s tight, tense, and has multiple lead changes, that’s okay.  I’m glad it was a passionate crowd that got to see this game.  They deserved it.  Let’s give the fan star award to, I think, Marcus Still’s family.  They were the loudest cheerers during the game, encouraging all the players.  They got the crowd singing “Sweet Caroline” in the eighth.  After the game, they were dancing to Kool and Gang’s “Celebrate.”  My star players of the game are Dalton Shalberg, for preserving that one run lead in the seventh, and Dan Hetzel, for his seventh inning two-run homer to put the game away.  The Aggies are now 10-1 in conference.  This may have been their first come from behind win this season, and they did it three times today!

Walking out, I saw Brandee shepherding the little leaguers in the “kiss and cry” area to meet the players.  She seemed extra stressed.  It’ll work out for her.  Outside the stadium a couple of, well, hot chicks were lounging by an RV with a barbeque going.  They even had Adam Young’s post game going on a TV inside.  When Coach Brian Green said he wanted this to be an RV/tailgate program, this must have been what he meant.  What a tremendous day at the ballpark.