NM State Aggies vs LA Tech Bulldogs Softball 3-7-26

 

[Running a little late this week on recaps after what happened Sunday evening.] Let’s catch up with Aggie Softball. The team went to the Sundevil Classic in Arizona and dropped 4 of 5, but did get a win against #21 ASU. At the UTSA Tournament, they did better, going 3 of 5, including a win over host UTSA. (I’m not doing a detailed recap of 10 games I wasn’t at or watched.)

I’m going to do a little digression to Aggie Men’s Basketball. (I don’t know where else to put this.) They played Jax State on Thursday and were in a must-win situation to get to the C-USA Tournament. The team came out flat. The Aggies went down by 15 three times, but battled back. At the end of the game, Jayland Randall was fouled on a 3-pointer and made 3 clutch free throws to tie the game to send it to overtime. The 6,600 in attendance were going crazy, but became deathly quiet on those free throw attempts.

Two Aggies fouled out, including Juice Mims. Jemel Jones hit a 3 pointer for 4 point lead in OT. The Aggies committed a foul in the last seconds. The Gamecocks got 2 attempts at missing the final free throw to get a final shot, but missed it. Aggies win, 77-75, and also beat the refs, who were really against them at times. However, UTEP, who was fighting NMSU for that final spot, won their game at the same time, so this would go down to the final game on Saturday.

Back to Softball, the Aggies were playing LA Tech for their first conference game on Friday. Aggie Baseball was playing at the same time, both on the radio. I listened mostly to Baseball, which wasn’t a great decision. (They were badly beaten.) The Softball game was at least a blowout in the Aggies’ favor. It was 14-0 in the fourth with the Aggies getting home runs from five different players. The fifth and final inning was shaky with a 3-run homer by LA Tech’s Reagan Marchant, C-USA’s preseason Player of Year, but the Aggies got the 14-5 run rule win.

Back to Basketball on Saturday afternoon (this overlaps with Softball), the Aggies were playing the Kennesaw State Owls, but there was some scoreboard watching. UTEP had started playing Jax State an hour before. As that game went into the final minutes, I flipped over to listen to it. It was very close. UTEP tied it with 2 free throws, but Jax State won it with a buzzer beater, 63-61. This eliminated the Miners from the tournament and put the Aggies in. A Miner fan nearly got into a chair-throwing fight with the Gamecocks after the game. That’s dedication.

It was odd scheduling today with Men’s Basketball, Softball, and Baseball all going on with overlapping start times and on the radio on three different stations. I wonder if that’s ever happened before. What a bad time for broadcaster Adam Young to still be out sick.

I took off for the Softball game. In addition to the Pan-Am Center parking lot being full for Basketball, I saw a Pee-Wee Football game going on in the running park, a Soccer tournament going on next door to Softball, and I could see Baseball was warming up beyond the outfield wall. I saw Coach Rodolph coming in after me. She was harassed at the gate. She talked to a couple of people and left before the game started.

It was a good crowd (no stats on attendance). There was a hot sun out, but a cool breeze. They sort of canceled each other out and it was pleasant. A little girls’ softball team player threw out the first pitch. (A little more on them later.) The game actually started a couple of minutes early. Somebody was in a hurry.

Destiny Perez was the Aggie starter. She muffed one of her warm up pitches and laughed. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bad omen. Destiny gave up 3 walks (one on a time violation) and then a grand slam home run to center by Marchant to begin the game. 4-0 LA Tech right off the bat (pardon the pun).

Take Two. Zantelle Rodriguez came in. Skye Johnson made a nice running catch in left field for the first out. Devin Elam then fielded a shallow hit to right, but managed to throw out the runner at first. The radio announcer, whose name I just could not catch, said, “That’s the first time I’ve written 9-3 in a scorebook.” Zantelle finished off the inning with LA Tech up 4-0.

There was a t-shirt toss between innings. A little girl got a t-shirt. She handed it off to another little girl, which was sweet. In the bottom of the first, the Aggies got two on. A muffed grounder loaded the bases with one out, but Bulldog pitcher, Laney Johnson, wriggled out of it with a line out and a looking strikeout. She was grunting on some pitches, I think fastballs.

