NM State Aggies vs Chicago St Cougars Baseball 4-14-18

I was about 30 seconds from walking out the door about an hour early for the game when Ron called.  I was going to go early since they were offering a free t-shirt, which looked fairly cool.  He offered to meet me at the ballpark, but I said I'd wait for him to pick me up.  We got to the stadium about 15 minutes till first pitch.  I did not get a free t-shirt.  I saw a couple in the crowd later and they did look good.  Oh, well.  The anti-rape people were there, offering free t-shirts to students for pledging not to rape anyone.  Everyone else was only offered a sticker for taking the pledge.  I declined.  So much for a free t-shirt. 

Worse, the Women's Tennis team was playing their last home match at the same time.  For another year, I'm not going to get to see Eli Arnaudova in person.  I'll just have to live with her tantalizing pictures.  They were even offering free pizza and, I think, free admission.  These NMSU scheduling people need to work a little harder.  If they'd played the matches earlier in the day, I would have gone.

       

It was bright and sunny today, but it wasn’t warm.  With a cold breeze blowing, it was 62 degrees.  I was wearing my Aggie hoodie, but had a windbreaker over it.  I kept reasonably warm, though the wind was blowing in.  I wished I’d brought my sunglasses as there was quite a bit of glare off the field.  Ron forgot to bring his radio for the game and got way angrier about it.

The parking lot was full when we got there.  A couple more RV’s were parked there as well.  On the way in, I at least, got to hear the radio pregame.  Chicago State is winless in the WAC and, including last night’s game against the Aggies, they’d been run-ruled in their last six games.  Inside, there weren’t any programs (though they’d show up later), but there was a great crowd.  The Old Man said “Hi,” as we sat down by him.  He asked me to pass along some hitting advice to catcher Mason Fishback.  I had to tell him that I, not only don’t work for the team, I don’t know anybody on the team.  I’m sure the next obvious question would have been, “Then why are you keeping a scorecard and taking notes?” but he left that alone.  After all, I could ask him back, “Why do you cheer so obnoxiously at times?”

This was a treat before the game, football hero, Larry Rose III threw out one of the first pitches.  He was all smiles.  It was good to see him.  After seeing him throw, good thing he wasn’t a quarterback.  He was joined on field by a pair of sorority girls, whose chapter was seated next to the visiting dugout.  They were about as proficient.  At least they didn’t make Larry look even worse.  Okay, so I’ve seen basketball players (I can’t find the old post to link to it) and a football player not be able to throw a baseball.  How can you be a high-level male sports athlete and throw like girl?  (No offense to the Softball girls.) 

The game started well for Aggie starter Jonathan Groff with two quick outs.  Shortstop Joey Ortiz almost made a great play to end the inning with a running and falling away throw to first.  The batter just beat it out.  After that good play, Marcus Still made a bad throwing decision on a single to center and allowed both runners to advance, but no harm was done.

In the bottom, I noticed Larry was sitting with the sorority girls, but he had his girlfriend with him (at least, I'm guessing that was their relationship).  DJ Downs, Aggie marketing guy, came down from the pressbox to talk to him for a bit.  On the field, Chicago State's catcher, Matt Cox, was really tall and well-built.  He's like a first baseman.  Is this a new preferred body type in grooming catchers?  Adam Young on the radio call mentioned that the Aggies are second in the country in batting average.  On cue, the Aggies went down quickly in order.  Some Cougar fans were there and made themselves known cheering.

Marcus made a good running catch in center on the first batter of the second.  The next batter walked.  Mason Fishback made a bad throw on a stolen base attempt, and then a passed ball got the runner to third.  Groff got a strikeout looking on a great offspeed, but a bunch of those pitches were actually missing, which resulted in another walk.  Groff threw over to first a bunch and managed to pick the runner off to end the inning.  In the bottom, “Bitches, leave.”  (What movie is that from anyway?)  The sorority girls left en mass.  Well, they made an appearance.  I nearly lost my scorecards to a sudden gust of wind.  The Aggies went down in order again.  Shortstop, Tyler Zunkel, made a great throw from his knees to end the inning.

To start the third, Joey matched him by sliding to a knee to get the first out.  Events do not go well in the field after this.  Next, there was a double.  Then Joey bobbled and dropped the next grounder.  Worse, it was contagious.  A sure double-play ball rolled between the legs of second baseman Nick Gonzales.  This allowed a runner to score and put another on third. 

Larry took a phone call and left the game with his girlfriend following.  I was hoping he'd walk by so I could wish him luck, but he went in the other direction.  A groundout brought the runner at third in.  After a walk and several throws to first, a bad throw to second from Fishback on a pitchout brought in another runner on third.  Finally, the inning ended on strikeout looking.  Chicago State scored three runs on three errors and one hit.  What a defensive nightmare that was.  That hurt my feelings to watch and my head to write.  3-1 Cougars.

Between innings, I was hit by another ball.  This was a foam ball tossed in the crowd by those sexual assault people.  Ron retrieved it from nearby and kept it.  Joe Fitka had pitched two good innings starting for the Cougars.  Unfortunately, he was actually their closer.  By the third, he was losing his command.  Fishback's bad day continued as he was hit by a pitch to start the inning.   Nick walked and was erased on a fielder's choice.  The bases were then loaded on another walk.

