NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball 3-3-24

And you thought yesterday was a slugfest.  Now let’s add a 20+mph wind blowing out to the equation.  I didn’t take any chances on when the game would end today and went to the grocery store in the morning.  That was a good decision, though I was a bit tired going into the game.

 

It was warm and sunny in the low 70’s, as long as you were out of the wind.  Thankfully for the fans, they were mostly out of the wind for the game.  (Unfortunately, the balls in play weren’t.)  In the parking lot, there were a couple of RV’s parked and three tailgates going.  This is a good sign for the program.

 

At the gate, I was handed a Grandy’s coupon.  I’ll give it to my dad, since he goes there.  On the way to the bathroom, I ran into Coach Baarts of the Aggie Soccer team.  I congratulated him on his season.  He said, “Thanks,” but I think I caught him off guard.  Once again, I wasn’t wearing Aggie merch.  I did feel a little outsider-ish at times.

 

In the bathroom, I met broadcaster Adam Young.  He was pretty upbeat.  I gave him a report card on his substitute host yesterday.  He did well under the circumstances.  Adam illuminated that Caden Wagner of the UNC Bears had been ejected for following Keith Jones around the bases after his grand slam and jawing at him.  They also be doing without Caden today as part of that ejection. 

 

Inside the stadium, there was a good crowd at 627.  I sat over by fans Michael and Kent.  (Brandon Sanchez’s Uncle was again sitting next to me as well, so I got plenty of cheering for the Bears.)  Michael cleared up another mystery.  He’d talked to Coach Angier, who admitted that the team’s white uniforms with the hard-to-see outlined numbers were a mistake.  They thought the numbers were going to be solid. 

 

Kent was concerned about the pencil I was using for scorekeeping and brought me a golf pencil and a little sharpener.  How nice of him.  He was also wearing an Iowa sweatshirt.  I asked if he was a fan of Caitlin Clark on their Women’s Basketball team.  He was and told me that he was watching her this morning.  She set the college all-time scoring record in the game.  

 

Xitlaly Hernandez and Loma McNeese from the Aggie Soccer team threw out the first pitches.  That explains why Coach Baarts was here.  X walked by later, or should I say, hobbled.  Her foot was in walking cast contraption.  

  

I credit Adam’s radio call for helping out with today’s scorecards.  I did have trouble keeping up with the Aggies in the sixth inning.  Yesterday, nobody batted around, even though both teams scored a bunch.  Today, there were three 10+ batter innings.

 

Hayden Walker started for the Aggies.  He got the first two batters out to begin the game, but then allowed a single.  Catcher Nick Gore gunned that runner down when he attempted to steal second.  In the bottom, Steve Solorzano came up with a runner on and belted a two-run homer.  It was a line drive that the wind held up and carried out.  2-0 Aggies. 

 

Garrett Fisher, the first Bear batter of the second inning, fouled a ball that ricocheted into his dugout and hit a teammate in the back.  No harm done.  Hayden wouldn’t get off so easy this inning.  Fisher walked.  The next batter hit one down the third base line.  Solo made a dive stop on it to keep it from going for extra bases, but had no play. 

 

The next batter sacrificed the runners over.  Given the wind, Adam was perplexed by this strategy.  It didn’t hurt them, even with a strikeout right after.  After a walk loaded the bases, Jackson Romero singled in two runs.  After another walk reloaded the bases.  Solo then got a grounder deep in the hole at third.  He ran to the bag for the force, but wasn’t in time.  He made a wild throw to first, which didn’t find a mitt.  Three runs came in on the error.  Another run came in on a single.  Hayden finally got the third out, but now it was 6-2 Bears.

 

I was wearing my Texas Rangers hat again.  I saw another one in the crowd.  I think I saw a scout in the crowd for the Diamondbacks.  He was wearing a hat and a team polo shirt.  Mitch Namie homered to start the bottom of the second.  Keith would double in a run later to make it 6-4.  I could tell how this game was going to go today: it wasn’t going to be a pitchers’ duel.           

 

Hayden helped himself out in the third as he picked off a runner to kill a rally.  The Aggies went down in order in the bottom.  Right fielder Austin Bunn made a great jumping over-the-shoulder catch at the wall for the second out of the inning.  This inning was just an interlude before the fireworks.

 

Cho Tofte came in to start the fourth inning for the Aggies.  (Hayden had thrown a lot of pitches.)  He got the first two batters convincingly.  Bunn came up and hit a high flyball to right.  Titus Dumitru never saw the ball and it bounced over the wall for a ground rule double.  A walk and a hit batter then loaded the bases.  Craig Kenny hit a grounder up the middle.  Sheehan O’Connor was able to knock it down, but had no play and a run scored.  Carson Gross then came up and belted a grand slam home run.  Cho finally got the last out, but now the Bears were up, 11-4.