I was keeping up with Men’s Basketball on the radio. With a minute left, I switched over to listen to the end. It was very tense, but the Aggies held on for a 79-76 win. Since the Aggies were already in the tournament and the game didn’t mean anything, this was a good win. Once again, it was great crowd of 5,300.

A lady below me brought in popcorn bucket filled with nachos. I didn’t know that was an option. I was sort of disgusted, but somewhat intrigued. Zantelle had a good top of the second with two strikeouts. Jade Valladares also made a slick play at third.

Former AD Mario Moccia came in. He greeted a couple of people and went to the pressbox. The Aggies struck back in the bottom of second. Two singles and a hit batter set up Devin for a grand slam to center. Johnson got the first out and Gracie Flores at third made a great dive play on ball down the line, but just missed the runner at first. That was too bad for the Bulldogs, as Tamara Carranza then cranked out a 2-run homer to center. You can tell where the wind was blowing out. 6-4 Aggies.

In the top of the third, the wind was picking up. Bradi Galloway began the inning with a line drive home run to right center for LA Tech. After a double and a walk, Taryn Bennett was brought in. Her first pitch was a 3-run home run to center to Flores. In fairness, it was a popup that caught the Jetstream. Taryn settled down and finished the inning, but the Bulldogs were up, 8-6. The PA announced autographs for tomorrow. Going to Baseball tomorrow was now in jeopardy.

In the bottom of the third, Jade was hit for second time and in the same place, the knee. Marchant made a long stretch at first to corral a high throw from Flores for the second out, but Jade advanced. Devin hit a little single up the middle. Jade acted like a pick on the grounder and it went through and allowed her to score. 8-7 LA Tech. A troop of little girls started chasing foul balls during the inning.

The little girls’ softball team was recognized. They were the 10-and-under National Champions and they were from New Mexico. Congratulations, ladies. They were introduced one at a time and given a gift bag. The top of the fourth began with a comebacker that took off Taryn’s glove, which would be a single. Skye made another running catch in left field, but then Gallaway came up and hooked a 2-run home run to right just inside the pole.

This chased Taryn from the game and brought in freshman Kalena Lemus. With six pitchers on staff, I wonder if she imagined pitching this much after just joining the team. LA Tech catcher, Reese Torres tripled down the right field line and beat the tag at third base. Who says, “Catchers can’t run?” Flores drove her in with a single. A guy blustered in from the Basketball game and asked if I was the official scorekeeper, as he stood in front of me so that I missed final play of inning. Good thing I wasn’t the official scorekeeper. 11-7 LA Tech.

Skye did it with the bat to start the bottom of the fourth, as she homered to start the inning. 11-8 Bulldogs. In the inning, a grounder took a nasty bounce and injured Gallaway at shortstop. She stayed in. Also, a foul ball hits top of pressbox. The radio announcer was unconcerned. 11-8 Aggies.

The top of the fifth began with another bad hop on the infield, which handed Johnna Aragon an error at second. The infield looks nice, but given all the fumbled grounders I’ve seen this season, maybe they should reconsider some of these error calls. Taylor Baca made a dive on shallow liner to center for the first out. Tamara took out the lead runner at third on a fielder’s choice. Makenzie Jones was the new third baseman this inning. Jade’s twice-hit knee might have been swelling up on her. The Bulldogs got two on, but Kalena closed out the inning without allowing a run.

The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, though LA Tech brought in a new pitcher to get the final out. Some fans started leaving for baseball, which would be starting soon. The softball field was now in shadow. The sun was still up, but it was turning cold.

Top of the sixth, Kalena accidentally threw behind Marchant’s back during her at bat. Kalena visibly went, Oops! Marchant hit a line drive homer to center. She might have been mad. Kalena then went way inside on the next batter and cringed. After surrendering a double and getting a strikeout, Kalena gave up a 2-run homer to Aleah Brooks. Kalena gave way to Destiny returning to the circle. 14-8 LA Tech.

More fans were deserting and likely not for the Baseball game. There was a noise of something hitting the metal stands. It was a kid throwing around some Skittles that had been spilled earlier in the game. I love Skittles. This kind of hurt to witness. Destiny got the second out. Allie Furr laid down a bunt next. The ball spun back to the bat lying on the ground, as Furr made it to first. Everyone questioned whether this should stand, except for the umpire, who said it was a safe hit. Destiny finished off the inning deflecting a grounder that Tamara caught and fed Johnna for the final out.

