NM State Aggies vs Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Baseball 4-27-25

Unlike yesterday’s beautiful day, today’s game was under a severe weather alert for high winds. It was calm and lovely when I left at least, but I had some trepidation. On the way over I drove past a dispensary, which had a live DJ outside playing songs. (He was playing that Tom Petty song about weed.) Is 10:30 Sunday morning a worthwhile time to do this promotion?

At the university, I saw two black semi’s pulling out to get on the freeway. I assume they’d packed up last night’s concert at the Pan-Am Center and were on to their next show. Reportedly, most of the team went to it and it was a sellout. In the baseball parking lot, I saw a little red convertible, a Spider, with the top down. It was gorgeous, but this wasn’t the day to have the top down. (It was gone by the end of the game. Hopefully it was in a garage before the weather hit.)

It was a sort of light crowd at 401. At the usual seats, Fan Michael was chatting with a Middle Tennessee fan. He’s like the mayor of Presley Askew Field; he’s always meeting and greeting. Trey and his family would be along later. His wife and daughter took in the concert. They didn’t seem to be any worse for wear, but what condition they woke up in I don’t know.

Trey reported that the team had had a closed door meeting before this weekend where the players all took accountability for their performances. Well, it resulted in this weekend’s offensive outburst, so that worked. I also found out who Trey worked for. He’s finishing a sabbatical right now, but will still able to come out for the rest of the season. He mentioned that one time he’d been called back from a vacation and went to Ohio State and got to play football with his guys at the Horseshoe. I guess that was worth missing some vacation over. Also, I’d mentioned local MLB umpire, Tony Randazzo, yesterday to him. His wife Robin is coaching his daughter in volleyball right now.

Oh boy, did I mess these up. Yesterday, I almost screwed up because I was chatting away with people behind me. Today, I definitely did it. I mis-scored an out and got out-of-order in the batting lineup. Unfortunately, the inning that followed was the fourth, which was rather eventful. I shamefully had to resort to using the official scoring to fix it. I also wasn’t able to keep up with the pitchers’ line scores during the game and just wrote down the official ones. (It is really hard to do a pitcher’s line after the game.)

MTSU was wearing camo tops with bright blue hats. I’m still not sure if I liked the combination. It was bold choice, regardless. Ian Hoslett started for the Aggies. Brandon Forrester was a given a tough error on the first batter of the game. He had to lunge over with a backhand for a ball and couldn’t come up with it in time to make a throw. Thankfully, the official took that error off later (and that I didn’t write that in pen). Dane Woodcook, who was catching, did come up with a great play on the next batter by running back to the dugout to get a foul ball. However, two more Blue Raiders singled to load the bases. Ian got out of it with a strikeout and a groundout.

In addition to Dane greeting the ump before the game, Brandon and Steve Solorzano both shook hands with him before their at bats in the bottom of the first. That was the extent of civility towards the home plate ump for the game. Steve worked a walk for his AB. Bryce Campbell drove him in with a home run. Unlike the rest of the game, there wasn’t any wind, so it was legit. A hit batter, a single, and a walk loaded the bases afterward, but MTSU starter, Will Jenkins, got out of it with a strikeout. 2-0 Aggies.

Trey, who carefully watches what happens between innings, immediately called our attention to a brewing altercation on field. A Blue Raider reliever went after the ump and most of their team was on the field at the time. There was some restraint and the ump was talking back. We didn’t see what started this. There didn’t seem to be any questionable calls. MTSU had a 1-2-3 top of the second. Their catcher, Tyler Minnick, started talking to the ump when he came out between innings. At first, it seemed like an apology, but the conversation kept going. There was some kind of bad blood. In the bottom, the Aggies loaded the bases again thanks to two walks and another hit batter, but all were left stranded.

Michael was complaining about the Concessions. Not only was the beer warm, but so were the sodas. He did say later that the hot dog buns were fresh, at least. I talked to Robin about Volleyball. I asked about Mia Abalos. I thought she looked good playing at the scrimmage. Robin thought so too, but Mia may have gotten homesick and left the team early.