 

I was actually confident that the Aggies would make some sort of comeback before the end of the game, though I didn’t know it would be enough to overcome a 7-run deficit.  I was underestimating them.  In the bottom of the fourth, the Aggies got two on via a walk and a hit batter.  Gross made a great play on a wind-blow popup.  Four fielders converged on it, but Gross made a sliding catch for the second out.

 

KJ took a walk to load the bases.  Damone Hale was hit to force in a run.  Solo then singled to the drive in two runs and drive the Bear starter from the game.  What followed was two more run-scoring singles and a walk to the tenth batter of the inning to reload the bases.  O’Connor then hit a high flyball to right.  The ball just kind of floated away in the wind.  Bunn ran into the wall trying to get it, but it was a grand slam home run!  The Aggie Dugout and the crowd exploded.  The Aggies had started the inning down seven and were now leading by two, 13-11.  All of the runs came with two outs, just like the Bears in the fourth.

 

Brady Baltus started the fifth.  He loaded the bases on two hit batters and a single, though he did make a good play on another sacrifice attempt and threw out a runner at second.  (Again, why were they giving up outs?)  Zach Zwaschka was brought in.  He got a medium flyball to left and Sam Pease tagged up at third.  What happened next was the Play of the Game.  Keith threw a one-hop strike to the plate and Gore easily tagged Pease out.  The crowd and the team went wild.  No damage in the inning.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies struck again with two outs.  They strung together three hits and Gore drove in Damone to make it, 14-11 Aggies.  Zach then got the first two outs in the top of the sixth, but then lost the strikezone.  He gave up a walk and a single.  Pease came up and hit a very high chopper to first.  Namie never saw it.  (The sun was brutal on right side of the field.)  The ball got behind him and a run scored to make it 14-12.

 

I’m looking at the scorecard and there’s still three or four innings left in this.  I didn’t even bother looking at the time.  I knew the game was running long.  The wind had kind of died down a bit, but now it was getting colder.  I was planning on getting dinner out afterward and my stomach was rumbling.  On field, I noticed that the kid bat boy was styling in wraparound mirror shades.  I’m sure the players wished they had something that cool on.

 

Namie was up first in the bottom of the sixth and doubled.  While on second, he also pointed out a pitch clock violation by the pitcher.  (The players can see the clock.  The fans can’t.  I’m totally okay with that.)  However, Zach Hose, who started last inning, struck out the next two batters. 

 

Oh, that elusive third out in today’s game.  Romeo Ballesteros came up and singled Namie in.  Keith came up and was at 3-ball count when the UNC Coach came out and motioned KJ to first and brought in a new pitcher.  Damone wrecked that maneuver with a three-run homer.  After two more singles, another pitcher was brought in. 

 

Dumitru was the next batter and was hit on the hand.  He came right out of the game.  I’m afraid something was probably broken there.  This loaded the bases.  A passed ball brought in Solo, who slid under the tag attempt.  A walk followed to reload the bases, and this brought another pitching change. 

 

By this point, a two-run lead was now a six-run lead.  Adam said that the number “20” was posted by the batting cages before the series.  That was the team’s target number to score in a game this weekend.  They’d almost done it yesterday.  They were at 17 and now threatening to run rule if they could get to a 10-run lead.  The Bears obliged by offering a walk and two hit batters to force in three more runs to make it, 22-12.  A position player was finally brought in to get the final out.  Aaron Treloar had a 1-2-3 top of the seven to finish the game.  I wonder if the Bears Coach told them not to score, because they were out of pitching for the day.  22-12 Aggies win!

 

We got some Gameballs here.  For the Bears, Carson Gross had 4 RBI’s with his grand slam.  Congrats to catcher, Jackson Meier, for pitching that final out in the bottom of the sixth.  For the Aggies, Damone Hale went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI’s, Steve Solorzano went 4 for 5 with 4 RBI’s, Sheehan O’Connor hit a grand slam and had 5 RBI’s for the day, and finally, hang a star on Keith Jones for his stellar defensive play.  

 

Thank goodness this ended early, because these six-and-a-half innings took three hours.  I got my dinner at Burger King and inhaled it.  Tomorrow’s finale is a Monday morning affair.  I’m hoping to make it there.  They’re offering free coffee for the game.  I hope maybe they’ll have some hot chocolate or tea for me.