The lights were on at Softball and Baseball, as the game started next door. Bryannah Campos began her second inning of work in the bottom of the sixth. She got two strikeouts, but had loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and a hit batter. Kendal Lunar came in to pinch hit and doubled down the line and brought in 2 runs. Makenzie came up and made a slap hit to right field. Furr made a running catch, but it popped out of her mitt. 2 more runs scored. Both runs were unearned on the error, but Mak got 2 RBI’s on the play.

Allie Floyd, preseason Pitcher of the Year, came in with the score, 14-12 Bulldogs. Floyd’s first pitch popped out of catcher’s mitt. Mak scored with a head first slide on the passed ball. Madi Buchman came up and singled, but it was waved off for some reason. This confused me and the radio announcer. Never mind, Madi f-ing hammered a bomb to center to tie it. Thanks for the second chance, ump! An error at first put Devin on and pinch hitter, Destan Burks, doubled her in to give the Aggies a 15-14 lead. Too bad all those people left.

I’d wondered why Faith Aragon, the Aggies’ best hitter, was taken out for Destan in the previous inning. She was warming up as the Aggies’ best pitcher to come for the seventh. Faith began the inning with a getting an out on a comebacker. She hit the next batter and walked the next two. She stared in on a couple of questionable ball calls. The remaining crowd was angry.

She threw Ball 1 to next batter. Pitching Coach Paige Bachman, Madi’s older sister, came out for a talk. What happened next was three-straight swinging strikes. The final batter harmlessly popped out on the infield. Aggies win, 15-14! They’d come back from down 4 and then down by 6.

Gameballs for LA Tech, Bradi Gallaway went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s from 2 home runs. Gracie Flores had 4 RBI’s with a 3-run homer. Raegan Marchant went 3 for 4 with 5 RBI’s from 2 home runs, including a grand slam.

Plenty more Gameballs for the Aggies. Devin Elam had 5 RBI’s, including a grand slam home run. Skye Johnson went 4 for 5 with an RBI from a home run. Madi Bachman was 2 for 4 with a crusher of a home run. I have to shout out Destiny Perez. After her disastrous start, she did a good job coming back in later. Faith Aragon had a quiet day at the plate (0 for 4), but her 1 inning of relief got her and the team the win. Our star of the game is Coach Bachman. What did she say to Faith? I’ll have to ask at autographs tomorrow.

The game went 2 hours and 30 minutes. I was cold by end, so I glad that the game finished when it did. There was a brilliant orange twilight with Jupiter shining over the horizon. (I looked it up on a stellar cartography program.) I came back home and listened to the ***Saturday night*** Baseball game.  I decided that I’d be back for more Softball on ***Sunday.***

NM State Aggies vs Prairie View A&M Baseball 3-1-26

 

Aggie Baseball got back on a winning track this week.    They played the University of the Southwest on Tuesday.    They had a big first inning with 9 runs.    Brandon Clizbe hit a 3-run home run and Aiden Taclas homered.    There was no run rule for this game.    In the third, US got 2 runs on plays at the plate and there was a 2-run sac fly, as Cole Rogers crashed into the fence with the ball.    At 10-4 Aggies, Matthew Yarc was chased from the game as pitcher.    Rogers made a great play to finally end the inning.

The Aggies added 2 runs more in the fourth.    In the sixth, Clizbe threw out a runner after a dropped third strike.    He learned that lesson last week in a game.    In the bottom of the sixth, Jonatan Clough hit a 2-run homer to make it, 14-4.    In the seventh, Cooper Reese came in to pitch and got two outs, but after an error, he loaded the bases and walked in 2 runs and wasn’t able to finish the inning, 14-6.   

In the bottom of the inning, Rogers drove in 2 more.    In the eighth, Boston Vest was hit on the helmet with a fastball.    He was okay.    19-7 Aggies was the final.    Only 2 of those US runs were earned.    Attendance was listed at 487.

On Friday, the Aggies started a series against Prairie View A&M.    The Aggies went up 4-0 off of some good hitting and some fielding comedy.    In the top of the fourth, up 6-1, OMG! Catcher’s Interference was called.    Dane Woodcook disagreed with the call, but a double play erased the runners anyway.    “Ball don’t lie,” said broadcaster Adam Young on the call. 