We talked a bit about Coach Jordan. I thought he’d gotten a bit less furious with the players since I’d started watching. She said he was being politically corrected into not yelling as much, but now he was chirping at the girls constantly with criticism and it was almost worse. This seemed to dredge some bad memories of Robin’s playing days bordering on trauma. She encouraged her daughter to play for Coach Jordan, but boy did she still have lingering issues with him.

Where was I? See? These conversations were a major distraction. Ian had a walk in the top of the third, but with no damage. The Aggies got a pair of singles in the bottom. Joey Craig then hit a sharp liner to shortstop Matt Wolfe. Wolfe caught it and stepped on second base for a quick double play.

Okay, now we get into it. It’s probably not a coincidence that the wind started picking and so did the scoring. Ferny Barreda came on in relief in the fourth for the Aggies. This outing did not go well for him, but Coach Angier did stick with him for the whole inning.

The Blue Raiders busted out with 5 runs on 5 hits and included a 2-run homer by Eston Snider. It would have been 6 runs, but DH Kenny McKinley, who was playing in a knee brace, lost it going around the bases and missed third. The Aggie dugout yelled for the guys on the field to make an appeal play at the base and got the first out of the inning. Brandon also made a good play at short. On a groundball, he dropped it, got spun around, lost his hat, but still made a good throw to first. 5-2 MTSU.

The bottom of the fourth was not a good place to screwed up in the lineup, as the Aggies batted around. Cole Torbett had come in for MTSU the previous inning. This inning, he gave up a walk and four straight hits. Those runners all scored. He got Gianni Horvat to a 0-2 count, but one of those strikes was a home run shot to left that just went foul. The Blue Raider coach replaced Torbett mid-at bat, but Horvat got an RBI single anyway.

This move didn’t go any better. MTSU got one out, but only from a sacrifice bunt. There was a walk to load the bases and then Joey was hit to bring in another run. Brandon came up again and singled in 2 more runs, though again, the MTSU coach pulled the pitcher mid-at bat with a 1-0 count. Wolfe made a great play at to snatch a grounder to get the second out and Logan Bingham finished the frame with a strikeout. Damage done. The Aggies were back in the lead, 9-5, with this 7-run outburst.

Matthew Yarc came in for the Aggies in the fifth and had a two strikeout inning. Aggie Softball was playing next door and their game was already over. I’d get their score later. Dust was now blowing around the field. It was okay in the stands because the wind was blowing out, which would have been right into the stands at Softball, so it was good they finished quick. Wind was affecting this game in the bottom of the fifth with Boston Vest and Horvat hitting back-to-back solo home runs. They were wind-aided. 11-5 Aggies.

The wind was blowing for MTSU, too. After a hit batter, Wolfe hit out a 2-run homer to make it 11-7 Aggies. After a double, Yarc got it back together with a lineout. He got a strikeout next. Brett Rogers didn’t like the call and went at the ump. The ump was yelling back at him as Rogers went back to the dugout. Brandon made a great play on a hot shot at short to end the frame.

Broadcaster Adam Young came in with his young son and went to the pressbox. He’d just called the Softball game. After this inning, Baseball broadcaster Jeff Matthews, would say, “My scorecard looks like I’ve gone bowling.” The Aggies had another big inning in the bottom of the sixth. After a strikeout, the Aggies rattled off three hits and a walk with Campbell driving in two. Boston got hit on the helmet next by a new MTSU pitcher and wandered around dizzy for a second. He was pulled for Sheehan O’Connor. (He was finally back in a game.) With two outs, Austin Corbett hit a little floater past second base. The wind caught it and it dropped before anyone could get to it. With the runners in motion, three scored. Tack on another 5. Aggies up 16-7 and flirting with another run rule win.

Shockingly, Boston was back in at third for the seventh. Trey had to explain this. If a player is taken out for concussion protocol, then they could come reenter the game if they check out okay. That seems like a terrible NCAA rule.

The wind could now be considered bad with plenty of dust in the air. Horvat lost his hat on a gust. Yarc had another good inning anyway with two more strikeouts. Cole Rogers, who’d come in to play centerfield this inning, made a great dive catch to end it. He came back to the dugout hyped up as everyone congratulated him. Rogers then slipped and went down, but he was okay. In the bottom, the wind or some severe English on a hit by Mitch Namie resulted in a little infield popup that dropped in between the pitcher and shortstop, but that was all of the Aggie offense.