The Aggies finally got on the board as Joey drew a walk to force in a run.  Trey Stine sacrificed in another run.  The big blow came with Caleb Henderson tripling past a diving centerfielder and clearing the bases.  The centerfielder, Jacob Vanitvelt, came up bleeding from the field.  His nose got cut by his sunglasses.  Chicago State didn't have a trainer, so the Aggies' trainer had to go out and patch him up.  Tristen Carranza then brought Caleb in with a double.  The Aggies would bat around.  The Cougars brought in a reliever to finish the inning.  When the dust cleared the Aggies were now up 6-3.  That's the way to get over some bad defense in the field. 

I saw people walking by with multiple giveaway shirts.  Even the Old Man was now wearing one.  They're all mocking me.  By the way, even with the sorority girls gone, there were plenty of good-looking girls still left in the crowd.  Several handsome young men too.  This is what Aggie Baseball needs to do all the time: bring in an attractive crowd. 

Groff led off the fourth with a walk.  This is a season high for him at four.  He got the next two outs, but hit the next batter.  Matt Paciello came up and doubled the two runners in.  Marcus made a great leaping catch in center to rob another double and end the inning.  The score was now 6-5 Aggies.  The Aggies worked a couple of walks, but didn't score in the bottom.

A couple of glamorous young blondes and a sophisticated older woman sat down behind us and then moved up in front of us in the fifth.  I recognized one of them as a friendly ticket seller from some other games this year.  I'm guessing she was with her sister and their mom.  They had a good time watching the game and amiably chatting.  That's nice to see.  Maybe I'll see her again in the ticket booth and say something.

Groff gave up his fifth walk to start the inning, but a couple of strikeouts and a groundout finished the inning and his outing.  It was a gritty appearance.  He was at over 100 pitches before this inning and left at 123.  He gave up 5 runs, but only 2 earned.  He may have been left in for five innings to qualify for a possible win.  Groff could be tied for the most wins in the nation after today. 

Cougar relief pitcher Robert Gutierrez got two groundouts in the bottom before going wild.  He plunked Carranza on the helmet.  Words were exchanged.  The ump talked to the pitcher.  Then Fishback was hit for the second time, this time in the back.  Again, the ump talked to Gutierrez as he handed him the ball.  Nick then took one for the team.  At this point, the crowd was in an uproar.  No action was taken though.  Marcus got the best revenge with a single, scoring Carranza.  7-5 Aggies.

Wyatt Kelley came in for the Aggies and hit his first batter.  Accident?  Maybe-ish.  It wasn't a hard hit at least.  Unfortunately after a double, a passed ball, and a single, the score was now tied at 7.  If the hit batter was retaliation, it backfired.  The Chicago State dugout and their fans were roaring.  They wanted this one bad given the losing streak they’re on. 

A group of girls, including one on crutches, moved into the seats vacated by the sorority and Larry earlier in the game.  They were having a good time laughing about something in the inning.  Other people around them were laughing too.  I have no idea what that was about, but they left a bit later.  At that point, I think I recognized one of them from Aggie Soccer.  That might explain the crutches.  I'm not sure if it was them or not.  Sometimes, the girls are hard to identify out of uniform.  No more hit batters in the bottom of the sixth, but no Aggie runs either.

Chance Hroch came in after a leadoff double in the seventh and shut the Cougars down.  I should mention here that the wind had finally died down and it was actually a bit warm out in the sun.  It was much nicer.  For the Aggie batters, it was now hitting time.  Fishback got to first via a walk, instead of getting hit.  Nick then came up and bombed one to straightaway left for a two-run homer.  The Aggie bench and the crowd erupted.  They were back in the lead 9-7.

The hit parade continued in the eighth off new reliever Edward Kang.  He comes to Chicago State via Taiwan.  Stine started off with a double.  Logan Ehnes came up next and hit a “Wow!” no-doubter line drive two-run homer to right.  Here’s one time I would have liked an MLB Statcast replay of a homer.  An unnatural quiet came over the crowd as Caleb came up next and then he homered to left.  Then I realized my radio was off, which was why it was so quiet.  Fishback came up after Carranza doubled and was hit for the third time.  The ump called him back to the plate for either leaning into the pitch or not trying to get out of the way.  Fishy and Coach Green both vigorously argued this one.  Kang would manage to get him and the next two batters out to finish the inning.

Brock Whittlesey, who’d come on in the eighth, gave up a leadoff hit in the ninth, but shut the door after that.  Our thrilling final: Aggies 12, Cougars 7.  Matt Paciello gets a gameball for the Cougars for going 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s.  Caleb “My name is Earle” Henderson gets one for his 4 RBI performance.  Nick Gonzales gets one for his dramatic two-run seventh inning homer.  And Whitt’s two-inning save earns him a gameball.  Mason Fishback gets a purple heart for getting hit three times.

It was a long game at three and half hours, but a good one.  I missed the attendance figure, but it was good too.  It was finally nice and warm by the time we left.  Ron and I enjoyed an excellent meal at Raising Cane’s chicken fingers.  This was my third time in two weeks, though I had the sandwich this time.  It’s been busy there every time.  Overall, it was a great day for baseball.  The Aggies earned this win, though they probably didn’t deserve it after four errors.  I feel bad for Chicago State.  Hopefully they’ll get a win . . . after this Sunday’s game when they’re playing someone else.