    

In the fifth, Easton Rulli was hit for a second time batting.    This time, he was hit in the back.    Him and the PV catcher were both ejected for exchanging words.    In the top of the sixth, the Panthers loaded the bases and scored 3.    The Aggies got it right back in the next inning, 10-4.    PV homered in the seventh to make it, 10-5.    The Panther batters were playing games with the pitch clock and Connor Wylde, who likes to work fast, was getting irritated.

The final was 12-6 Aggies.    The Aggies oddly had no homers in the game.    Chris Daniels hit 2 doubles for 5 RBI’s.    Listed attendance was 644, but Adam said the next day that it was 944.    I’ll go with Adam’s number, since he said the stadium was full.     

I decided to pass on the Saturday game, since I’d already been to a disappointing Aggie Women’s Basketball game.    Listening to the radio was also less effort.    Rulli and the PV catcher, Ryland Duson, were suspended for this game and not allowed into the stadium because of their ejection yesterday.   

In the bottom of the second, Daniels put a moonshot into the scoreboard to tie it at, 1-1.    Daniels later took a third strike on a pitch clock violation.    Don’t play Chicken with the pitch clock, guys.    The Panthers took the lead again in the fifth, 2-1.    Aggie pitcher Hazen Wright struck out the final batter in the inning with the large crowd of 910 fully into it.    Clough was thrown out at the plate in the bottom.

In the sixth, the Aggies threw out a runner at home and another runner at second.    In the bottom of the sixth, an RBI by Bryce Campbell tied it.    PV pitcher Kenneth Haynes came out after 6 innings after only giving up 2 runs.    (The Aggies still haven’t sent out a starting pitcher yet, just staff days.)   

In the bottom of the seventh, Vest drew a bases loaded walk to get the Aggies the lead.    A hit batter produced another run.    A pair of errors on a possible double play ball scored 2 more.    A wild pitch scored another run.    That was 5 runs on 0 hits.    The Aggies won, 7-2.    PV had a chance in this one.    They stranded 10.

That brings us to Sunday’s finale.    It was sunny and warm and beautiful out.    The parking lot of Johnson Stadium was full, so there was obviously going to be a good crowd again today.    Coming up on the gate, the crowd was dominated by kids in Little League uniforms.    We had the Yard Goats and the Rockies (using the current psychedelic City Connect uniform) and others.    (Minor League teams’ uniforms are apparently available for use like Major League ones.)   

Before the game, there was a parade of the Little Leaguers on the field.    An Aggie player warmed up a kid, who threw out the first pitch.    The kid looked good, he just didn’t have the strength to make it to the plate.    Give it a couple of years.    The Anthem was performed by a young woman with the last name, “Solorzano.”    I asked Fan Michael if that was Steve Solorzano’s sister or cousin.    He didn’t see it, but he didn’t think so.    (He always dips out for the Anthem.)       

There was weirdness again in this game like the last two, but things added up, I guess.    Between the kids’ cheering, listening to the game on the radio, and chatting with Michael, I’m not sure how I was keeping score at all.

Bradyn Barnes started for the Aggies.    It was another Staff Day, though.    Weirdness started almost immediately.    Basillio Williams singled for the Panthers.    He stole second on a strikeout on the next batter.    Err . . . except Williams was called out.    Adam Young on the radio call would identify this as Batter’s Interference.    That was fairly mild confusion compared to the pandemonium of the souvenir toss to the crowd.    The kids went crazy.    Marketing Director Nicole Sack and a very pretty girl with long brunette hair tossed out the little balls.    This was a definite upgrade over last weekend.

Boston Vest began the bottom of the first with a single.    He made a risky move up to second on a flyball to center.    Solorzano then smashed a ball to third that ate up the third baseman, Dylan Diaz.    It was ruled a hit and a double at that.    Vest came into score to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.    The inning ended with a strikeout of Jonatan Clough, but the third strike was a pitch clock violation.    Adam couldn’t believe how this had become an issue this weekend.   

Barnes gave up a walk and single in the top of the second, but that was between three strikeouts.    The bottom was a mess for the Panthers.    Two walks and a hit batter, along with two stolen bases and a wild pitch, loaded the bases for the Aggies.    Diaz double bobbled a ground ball at third, which brought in a run.    Making it worse, that was probably a double play ball.   