The top of the eighth began with a huge blast of dust across the field that suspended play until it passed. Jaden Davis started the inning. He let on a little traffic, but no one scored. The Aggies went down in order in the bottom, though Boston had to duck under another pitch at this head. Minnick led off the top of the ninth against a new Aggie pitcher, Chris Daniels, with a wind-aided home run, but the infield finished off the game with a double play. Aggies win 16-8!

With 11 free passes for MTSU (walks and hit batters), it’s not surprising they lost. They did put up a good fight today. The Aggies should have run ruled. They left 12 on base, including leaving the bases loaded twice. At 3 hours and 25 minutes, this game made up for yesterday’s 2-hour game.

Gameballs. Blue Raider Matt Wolfe went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and a home run and had some good defense. For the Aggies, Ian Hoslett worked 3 scoreless innings. (If the wind had been blowing when he was pitching, maybe that would have been different.) Gianni Horvat went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI’s and a home run, Austin Corbett was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, and Bryce Campbell was 3 for 6 with 4 RBI’s and a homer.

I ran into Adam and his adorable son on the way out. Adam said the ladies at Softball had won in a run rule, 9-1. It was a double sweep for the Aggies over MTSU this weekend. A couple of softball players had hit home runs in the game, but they would have been hitting them into the wind. The kid will be calling games with his old man next season.

It got downright nasty with the wind right after the game. I’m grateful for that timing. The sky turned brown. I got a weather alert just before I stepped into Burger King for lunch. I was a bit disappointed with the size of the double cheeseburger, but it was fine, especially the fries. I got dad a shake and took it to him and we watched the end of a Women’s golf tournament, which was pretty dramatic. I’ve got a week off from Aggie sports until the final weekend of Aggie Baseball two weeks from now.

NM State Aggies vs Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Baseball 4-26-25

It’s another dual-weekend with Aggie Baseball and Softball playing at the same time. I hate this scheduling. This is Softball’s final home series and Baseball’s next to last. Friday night, the ladies beat Middle Tennessee, 5-4, on a walk off home run by Riley Carley. The guys had a Tuesday game in Albuquerque and were swept by the Lobos for the season with a 7-6 loss. Friday, Aggie Baseball jumped out to a 4-0 lead on the Blue Raiders with Saul Soto starting. They’d go on to win, 6-1.

Also on Friday, dad called me with some exciting news: the Arizona Diamondbacks would be playing on a local TV channel for the summer. I sort of wondering if this might happen, since they’d picked up showing Dallas Mavericks games over the winter and the NBA’s regular season is done. I don’t know how many games they’ll be showing, but I printed out a schedule for them. Unfortunately, they didn’t pick up tonight’s game. I’ll keep a lookout for future games.

I thought I’d be spending Saturday afternoon over at the university, as Aggie Soccer had advertised an “Alumni Game” before today’s baseball game would start. I wasn’t sure if the timing would work out so that I could see the end of the soccer game. However on Friday night, Soccer’s Twitter had taken down the post. I assume that meant it was canceled, so I hung out at home until I left early to get lunch before the baseball game. I admit, since the Soccer girls were going to be playing at a different venue while their field is getting redone, I was looking forward to seeing them there in a more intimate setting.

Lunch at Chik-fil-a was great. I thanked a worker there for the meal when I when for a refill, “It was great as usual.” He said, “I don’t know they do it, but it’s always great.” There was an okay crowd of 431 at the stadium. The Blue Raiders did bring some fans and they were smartly up in the shade by the press box. It was clear, hot, and sunny out.

I was sitting by Fan Michael, Ken, and Trey. We were all chatting a bunch during the game. It was fun, though I wasn’t doing much note taking for the game. Trey reported that his son, Cooper Reese, was injured last time. Now Cooper’s season is over with foot surgery. They’re still not quite sure what happened to him, as both of his feet have problems. He was on crutches now. Trey’s wife and daughter were getting ready for a Country music concert this evening.

