NM State Aggies Baseball February 20-23, 2018

NM State Aggies vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Baseball 2-20-18

I knew this game was going to be on this afternoon, but they moved the time up and started without me.  I wonder if they forgot to account to the time zone difference on the schedule.  It was even listed on a different station I think, but I found the game anyway.  The score was 1-0 Red Raiders in the mid-fourth.  The sole run was off a homer.  I’m sorry I didn’t get to listen to the early half of the game, because it went downhill shortly after I did.    

Brock Whittlestein (not sure if that’s spelled right, still protesting not getting a program last weekend), at least, pitched well for the Aggies in his mid-week start.  He’d pitched on Sunday, so he had to come out early in the fourth.   Andrew Edwards came in and got a strikeout after hitting a batter and giving up a walk.  Joey Oritz also made a good play at shortstop.

The wheels came off in the fifth.  After the fourth hit batter of game for Aggie pitching, a two-run homer followed, 3-0 Red Raiders.  And then another two-run home run, 5-0.  After a pitch behind a batter’s back, Edwards was replaced.  Another two-run homer followed, 7-0, before the inning finally ended.  Meanwhile, Texas Tech pitcher Ryan Shetter, finished knocking the Aggies down for a sixth and final inning.  He gave up no walks and had nine strikeouts on 68 pitches.  (Cough, cough.)  I just gagged on that pitch total. 

One more defensive highlight, in the seventh, Marcus Still made a great catch at the fence to end the inning.  In the eighth, the Red Raiders kept pouring it on.  A double brought in two runs to make it 9-0. A sac fly made it 12-0.  That was the first out of the inning.  12-0 Texas Tech was the final.  The Aggies got 4 hits for the game.  Two of those were in the ninth.  The Red Raiders definitely played like their #3 in the nation ranking.  The Aggies’ relief pitching is now an official concern.

NM State Aggies vs MS Valley St Delta Devils Baseball 2-23-18

In the interests of beating the cold that comes when the sun goes down, this series opener against Mississippi Valley State started at 4:00 in the afternoon.  It’s an interesting decision.  Part of this is motivated by how long some of these games are drawing out.  I got to listen to some of the game over the radio before I went to work.  Adam Young reported a “quiet” crowd.  Apparently, much of the crowd consisted of scouts looking at Aggie starter, Kyle Bradish.  In the top of the first, he hit 94 mph and made a 1 Unassisted out.  Well, that was quick enough.

Then came the bottom of the first.  Let’s look at my notes here: bases on loaded on walks, run walked in, another run walked in, run on an error, double play, another run, Marcus Still RBI single, Aggie lineup batted around, and Joey Ortiz singled for 2 RBI’s.  And that’s all I got before I had to leave for work.  I brought up the game there to find out the Devils’ starting pitcher, unsurprisingly, didn’t make it out of the first inning.  It was an 11-run first for the Aggies.  They nearly batted around twice. 

The Aggie Softball team was reported to be in attendance.  They had played two games in El Paso for a tournament and won 18-0 and 7-3.  That’s some pretty hearty school loyalty there, because they had to have been bushed.  (They also beat UTEP in El Paso earlier in the week.)  The scoring continued at the baseball game.  Tristen Carranza hit a two-run homer in the second to make it 14-0.  The team batted around again to make it 22-0 in the third.

Let’s not forget the pitching.  Bradish racked up 10 strikeouts through the fourth, including seven in a row.  In the bottom, Noah Haupt hit a two-run homer.  Mason Fishback homered “into the softball parking lot.”  I found that description a bit far-fetched, but I’m sure it went far.  I did believe Adam when he said, “My scorecard is a mess.”  25-0 Aggies. 

In the fifth, Haupt hit a three-run homer to help make it 28-0.  Coach Brian Green started putting in the reserves during this inning.  In the sixth, one of those subs, Nick Gonzales, turned a double play.  Bradish was done after six, finishing with 93 pitches, 2 hits, 2 walks, and 12 strikeouts.  The offense kept scoring, 31- 0.  In the seventh, the strikezone finally started enlarging to move the game along.  The Aggies still scored again, 32-0.

For the eighth, the Devils used their second position player to pitch.  (Actually, they have several dual-use players on their roster, because they’re short-handed.)  Gonzales and Haupt drove in runs, thus the Aggies managed to score in every inning.  The inning ended with the bases loaded.  The final was 39-0 Aggies.  That broke one school record.  Noah Haupt, who went 6 for 7, broke another record with 10 RBI’s.  The team batted around in three innings.  If you were going to sit through three-hour, 42 minute game, at least this one was memorable.