Solo came up and hit a bloop single to right field to drive in 2.    He then stole second, as the Aggies were running wild on Ryland Duson, back from suspension, behind the plate.    Bryce Campbell drove in a run on a sac fly.    A passed ball and another wild pitch nearly brought Solo home, but Duson fed pitcher, Oliver Brown, covering the plate for the out.    (The guys need to remember that the space between the plate and backstop has been reduced by field changes.)    When the dust settled, it was now 5-0 Aggies.

The Panthers came back in the third with a run.    It was hard earned with a walk, a wild pitch, a tag up, and a ground out to get the run home.    5-1 Aggies.    The bottom of the third ball was again difficult for the Panthers.    Chris Daniels singled and was driven in off a high chopper by Cole Rogers.    The bouncing ball hit the third baseman’s mitt for another error.    After another hit batter, Tommy Meluskey singled in Rogers.    Duson got a little revenge throwing out Tommy when he tried to steal second.    Aggies up, 7-1.

A kid behind me attempted to get a “Let’s go Aggies!    Let’s go!” chant going by himself.    Failing that, he added an, “I don’t know.”    Jack Turner entered as the Aggie pitcher in the fourth.    He struck out the first two Panther batters.    Turner issued a walk before getting a groundout to end the inning. Michael later pointed out a scout in the stands.     He said the scout was only tracking pitches when Turner came in.

Reginald Samuel II came in as the new Panther third baseman in the bottom of the fourth.    He immediately took a tough error and nearly another one the next batter.    (They changed the scoring.    Of course, I inked the error on the scorecard.)    Yet another hit batter loaded the bases.    Daniels doubled two of them in.    His shot looked like a home run off the bat.    The centerfielder thought it did, too.    He pulled up short as it landed in front of him at the wall.       

Another hit batter loaded the bases.    Samuel would throw out a runner at the plate on a grounder for a little redemption and for the first out of the inning.    However, Brandon Clizbe cleared the bases with a double. After a walk, Vest drove in Clizbe with a single, but was thrown out at second trying to turn it into a double.    A reliever came in to get the last out.    13-1 Aggies.     

Adam went after the home plate ump in the inning for not showing the count, which caused some confusion on the scoreboard, which nobody could see anyway since the sunlight was on it.    (We need a new scoreboard at Baseball.)    The ump was having busy day with the batters playing games with the pitch clock.    Cut him a little slack.

Some members of the Volleyball team were here.    I didn’t recognize a couple of them.    They were tall and nice-looking, so I assumed they were on the team. Definitively on the team, Maggie Lightheart and Bella Castro walked by a couple of times.    They looked glam.    Michael mentioned meeting a short, White basketball player last night with Volleyball.    I think it was Emma Christiano from what he said.    I thought I saw her last weekend in serious incognito mode. I had told Michael about yesterday’s disastrous Women’s Basketball game.    Good thing she wasn’t here today; I would have probably wanted to talk to her about it.   

I decided to hit the bathroom in the top of the fifth.    Under the stands, I met Trey Reese.    He was slowly roasting wearing his "lucky" vest that the Aggies had won three straight games in and was enjoying the shade.    We compared notes on work this week: I was missing food taken by my co-workers.    His company was slowing growth, though not yet endangering his job.    Obviously, we have widely different responsibilities at work.    I completely missed the half inning, but was listening on the radio and managed to remember it going back to my seat.    I was also distracted by a hot chick wearing shorts, a tank top, and cowboy boots.   

Turner gave up a couple of singles in the top of the fifth, but worked out of it.    The Panthers actually worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth against the Aggies.    Turner did likewise in the top of the sixth.    It was a brief rest for the Aggie bats.    They came back in the bottom of the sixth with five straight singles.    There were also 2 more errors.    On one of them, a single got past the centerfielder to allow another base.    The Aggies got 3 more runs before a reliever came in to finally finish the inning with a double play ball.    16-1 Aggies.

Michael asked if this game was under a run rule.    He wanted to get lunch.    I think the Aggies wanted an early lunch, too (myself, as well).    A lot of the crowd had cleared out by this point.    Maybe they had gotten hungry.    Turner allowed a single to start the seventh.    He struck out the next two batters, though he had to talk Coach Angier into letting him stay in.    Jaden Davis was brought in for some work.    He gave up a single, but a flyout ended the game.    Aggies win, 16-1.    