It was Military Appreciation Day at the park. Steve Solorzano’s father, a long time veteran, threw out the first pitch to his son (a strike). An honor guard of firemen came out for the Anthem. One of them sang a tremendous rendition, unfortunately a couple of babies joined in crying, but it didn’t spoil it. Matt Wolfe was chosen as the opposing player to activate the $1 hot dog deal. “We’re coming for you, Wolfe!” shouted a fan from the stands.

Connor Wylde started for the Aggies and had a quick 1-2-3 first, including two flyball outs. Chandler Alderman took the ball and the bump for the Blue Raiders. He worked into some trouble with two on and nobody out, but a double play got him out of the inning.

Connor had another in order inning with two more flyouts in the second. Again, two Aggies got on in the bottom with nobody out. Dane Woodcook drove in the runner from third on a safety squeeze to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.

Wylde got hit on a comebacker on the first batter of the third. He was okay, but the runner got on and the next batter singled. Wylde got out of it with a DP and a great play on a foul ball by Bryce Campbell at first. The Aggies got the leadoff batter on via a bunt single. Alderman hit Brandon Forrester as he ran to first. There was no error charged on the play for some reason. A nice heads-up play on a bunt by Brett Vondohlen at third turned a DP to kill the rally.

I noticed Madi Gewirtz from the Women’s Basketball team come in. Tall and beautiful, she makes an entrance. I think she was sitting with teammate, Emma Dasovich. I told Trey about how Madi make the team and tried to see if I could set her up with Cooper, but he’s apparently already going out with a basketball player (not from here, I’m guessing). So much for matchmaking.

Wylde had a nice three-batter, all-flyball-out inning for the fourth. In the bottom, a two-base error brought Boston Vest into scoring position. A single by Gianni Horvat brought him in, though Boston did run straight through a stop sign by the third base coach. Austin Corbett singled next and Woodcook sac’d them over into scoring position. Yeah, they were in scoring position alright. Joey Craig bashed a three-run homer to center to bring them in. Right after that home run, a big cheer went up next door and presumably one of the ladies also hit one.

Forrester singled next, which chased Alderman from the game. He was relieved by Ethan Imbimbo. I-M-Bimbo? This kid must have grown up with some thick skin. Forrester made it to third on a bad throw by the catcher on Forrester’s steal attempt. Solorzano drove him in with a double off the batter’s eye in center. Mitch Namie in turn drove Solo in, as the Aggies batted around. It was 7-0 Aggies when the dust cleared.

A little boy walked by holding a can of beer. It was a pretty amusing sight. He was delivering the can to the trash, but I’d still cut him off. I doubt the four year-old could handle another. Wylde gave up a single to start the fifth, but helped his own cause by starting a double play on a comebacker. Another single advanced to second on a bad throw from the outfield, but no damage was done. The Aggies went down in order in the bottom.

There seemed to be another home run over at Softball. Wylde still had a pretty low pitch count and came back out for the sixth. He started off with a strikeout and another flyball out. The Blue Raiders made a two-out rally with a walk and a single. Craig dove for the single in center, but missed it. A grounder to second ended the frame. Forrester singled in the bottom of the sixth, but was thrown out this time attempting to steal.

Wylde had a strong top of the seventh with two strikeouts, one looking. Horvat also made a good play at second (which I didn’t write down). There were two quick outs in the bottom. It was a little dangerous as a foul ball flew over our heads into the stands. Trey, of course, wasn’t there to protect us. I almost fell off the step where I was standing watching the ball. A pair of singles put two on. Woodcook drove them in with a triple that hit the right field line. Who says catchers can’t run? (Oh, wait. That was me.)

The Aggies were now one run away from a run rule win with a runner on third with two outs. The Blue Raiders brought in a new pitcher to face Craig. Trey correctly predicted that Jonny Stevens would spike his first pitch, which happened, but Woodcook wasn’t able to come in on it. Trey also saw that Craig was vulnerable to low and outside pitches and was about to strikeout, which he did. However, the last pitch was spiked and this one did get away from the catcher. Woodcook came in and the Aggies score a run rule 10-0 win! It was a strikeout walk off. I’ve now seen everything (until the next game).

