NM State Aggies vs CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners Game 2, 4-7-18

Continued from Game 1.

Ron and I got pretty toasty in the late afternoon sun, even through a layer of sunblock.  We went back to his car for shade and A/C.  Ron got a drink of water from his jug.  Unfortunately for me, Ron didn’t have any extra water, but I was okay though.  He may have gotten a bit lightheaded during the game. 

Back inside the stadium, I ran into the son of a co-worker, who was working a camera during Game 1.  I told him that I saw him waving to another camera last night.  He told me he was getting blown around on his platform then from the wind.  Today, he was frying under the clear sky and bright sun.  The life of a cameraman isn’t glamorous.  Tatyana Battle and Bridgette Lowe were there to represent Aggie Volleyball.  Taty had a sign with Kelsey Horton’s name on it, but I was never able to read what it said.  I wonder if Kelsey impresses the girls on other teams, like she does softball fans.

The attractive young woman and her family supporting Bakersfield moved to other seats for Game 2.  Another Bakersfield fan moved into their spot.  He was wearing a very sharp-looking new Brooklyn Dodgers hat.  I was seriously coveting it.  (May have to wait until I’m older before I could pull off wearing one of those.)  He piped up on a few occasions, but wasn’t unfriendly.  He did chat with an Aggie fan in a Cubs hat during the game.  This fellow brought his young teen daughter with him.  They were pretty quiet with each other mostly, but he would point out certain events on the field to her.  She was attentive to the game and might have been player herself.  When pennants were handed out to the crowd by the stadium staff, she got one and waved it for the rest of the game.

  

Kayla Green did not start for the Aggies for the third game in a row.  Maybe Coach Kathy Rodolph likes her better in a relief role, where she has shined at times.  Samaria Diaz, Friday’s starter, got the nod.  In the first, Sam walked the first batter, who was moved over with a sacrifice, but nothing came of it.

Ominously for the Roadrunners and for Aggie batters, two of the first three batters got plunked.  Amy Bergeson started off the game getting hit in the back.  After Kelsey walked, Fahren Glackin was also hit.  According to the stats on the program, her and catcher Nikki Butler are in a race for the most bruises while batting.  Speaking of Nikki, she came up next and drove in two with a single, 2-0 Aggies.

Unfortunately, this all got overshadowed by what happened next.  Victoria Castro singled to load the bases.  Caity Szczesny struck out for the first out.  Freshman Sarai Mejia, the DP, came up and lined out to second, two outs.  The second baseman then threw to first to double off Tori, but the throw got away from the first baseman.  Okay, here’s where it gets complicated.  Fahren, who was third, came home.  The home plate umpire yelled out, “Dead ball!”  Fahren was called out.  The Roadrunners left the field.  The two remaining Aggie runners stayed at their bases while the Coach Kathy argued with the umps twice.  You may imagine the crowd’s reaction to all of this.

Athletic Director Mario Moccia and perhaps his dad had come in for the second game and were sitting up front.  A former baseball player, Mario explained to nearby fans that Fahren hadn’t tagged up before touching home, and that was why she was out.  My problem is that I never saw the ball come back into play after the first baseman lost it.  When the ump made his proclamation of “Dead ball,” that meant it either hit someone who wasn’t in play (like a batter on deck), in which case everyone should have returned to their bases, or it rolled out of play into the dugout, in which case everyone should have moved up a base.  The coach was arguing some point pretty vigorously.  Regardless, this all resulted in a 10 minute delay and didn’t go the Aggies’ way.    

Sam gave up a single in the second, again with no damage.  Stefani Duran worked a walk to start the bottom for the Aggies and was moved to third with a sacrifice and a wild pitch.  Kelsey came up and began another epic battle.  One of her fouls dropped into the stands.  The PA belatedly warned the fans to watch out for fouls.  Actually, I think that was the third ball of the afternoon that had had a very close encounter with the crowd.  Ron chuckled and wished he’d been there to see me when a ball landed in my lap at a baseball game (3-17-18).  Kelsey followed that by nearly hitting Stef at third.  Stef shrugged at her.  Kelsey then almost hit Fahren in the on deck circle.  Thankfully for everyone’s safety, Kelsey finally hit a double to score Stefani, 3-0 Aggies.

Sam again gave up a single in the third inning, but with no damage.  In the bottom, the Roadrunners did some creative player reshuffling in the bottom that likely made my scorecard somewhat unreliable.  This caused another lengthy delay.  Chris Hipa went from second to pitcher.  Frankly, I’m not sure about the rest of it.  Caity walked as the second batter of the inning.  With two outs, Stefani came to bat.  The girls in the Aggie dugout began an odd bobbing up and down during her at bat.  I don’t know what that was about, but it ended with her getting hit.  Pinch hitter Kennedy Johnson was then hit.  With the bases loaded, Amy worked a walk and drove in Caity.   