Tariq Freeny (who Adam said will be coming back to play later) and Rogers on the Aggies went over to shake hands with someone on the Prairie View team (he was wearing a jacket).    This led to both teams lining up to shake hands, which was a good thing.    The game finished in a tidy 2 hours and 40 minutes.    Adam said the attendance was 956.    The official scoring was 1,227.    I don’t know why Adam and the official stats are so off.   

Gameballs.    Basilio Williams went 3 for 4 leading off for the Panthers.    For the Aggies, Boston Vest was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI's, Steve Solorzano was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI's, and Brandon Clizbe was 2 for 3 with 4 RBI's.    (Strangely, again, no home runs.)    Jack Turner picked up the win with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless pitching and 6 strikeouts.    For myself, I think I correctly guessed the number of unearned runs in the game (6).    Given the number the errors and runs in the game, I’m congratulating myself (also unearned).

I took off for Burger King.    Granted, I had been cheated out of a Jimmie John’s sandwich during the week that I had really been looking forward to, but I had a great coupon that was about to expire.    The burger was okay and the fries were excellent.    The opponents next week will be tough, according to Adam, and the weather might not be as good.    Hopefully, I’ll at least get out for another Sunday morning game.

NM State Aggies vs Jax State Gamecocks Women’s Basketball 2-28-26

Since that crushing loss to UTEP, the Aggie Women’s Basketball team has won at home against Kennesaw State, 52-40. The Owls had a 20-11 lead after the first quarter (starting off at 15-2), but were held to single-digits totals for the next three quarters. Lucia Yenes led with 21 points. Freshman Senoj Jones had 14 and Lucia Lara had 10 rebounds. I’m glad to see Lucia L. in there and doing well and Senoj has future star potential. The Aggies forced 27 turnovers and 14 team steals (3 by Emma Christiano along with 4 assists). Iyana Beh even scored on a free throw. (I’m rooting for her, too.)

Meanwhile, the Aggie Men’s Basketball team was playing WKU on the road and lost badly, 93-70. I missed the beginning of the game coverage on the radio. I only missed the Hilltoppers getting out to a 17-0 start. After the game, Coach Hooten didn’t want to talk about it. Two Aggies had good games, at least: Juice Mims scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and Jae’Coby Osborne had 12 points and 9 rebounds.

The Men played Middle Tennessee on the road in the morning before the Women would play here. I’d be lying if I said I was listening to the game on the radio. I did check in here and there. The Aggies were up 14 points into the second half. When I finally started really listening, it was down to a 3-point lead in the closing minutes. A Jemel Jones’ 3 briefly made it a 6-point lead, but the Blue Raiders would tie it in the final seconds. The Aggies had the last shot, but missed it. It was 76 all going to OT.

The refs waved off a goaltending call that would have given the Aggies a lead. The Aggies were down by 1 in the final seconds and missed the last shot. 86-85 MT final. Jemel led the Aggies with 34 points, which is kind of awesome. Unfortunately, he missed a couple of shots at the wrong time. Three other Aggies players were in double figures shooting. Coach Hooten seemed rather cavalier in the interview afterward.

I took right off after that game to the Pan-Am Center for the final Aggie Women’s home game against Jax State. Charming Sydney McIntosh again greeted me inside the door. She was signing up people for a Harlem Globetrotter ticket giveaway. I told her I’d already seen them here as a kid in the 70’s. In other words, let some other kid see them.

The Roadrunner Revue band, Pistol Pete (the one without the mustache, the other one is still undergoing therapy because of the Oklahoma fans), the Cheerleaders, and the Sundancers were all present. It didn’t seem like the crowd showed up, but officially it was 904. I have to question that number just from eyeballing it and from being at last week’s rivalry game against UTEP, which was only listed at 712. The steam cannons from that game were still set up and I appreciated the musical cues from the PA to start this game. All I could think of, though, was that I was missing a NASCAR race for this.

First Quarter

The scorecard added up correctly the first time. Given this was a low-scoring game, I should have gotten the scoring right this late in the season, but it’s always a challenge. Imani Warren was not starting for the Aggies, but was in the lineup to play. This seemed like a troubling sign. Lucia L. started in her place.