Well that was efficient at just over two hours. It may have finished before Softball. Blue Raider catcher Tyler Minnick was inconsolable sitting on his knees behind the plate. As the Aggies celebrated on field, Forrester handed him his mask and patted him on the back.

I feel kind of bad about these Gameballs, because it’s going to be all Aggies. It wasn’t Middle Tennessee’s day. Connor Wylde got lots of flyballs today, which worked with only a light breeze blowing. He had a 7-inning, complete game shutout. Brandon Forrester went 4 for 4 and gets the Good Sportsmanship award. Gianni Horvat went 3 for 4 with an RBI. Joey Craig had the big blow with that 3-run homer. Dane Woodcook had two successful sacrifices and a triple for 3 RBI’s.

There were still people over in the stands at Softball. I started walking over there, but soon realized they were only doing a Senior Day Ceremony. I found out later, the Aggies had beaten Middle Tennessee again, 5-2, with a late three-run homer by senior Kristiana Watson.

The Pan-Am Center parking lot was filling up for the concert as I was leaving the university. Maybe the ballplayers finished quick so they could go, too. When I came in, NMSU graduates were getting their picture taken at the entry sign and it was still going on as I left. The forecast isn’t good for tomorrow, but we’ll see what happens.

Comics Review: FF, Nexus, and Herculoids

It’s another mostly disappointing trip to Zia Comics to recap.  

 

Fantastic Four #30

Okay, Disney characters as the Fantastic Four?  I’m in.  This was going to be cool; a legit crossover with “funny animals” as actual Marvel superheroes.  I showed this to a co-worker for the opening of the bag and she got to watch my reaction in real time. 

 

It’s just a regular issue of the Fantastic Four.  This is just an alternate cover.  I was cheated.  Look at the cover!  There’s no indication on the cover that this is just a regular issue.  It says, “What If . . . Mickey & Friends Became the Fantastic Four?”  This is outright deceit!

 

Dr. Doom becomes Sorcerer Supreme.  This is nearly the only action panel in the comic.

 

“But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”  Pretty lousy.  As a minor part of a much larger storyline, Dr. Doom turns The Thing back into Ben Grimm.  This is apparently coming way too late for Ben, who had long ago come to terms with being covered in orange rocks.  He has trouble dealing with being a normal human.  Being super strong and nearly invulnerable has its advantages.  Now, Ben just feels weak.  He ends up going to the Puppetmaster for help in accepting his new condition.

 

This doesn’t sound like a bad story in summary.  This should tell you how bad it was in actual execution.  It’s very choppy.  The characterization is kind of poor.  There’s references to all sorts of important action going on off-panel.  This story isn’t exactly unnecessary, but should be a running subplot in the main storyline.  Other than lousy marketing, I don’t know why Marvel breaks up their big stories like this.  They’re unfollowable.  The great artwork in this comic is basically wasted.  (And why does Johnny Storm have a handlebar mustache?)

 

Mickey and friends as the Fantastic Four would have been better.  What do you think?  Black Pete as Dr. Doom?   

 

Nexus: Scourge #1

This was an easy buy off the rack for me, as I am a big Nexus fan.  A new Nexus comic will get my attention.  The comic is printed on heavy paper and the entire contents is story, no ads.  I’m not saying that’s worth $5, but it’s better than the other two $5 comics I bought.  

 

I haven’t kept up with any recent developments in Nexus.  Him and Sundra have a young boy now.  Raul the Head president now appears to have a human body.  There’s a villain (or celestial entity), Gourmando, that Nexus fought, whom I don’t know.  Otherwise, there are captions describing Nexus and the setting for new readers. 

 

Basically, some entity called, “The Krug,” is attacking and depopulating worlds.  Two of the besieged worlds were called Stelara and Breztri.  It took me a moment to remember where I’d heard those names.  They’re prescription drugs that are publically advertised.  I don’t know if there’s a deeper significance to this, but it’s funny.  Nexus goes to investigate.

 

Of course, it’s more complicated in execution.  Nexus faces a moral dilemma about trying rescue people from a doomed world while trying to gather information.  He’s got some political considerations.  He takes some time off for golf (twice).      