Then Kelsey came up again.  She fouled three pitches back without injury to the crowd.  She pounded one that the wind just blew foul.  A player had to run to the pressbox to get more balls.  Finally, Kelsey walked to drive in a run.  Fahren fouled out to end the inning.  That was 2 runs scored on 0 hits, 3 walks, and 2 hit batters.  5-0 Aggies. 

Ron poked me hard in the side when I didn’t have a superhero item for the “Do you have a (blank) in your pockets” giveaway.  I was wearing my crimson Star Trek shirt with the Aggie button over the insignia, but that only qualified as nerdy, not as something with a superhero on it.  Darkness had fallen over the Mesilla Valley.  In the lighted pressbox, I could see a girl in there dancing to the between innings music.  It was some rap about a guy wanting to “Break your legs” on the dance floor.  Okay.  The wind had also picked up.  I’d brought a jacket and left it in the car, but it thankfully never got cold. 

The fourth inning went 1-2-3 for both teams.  Freshman Anne Marie “Buddy” Vargas came into the game at short in the fourth with some support from the crowd, while Jeanelle went back to third.  In the fifth, Buddy made a great running play to make a throw to first.  She could be the shortstop of the future with those skills.  The Aggies got a single in the bottom, but that was all.   

Sam let on the first two batters of the sixth with singles.  Kayla came into the game in relief.  Buddy was pulled, Jeanelle went back to short, and Stefani was back in at third.  Kayla struck out her first batter.  The next had a shallow single to load the bases.  Kayla came up with another strikeout with her good offspeed and then fielded a grounder by the next batter to end the inning.  Whew.  She is getting to be really good under pressure. 

Meanwhile, I noticed some outside, non-concession food and drink in the crowd, this included Mario.  During the inning, he was watching something intently on the field, but it wasn’t the main action.  He got up and scanned the crowd between innings.  I’m not sure if he was looking for somebody or counting.  Mario then went to the pressbox.  This was all very mysterious, but didn’t affect anything.  

In the bottom of the sixth, Fahren was walked and Nikki was hit to keep up with Fahren in the hit batter stat.  Tori came up next and sent a line drive to center, where Julea Cavazos made the play of the game, as she pulled a homer back from over the fence.  Fahren went to third, and there was nearly another controversy with her tagging up, since it wasn’t immediately clear if Cavazos caught the ball.  The inning ended without any scoring.

To start the seventh, a nearby fan brought up a couple of beers.  He complained that they were serving warm beer at the concessions.  Oh my, between this and bad hot dogs, there’s got to be a change made here.  Kayla got a ground out on the first batter of the seventh and walked the second batter.  She made a play on a popup for the second out on the next batter.  Kayla’s good enough with her glove that infielders defer to her. 

The runner on first injured herself diving back to the base on a pickoff.  Inexplicably, a drunk Aggie fan nearby started heckling Fahern about it.  This is what you get when you start serving warm beer: your fans turn into rioting English soccer hooligans.  I’d like to think that this incident didn’t contribute to the error on the next batter, when she dropped a difficult catch, but it was a bad coincidence.  Thankfully, Fahren got the next throw to end the game.  5-0 Aggies was the final. 

Okay, with two shutouts in the bag, we can once again credit Aggie pitching with another good game.  Nikki Butler had the big hit of the game with a two-run single in the first.  Kelsey Horton, meanwhile, is so dangerous with her bat that even teammates and fans are imperiled when she comes to the plate.  That’s okay; we’ll keep her.  And let’s hear it for Roadrunner pitching handing the Aggies two runs without even a swing of the bat in the third.  To be fair, even while getting blanked out today, the Roadrunners never lost spirit.  They were singing loudly from their dugout much of the time. 

The Aggies are on a good roll to start WAC play.  I’m a bit concerned about Rachel Rodriguez not playing and about some odd replacement decisions.  I’d like to see some more offense out of the other girls beyond Kelsey, Tori, and Nikki.  It doesn’t have to be all home runs.  The pitching is definitely coming together nicely.  Coach Rodolph must be thrilled to have four options this year.  I’m feeling some optimism, as long as the girls don’t get too bruised from being hit to play. 

The young teen girl and her dad with the Cubs hat walked out ahead of me and Ron as we left the stadium.  The girl was skipping and waving her pennant.  I’d say daddy/daughter time was a success tonight.  Ron had to get his hospice caretaking job, which is keeping him up all night.  We only had time to pick up a couple of subs from Subway and ice cream from PQ Treats.  This still wasn’t the meal I’d been hoping for, but I bravely persevered.  It was great to see the girls playing and dominating anyway.