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.
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.
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