NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball Game 2 4-20-19

Continued from Game 1

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”  From taking a whole 30 seconds to search this phrase on the Internet, I’m not sure who said it first, but it worked well as the intro for a rap song played during the break.  But let me tell you what will also piss you off: the concessions here at the Aggie Softball Complex. 

I went down to the food stand during the double header intermission between the Aggies and GCU.  I came away with a nuclear hot hot dog.  It was like the nice lady there had pulled it straight out of the devil’s sna . . . ahem . . . Anyway, by the time it had cooled, the bun was revealed to be stale and inedible.  At least the soda and popcorn were okay.  Please NMSU, get better food if you want more of my money.  I think more people might come to evening games, if they could get a dinner meal at the park.  Consider inviting a couple of food trucks to sit outside the stadium. 

Thankfully, we were back to softball in short order.  A family with a couple of little boys sat down in front of me and Danny.  The dad gave the boys an Aggie foam finger, which they proceeded to hit each other with.  I always wondered what those things were good for.  On field, the Aggie lineup was the same, but Shelby Shultes was now catching and Nikki Butler was the DP.  Analise de la Roca was in to pitch.  She worked a quick first, thanks to a double play and a strikeout.  In the bottom, Victoria Castro singled.  The wind was still blowing here in the late afternoon.  This was evident as the GCU first baseman dropped a popup on the infield that blew away from her, which allowed Nikki to reach.  Unfortunately, a strikeout ended the inning.

Here was one way to get the crowd moving.  Between innings, the PA announced that the staff had hidden Easter Eggs around the stadium.  People finding them could exchange them for an Aggie beer stein.  The crowd was suddenly up and scrambling looking under the benches.  I was waiting for fights to breakout, but the staff had done too good a job of hiding the eggs.  I think only two out of eight eggs were found during that break.  “It’s okay folks.  We’ll be here all night.  Keep looking,” said the PA.

Analise gave up a hit in the second, but no problems.  A gorgeous girl from the Swim and Dive team came down the stands and threw out t-shirts to the crowd.  I looked her up.  She’s swimmer Grace Laporte.  I’m really regretting not going to the swim meet a couple of months ago.  (I could have sat with the Volleyball girls there, too.)  The Ruidoso High School Softball team was still there, and they were screaming for the shirts. 

Mya Felder and Kayla Bowen really battled in their at bats in the second.  Kayla worked a walk, but Brandy Hernandez was out next for batting out of the box.  Analise allowed a leadoff hit, but closed out the third.  Between frames, the crowd was entertained by the two little boys doing the Chicken Dance to a Country song over the PA.  Regardless, the top of the Aggie order went down in order in the bottom of the third.

Kalei Atkinson and Tayelin Grays from the Women’s Basketball team came in.  Kalei was rocking some seriously long turquoise nails that she probably can’t wear during the season.  To start the fourth, there was another of those weird softball plays where someone is called out with no explanation.  My notes and the official scoring don’t entirely make sense, but a Lopes runner was called out for leaving too early.  KB finished the inning with a great diving play on foul ball.  Nobody saw it because it was un-viewable from the stands, but she got a big round of applause.  The play was posted later on Twitter and it was great.

The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the fourth.  Grace came back out and tossed out some backpacks.  That was a highlight.  I finally noticed a co-worker, Chuck, sitting on the other side of the stands.  I noticed him when a foul ball came right at him.  He made an attempt at it, but it bounced from his hands into his face.  I went over and talked to him between innings.  Chuck was okay, but kind of unhappy that his old baseball reflexes didn’t let him catch that ball.  I ended up being over there without my scorecard for the top of the fifth.  I was pretty fortunate that Analise pitched a quick and easy to remember inning. 

Well, I guess nobody’s going to score in this game.  We’re going to have a nil-nil tie.  “Not so fast,” said KB, “I’m having a good game here.”  With that, Kayla wrapped a home run around the left field pole.  Keala Brown, pinch running for Mya, was on base, so it was 2-0 Aggies just like that.  The crowd roared for her.  GCU’s offense got going in the top of the sixth with a pair of infield hits.  Coach Rodolph took Analise out at that point and brought in Samaria Diaz.  Sam hit the first batter to load the bases.  She gave up a flyball to right which should have scored a run, but the runner left early and was called out.  (This was via the official scoring; I didn’t figure that out at the park.)  Sam closed out the inning without damage.

On to the bottom of the sixth.  The ump nearly got hit on the head by a popup at the plate.  Attractive Lopes catcher, Kaileigh Holland, apologized to him.  Tori doubled to start the inning.  Next, Nikki hit a light pole with a foul, so she was locked in.  Her hitting a homer was not a surprise at that point, although it was a line drive to left center.  4-0 Aggies.  This brought on a pitching change for the Lopes.  The ump then got hit on a foul tip.  The ball had his name on it today.  The Aggies got two singles, but a double play pretty much killed the inning. 

In the seventh, Maddie Dowdle nailed the on deck hitter with a foul or a coach.  She was mortified either way and put her hand to mouth in shock.  Shelby, catching, took a hard liner to her facemask.  She was okay, but the coach and Sam came over to her to see if she was alright.  This was most of the drama in the inning, as Samaria struckout the side.  The crowd was clapping and pounding on the bleachers for the final strike.

Aggies win 4-0!  With so many thumpers in the Aggie lineup, it’s really hard to keep them from scoring.  For this game, Analise de la Roca and Samaria Diaz did a great job of keeping GCU down until their own bats could come around.  This was the best I’ve seen Analise pitch.  Gameballs to Kayla Bowen and Nikki Butler for being right there to hammer a couple of mistakes.  Ryan Denhart, pitching for GCU, didn’t make many. 

Unlike when I’m with Ron for a game, I just went straight home afterward.  No fast food review this time.  Still, I had a good time at the park with a couple of good games between two good teams.