 

I liked the Kelsey Shannon’s artwork.  It’s not Steve Rude, but has the appealing character work and whimsical design of Rude.  There’s also some really good cosmic sci-fi design. 

 

I don’t think Rude ever had Nexus in costume wearing a 19-century British military helmet or a tuxedo.

 

This is Part 1 of 2, so it’s not a big epic.  This first issue is all set up and presumably the next part will have the conflict.  The story isn’t decompressed, but it is leisurely in presentation.  Still, events move at a very quick clip and there’s no time for subplots.  This all just makes me wish that Nexus was still an ongoing monthly series.  (Actually, I think it came out every six weeks in its prime.)

 

I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the second issue at Zia Comics or if they’ll carry it.  This was published in December 2024 by Alien Books, who I’ve never heard of, so I don’t know if there even was another issue.  I may look for this on an “archive” site.  I definitely want to see how this resolves.

 

The Herculoids #1

I vaguely remember the cartoon from Saturday mornings back in the 70’s.  It wasn’t my favorite.  (That would be Jonny Quest and Space Ghost.)  For whatever reason, The Herculoids didn’t resonate with me.  Somehow, people fighting with primitive weapons alongside creatures whipping up on invading high-tech entities didn’t entirely seem plausible.  (Like logic applies to cartoons.)  However that didn’t stop me from succumbing to nostalgia-bait. 

 

There were several cover variants available.  The Rob Liefield one was the most appealing, though I didn’t like it that much.  The inside artwork was blocky with thick lines evoking a 70’s cartoon, though without the grace and style of one.  

 

The entire story was exactly what I mentioned above: invading aliens seeking to plunder the planet and getting efficiently wiped out by brute force.  That’s it.  There’s no origin or subplot.  It’s not far off from the original cartoon in that regard.    

 

In sum, the artwork doesn’t sell this.  The story doesn’t sell this.  The setting and characters don’t sell this . . . except to suckers like me.  A better version of the Herculoids appeared in FutureQuest several years ago, which was a mashup of several Hanna-Barbera properties. 

 

Two of the house ads were interesting for different reasons.  Captain Planet here has never looked more . . . swishy.  Maybe he can have a retro team up with Slim Goodbody and really make everyone uncomfortable.  Meanwhile, Penelope Pitstop has never looked better.  I’m kind of interested in this Wacky Races comic, though I’m sure they’ll ruin the concept.   

 

I really did like the Nexus comic, but the Herculoids was terrible and the FF comic wasn’t just a disappointment, but a fraud.  I also got a few used Archie digests at Coas Bookstore.  I may cover these later.

NM State Aggies vs Jax State Gamecocks Baseball 4-19-25

The Aggies have had a long week heading into Easter.  They played on Tuesday at home against the Lobos.  The Aggies went down big early, but came back and made a game of it in a 12-10 loss. 

 

 

That's the dust haze on the field

Conference opponent, Jax State blew in on Thursday.  A massive duststorm hit during the game, but they played it out in front of a small, hearty crowd.  The Gamecocks won the back-and-forth affair, 17-12.  Conditions were slightly better on Friday, but the Aggies lost another, 6-1.    

 

Here on Saturday morning, the weather was beautiful, but the forecast wasn’t.  I put on three layers, wore my boots, and brought a hooded jacket.  (It wouldn’t be enough.)  I knew from experience that the weather could quickly change at Presley Askew Field (3-24-18).  I got my ominous warning right after I came through the entry gate.  The director of AggieVision walked by and said to someone, “It’s going to rain.”  The cameras for the game were covered, even though it was sunny.

 

I also saw the Easter Bunny himself, as I came in.  He was greeting some kids with a Little League team before going out to throw the first pitch.  EB hopped (literally) to the mound and, surprisingly, threw a strike, which the catcher dropped.  Boooo!  You’re off the team, loser!  Sign up that bunny!

 

The crowd was listed at 341, but it seemed a lot better than that.  I talked to Fan Michael.  He was here on Thursday and said that every flyball was going all over the place.  Michael also confirmed that the Hot Marketing Girl is going out with Joey Craig on the team.  I’m starting to think it isn’t a coincidence that these pretty girls are working at the ballpark. 