The Aggie defense forced two turnovers without a shot on the Gamecocks’ first two possessions. Emma found Senoj for the first points of the game. To this point, it all seemed normal. What was more indicative were the misses that followed by both teams. Eventually, Senoj made a jumper and it was 4-1 Aggies with 5’ left in the quarter.

Imani finally came in after a timeout. Lucia L. missed a couple of shots, but was pulling down some rebounds. She grabbed one reaching over a defender’s head. Morane Dossou came in and grabbed a couple of quick rebounds. Mina Djurojevic came in for the Cocks. She was a tall, pretty Serbian with hypnotically silky blonde hair. Adriana Jones put the Cocks up 4-6 with a 3 with 1’ left. That would be how the first quarter ended . . . with 10 combined points. There were a couple of guys doing running commentary behind me. Their summation was, “The refs are winning.” There were several fouls on the Aggies in the quarter.

Second Quarter

The Sundancers performed during the break. It was a surprising routine with a lot of ballet mixed in. I should have guessed these girls all had had ballet training. The Band gave them an extra cheer when they came back to the sidelines. Lucia L. picked up a second quick foul and came out for Nikki Stanic. She blocked a shot.

Statler and Waldrof behind me commented, “How long do you think they can go without scoring? That was a worthwhile question. The Cocks had put in a few baskets, but the Aggies couldn’t buy one. Finally, Deavion Hudson came in and hit a layup to make it, 6-11 JS with 7’ left in the quarter. I think that was 8 minutes without a basket.

After that, the Aggies got called for offensive fouls on their next two possessions. The crowd was getting unruly towards the refs. They picked up another foul on their next possession. Anna Csenyi was called for a second foul. Both times, she was shocked and pointed to herself, “Who? Me?” The crowd was booing.

In the stoppage, a guy rolled for the Monopoly game. Instead of winning money, he got Go To Jail result. The crowd booed more. Quick, send the Cheerleaders out to throw more souvenirs to the crowd. Yay! They were cheering again. Before play resumed, the Band started chanting, “We want new refs!”

Emma put up a jumper to make it, 8-15 JS with 3’ left. Imani drew a foul going to the basket. The crowd was amazed to finally get a call their way. She made both free throws. 10-17 JS 2’ left. Emma made a bounce pass to Morane for a layup. Lucia L. made a bunny at the rim. Cocker Mya Barnes made a block on Morane. Imani made a layup on the Aggies’ last possession. However, the Aggies finished the half down, 16-23.

Halftime

Okay, this was new. A dance group performed for halftime, but it was a group of middle aged dancers. It was sort modern and sort of ballroom and well done. They performed a long routine and were into it. A couple of the Sundancers were watching and appreciated the effort. One of the dancer ladies was wearing a mask. I have to question this woman being involved in this activity when she’d surely be safer locked up at home.

I went to the bathroom. I considered changing seats so that I could watch a game playing on a TV in one of suites. Maybe it’d be a better game. I noticed Mia Fox and Zoe Ziegler in the crowd representing Aggie Volleyball. The team’s been pretty faithful supporting the girls.

Third Quarter

Emma took a charge in the lane from a much bigger girl. It wouldn’t be an Aggie game without Emma hitting the deck on a charge. Lucia hit an open jumper to make it, 20-23 with 8’ left in the quarter. It seemed like the Aggies were about to make a game of it, but this would actually be as close as it got.

Anna took another foul from forcing a Cocker into the sideline table on a fast break. “Good foul,” said the guys behind me. Barnes hit a 3 and suddenly it was, 22-33 JS with 6’ left. (Obviously, they scored a few more times than that.) In the timeout, Coach Adams and Emma started going at it on court. It was not an insignificant argument. At the beginning of the season, Emma was going over to the Coach for guidance in every stoppage. What is going on here? Before play resumed, the Aggie girls had a long huddle on court.

Lucia found Senoj under the basket for a layup. Adriana Jones made a 3 for the Cocks, but Anna replied with an Aggie 3. Still, it was 27-36 JS with 3’ left. The margin increased to 27-40 with 2’ left, when a timeout was called. In the break, a girl played the card match game and won. It was surprising because she was so disinterested while doing it. The guys behind me were shouting, “Faster!” The girl came back to her seat profoundly unhappy. Was she forced into it or didn’t like the free tickets as a prize?