 

Trey Reese and his family came in.  I asked about daughter, Nellie Reese, being on the baseball TV broadcast earlier in the week with Coach Jordan, her volleyball coach.  I wish I could have seen it.  I also asked about Sheehan O’Connor.  I hadn’t seen him in the last series.  They said he’d stopped hitting and was out of the lineup.  This guy was tearing the cover off the ball early in the season. 

 

There was a young girl in a pretty felt cowboy hat next to us.  Apparently, she was there with Trey as some sort of relation.  Michael brought her a brand new ball from the dugout, so she could get autographs on it.  He later flagged down a marketing girl on a towel toss to give it to her.  This was all very nice of him.  I mentioned seeing former AD Mario Moccia at Softball last week.  Michael said he’d been at Baseball, too.  Mario had been enjoying himself pounding beers.  I wonder if he’s gone into early retirement or doing some lucrative day trading (or living well off the rest of the salary he’s owed).      

 

A group of JS players danced around in circle before the game.  Honestly, this was the least of the team’s somewhat obnoxious behavior.  Trey was keeping an eye on the weather on his phone.  I mentioned that rain game from above and that I’d gotten to watch future Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, pitch that day.  He was a bit jealous that I got to see that.        

I had a rough time with these.  As the temperature dropped, my mind kept wandering and I was missing plays I was actually watching.  I wasn’t the only one.  The official scorer changed some calls during the game (that disagreed with the scoreboard totals) and maybe made a couple of questionable decisions.  I had to make some edits.

 

Saul Soto was the surprise Aggie starter.  The feeling was that Coach Angier wasn’t messing around today by putting out his best reliever.  He got two strikeouts to start and only gave up a single.  More clouds began moving in along with a colder wind, as Steven Cash started for the Gamecocks.  He had a quick 1-2-3 inning.

 

The clouds kept moving across the sun and I fiddled with taking my sunglasses on and off.  Soto worked into trouble in the top of the frame with a double and an RBI single.  JS up 1-0.  The JS dugout let out a very long howl.  Cash had a two-strikeout inning in the bottom.  In the third, the wind kicked up hard suddenly, but died back down.  This was another warning and it was another scoreless inning.

 

It was now definitely cold.  I was okay to this point.  There was more trouble for Soto in the fourth.  After a walk, a bobbled and dropped ball at second and a wild pitch put two on in scoring position with two outs.  Soto reared back and struck out the next batter.  He came off the mound shouting.  Bryce Campbell finally broke up the no-hitter in the bottom of the inning.  A hit batter put two on, but Cash got a strikeout to end the inning.

 

JS began the fifth with a single (originally scored as an error) and a double, which chased Soto from the game.  Hazen Wright came in and had a throwing error on a bunt that scored the two runners.  Michael said the Gamecocks had bunted for hits in the last two games.  (I didn’t think it looked like a sacrifice, but that was how it was scored.)  Hazen closed out the inning thanks to a great running catch in the left field gap by Mitch Namie.  3-0 JS.  Their dugout was again very loud as their runs scored.

 

Trey announced that rain was coming in 30 minutes.  (Close, it was more like 45.)  In the bottom of the fifth, a single was rubbed out on a caught stealing and a walk was left stranded.  I asked Robin, Trey’s wife, about Morgan Stewart’s disappearance from the Volleyball team.  She made pained face and told me.  Morgan had a bit of a breakdown after a break up and had even left school altogether.  I was kind of sorry I asked.  I missed the kid dressing contest on the field while chatting.  It seemed cute.

 

The wind was blowing dust off the mound and was kind of blowing in.  I was losing my voice a bit suddenly.  Ferny Barreda came in for the sixth.  He had two walks and a hit batter, but a caught stealing and strikeout ended the threat.  In the bottom, a dropped and bobbled ball at third put the first Aggie batter on.  Boston Vest drove him in with slow single that he hustled into a double.  (I was so out-of-it, I didn’t score the run and thought the scoreboard was wrong later.)  3-1 JS.