Iyana came into the game and would make a block. Lucia L. made a block. Anna hit another 3. The refs missed an obvious travel call and set the crowd off again. It was 30-47 JS going into the final quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The crowd was just mad at everyone now. Thank goodness Wave the Wonder Dog didn’t show up for this game. He didn’t need to see this. Iyana fought for a rebound and got it, but the Aggies turned it over anyway on a foul by Imani. Coach Adams had sent out a strange lineup to start the fourth without a point guard. It was as confused as you’d think on two possessions. Emma was put back in. Imani came out in an obviously very bad mood.

The crowd was becoming ominously quiet as the score was getting worse. Senoj got the rebound on a missed 3 and put it in for a layup. Mina got smacked down hard to the court on the play. She had to come out and was walking off slowly. Barnes put in another 3. She was completely wide open for the entire possession. I can’t believe it took several passes for the Cocks to find her. Even I saw she unguarded. 34-52 JS 6’ left in the game.

The pretty Aggie trainer was complaining at the refs for a Travel call. She was still into the game. I’ll miss seeing her. During a timeout, PA Ed thanked Aggie Nation for their support this season. Issuing a heartfelt apology for this game would have also been in order. Forget NASCAR, I’m missing Gilmore Girls right now for this. (I started watching this show on the weekends. I really can’t explain why.) Even the two JS parents in the crowd were clearly not entertained by this game.

For some reason, both coaches called timeouts in the final minute. I think Coach Adams meant to do something with the seniors, but I don’t think it happened. One good thing came of it, Abril Ricart-Mensah came in off the deep bench for the Cocks. She was very pretty. Well, that was the final highlight. Aggies lose 38-57.

This was an entirely winnable game. The Gamecocks were not that good a team and didn’t even play that well today. This isn’t sour grapes; the Aggies were just that bad. The Cocks shot 37% to the Aggies’ 28% and 31% to 16% on 3’s. A lot of JS’ 3’s came when the team was already well up and the Aggies couldn’t answer. The Cocks shot 90% on their free throws for 18 points. This is significant because JS was called for 9 fouls, while the Aggies were called for 23. Maybe the crowd was right about the refs. (Maybe the Aggies completely broke down in discipline.)

Mya Barnes led Jax State with 13 points. Adriana Jones had 12 points and Kyera Thornsbury had 11. For the Aggies, Senoj Jones at least had a good game with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Morane Dossou only had 2 points, but pulled down 11 rebounds. Anna Csenyi had 8 points with two 3’s and was hustling.

I’m not criticizing all the players’ efforts, but if Lucia Yenes or Imani Warren aren’t scoring, the Aggies aren’t winning. The Coach wasn’t even putting them in that much. The lineups out on the floor seemed almost random at times. There’s clearly some kind of friction between Coach Adams and some of the players. I’d suspect a house cleaning of players in the offseason. I didn’t see AD Fields at the game, but if he was or had been there, I could see him cleaning out the coaching staff, too.

It just felt like the whole team and the Coach quit, not on playing hard, but on each other and the fans. I didn’t want it to end like this. I’m already planning on not getting an Aggie Country Pass next season, but I thought I might come back for a couple of Women’s Basketball games to see Emma as a senior. Now, I’m washing my hands of this.

The team went around the sidelines. Lucia L. was in tears going around greeting fans. Poor thing. She was playing hard. Next season, some of those missed shots will drop for her. I just don’t know if she’ll be playing for the Aggies. On the way out, I was behind a family with a little girl wearing a giveaway t-shirt several sizes too big for her and holding souvenir ball. She had a good time, at least.

I’d like to report on having a good a good dinner, but my grilled cheese sandwich with macaroni from Roni’s wasn’t that great. It was kind of flavorless and irritated my stomach. This week at work I had a Jimmie John’s sub with my name on it and a leftover jug of McAlister’s sweet tea stolen from the fridge from me. It’s been that kind of week.

I again decided to miss the Aggie Baseball nightcap. It was a nice night, but I didn’t want to go to another game, especially since I could listen to it on the radio. Adam Young, who was calling the basketball game for TV, also called the Baseball game. He’s got stamina. Anyway, I’m done with Aggie Basketball for the season unless they give me a good reason to write about them.