 

The sky was turning sort of a white/brown color overhead between the wind and clouds.  Ferny struck out the side in his second inning of work in the seventh.  Cash was relieved by James Wilson in the bottom.  He gave up a single to begin the inning.  Catcher Grayson Ashe made plays on two foul popups next.  On one, the wind kept playing with the ball and he ended up on his back catching it.  After a walk, Steve Solorzano came up with two on and two out.  He hit a sure double foul down the right field line, but on the next pitch, he jacked one out to left for a three-run homer.  The bullpen guys rode the fence cheering him on, as he circled the bases.  Aggies up 4-3!

 

I think the temperature had dropped 20-degrees since the start of the game.  Cold sprinkles were starting to fall.  Maybe half the crowd left (the half with good sense, but little team spirit).  I wished I was wearing that Easter Bunny suit.  Ferny had a scoreless eighth.  A double play ended the Aggie half of the inning. 

 

We go to the fateful ninth.  The light rain smelled more dusty than refreshing.  The remaining crowd was hardcore and loud.  They were trying to will Ferny to the win.  They were going after the ump on every close call he didn’t get.  It wasn’t quite enough.  He gave up two doubles, which tied it.  Ashe then muscled a two-run homer out to center.  The Gamecock dugout went wild.  Ferny was hit on a comebacker on the next batter, which felt like insult to injury, but he picked it and threw out the runner.  6-4 JS.

 

I wanted to leave.  I really wanted to leave.  I couldn’t feel my face.  But, I just couldn’t do it.  If nothing else, I thought it might be over quick.  A new Gamecock reliever began the bottom of the inning, but was relieved after a leadoff walk to Tariq Freeny.  Joe Scarborogh entered the game.  (Not the political commentator.  I’m sure Joe’s gotten enough guff over that.)  Tariq made it to third via a groundout and a passed ball.  Joey drove him in with a sac fly.  The Aggies were now only down by a run, but had two outs.

 

Leadoff batter Brandon Forrester did his job and worked a walk after a hard battle.  Solo came up and Michael correctly predicted he’d be walked intentionally.  There were two meetings preceding this to drag out the affair.  By this point, I was numb, but committed.  Pinch hitter Chris Daniels worked a walk to load the bases.  Bryce was up next and hit a dying line drive to left.  Leftfielder Drew Collins ran in and dove, but couldn’t come up with it.  The ball dropped to the ground.  Two runs scored and the Aggies win, 7-6!

 

The crowd pretty much exploded.  Bryce was mobbed and his shirt was torn off.  I think this a hard earned victory for everybody for enduring elements today.  The teams did go out and shake hands afterward.  Gameballs.  For the Gamecocks, Cooper Blauser went 3 for 5 and Steven Cash pitched 6 innings with only 3 hits and no earned runs.  That’s a hard luck no decision.  For the Aggies, Steve Solorzano had a big 3-run homer and Bryce Campbell went 2 for 5, including the game-winning 2-RBI hit.     

 

I suddenly felt much better, but canceled my lunch plans and went straight home.  I didn’t stay for the Easter Egg hunt.  I’m not sure how that went.  The game went 3 hours and 15 minutes.  Maybe only the final 45 minutes was intolerable.  We never actually got much rain, just sprinkles, of course.  In a couple of hours the sun came back out.  The drought continues and my new car is good and dirty again.      

 

I listened to the Rangers and Dodgers on the radio when I got back.  It was another walk off win for me.  Adolis Garcia had a two-home run homer to win it in the ninth, 4-3.  Also on TV, the NASCAR Xfinity Series was racing at Rockingham for the first time in over 20 years.  It was a full house there.  You think they wanted to see some racing?  They got it.  Jesse Love won in overtime.  Love got out at the finish line to collect the flag, but forgot to put the car in park and it rolled away from him.  Never seen that before.  

 

It can’t all be good news.  It was apparently snowing in the Albuquerque, which canceled the Chihuahuas game there tonight.  Aggie Softball was swept in three losses to WKU this weekend.  We’ll celebrate this Aggie Baseball win at least until next weekend.  It’s another rain game memory for now.