Ron was out for this Sunday game to take care of some family
members, so I was solo today. I took
advantage of the concessions special and picked up a $1 hot dog for lunch. It had a stale bun, but at least it was
cheap. I also finally got the Corn in
the Cup that I’d been craving. It was a
messy, soupy gumbo swimming in a butter/grease/water concoction. It was delicious. I ate the meal while watching the Aggies warm
up on field. Then the “Aggies” retreated
to the visiting dugout. Harvard’s team is called “The Crimson.” As this implies, they wear crimson, which is
the same primary color as the Aggies.
Today, both teams were wearing colored crimson tops and white
pants. I thought that one confused fan
from last night’s game was a bit inebriated, but it was probably confusing
for everyone at times.
It was a clear, warm day, somewhat spoiled by a stiff
breeze. At least it wasn’t a cold one
and for the fans in the grandstand, it was blowing out and not bothering
them. It was going to be bothering the
players during the game however. This
was another TV game with no radio.
Friday night, I’d seen former Aggie pitcher, Matt McHugh, in the booth for the game. He was here again and was the only guy at the
stadium in a suit. (I’m not sure even
play-by-play guy, Adam Young, was as
dressed up.) Matt walked by me on the
way to the booth. I called him by name
and told him to call a good game. He
seemed pleased with the recognition.
The Harvard announcer guy from last night was here, but he
wasn’t broadcasting. Once again, I had
no opportunity to talk to him to see if he really was broadcasting for
them. The Old Man was there, cheering up
a storm as usual. It was a pretty good
crowd. I noticed a guy in a new Diablos t-shirt. I think the El Paso Chihuahuas may have undercut their brand by bringing back
the old logo and team name.
A trio of young women sat down in front of me for the
game. Two were pretty attractive and
even the other one had a nice hairstyle.
I think they were in the sports medicine program. They sort of knew the guys in some fashion
and were there to support them. “All my
baseball knowledge comes from watching Trouble
With the Curve,” said the cute one.
I’ve seen some the movie. That’s
not a bad place to start. In any case,
they were fully engaged in the game and had a good time watching.
I missed the PA lineup announcement trying to find a trash
can for my lunch. (What happened to the
ones at either end of the grandstand?) Thankfully, there was a program today,
so I didn’t have any trouble filling out my scorecard. I finally identified the organ music clip the
PA plays. It was surprisingly Suki Yaki, not a tune I’d expect at a
ballpark. Though a TV game, there was
only one lengthy delay for the broadcast at the beginning of the game. The rest of the breaks were normal.
Though Harvard got a double play to start off the bottom of
the first, Mason Fishback came up
next and homered. It looked like an easy
flyball to center, but just kept carrying in the wind. This would inspire many of the other batters
in the game to swing for flyballs. Not a
bad strategy. A popup by Tristen Carranza next, blew all over
the place before the Harvard first baseman caught it and fell down.
In the top of the second, Nick Gonzales made a great play on a dying little blooper to throw
out the runner at first. Jonathan Groff, starting for the
Aggies, kept the ball low and got a couple of groundouts to end the
inning. The fielding was good there and
I wonder if it was helped by Groff working quickly. The wind picked up in the bottom. Aggie batters aimed for the sky, but ended up
with three fly outs.
The third featured a souvenir cup giveaway. I already had one. One of the girls in front applauded a
lead-off base hit by Harvard to start the third. She immediately realized her mistake and said
she was confused by the uniforms. The
bases were loaded on another hit and a walk, but a double play limited the
damage to one run. 1-0 Harvard. Nick started off the bottom. The Old Man and another fan, perhaps Marcus Still’s dad, told him to “Put it
over the wall!” He responded by sending
the ball over the wall to right center.
It was a line drive shot, but the wind may have kept it flying. We were tied at one. A couple of attractive girls from the Track and Field team came in and sat
down behind me. They were in shorts and,
as you might guess, they had great legs.
For the fourth, a little kid hit the window for the pitching
contest. He got some low-fives from the
guys in the dugout. The wind was blowing
for both teams. Hunter Bigge got one up in the jetstream to right with a runner on
and put Harvard up on a homer, 3-1.
Groff got in some more trouble after, but worked out of it.
The bottom of the fourth started with a bang. Tristan
Carranza hit the outfield wall with a line shot. However, he only made it to first. I initially thought it was because he was
admiring what seemed like a sure home run, but actually he pulled something on
the hit and had to be stretched out by a trainer at first. He stayed in.
Caleb Henderson singled, then
Logan Ehnes hit a popup, which the
fielder lost in the sun, allowing him to reach.
This loaded the bases.
“Hit us a granny!” yelled someone in the crowd to Trey Stine, up next. He didn’t, but did drive in a run from being
hit by a pitch. The girls in front of me
took their second group selfie of the game.
“People ask me, ‘How do you get those fine abs?’ I say, ‘It’s from holding out my phone all
the time,’” said the cute one in the group.
Ah, she’s clever too. On the
field, Nick Gonzales hit a fly ball to left.
Between the sun and the wind, the fielder never saw the ball, and it
ended up being a two-run double.
Marcus Still’s Dad started repeating the Old Man’s cheers as
the Aggies batted around for the frame. Marcus
Still singled in a run. Joey Ortiz sacrificed in a run. Fishback and Carranza both doubled in
runs. When the dust cleared, the Aggies
were up 9-3. The PA had to take a minute
before announcing the inning totals. No
errors were given out for the untouched fly balls. Conditions were a bit rough for the players
in the field and generally, if nobody touches the ball, it’s not an error.
The girls brought back something vicious-smelling from the
concession, like really strong pickles.
Here, I regretted sitting near them.
The Aggies turned a double play for a quick top of the fifth. Marcus Still drove in another run with a
double in the bottom, 10-2. Patrick Robinson for Harvard made a
good diving catch in left field for an out.
In the sixth, I knew the trivia question (or more accurately, I knew to
look at the program for the answer). I
would have run to the pressbox if I’d know they were giving away an
umbrella. I’ve destroyed both of mine
going to softball and soccer games.
Also, I would have gotten to finally see the female PA voice.
While the Aggies had been blasting away this game, Jake Suddleson for Harvard got the
height and distance medal for a homer today.
His solo shot in the top of the sixth went 400’ to dead center and
cleared the 20’ batter’s eye. This one
was definitely wind-aided. Marcus Still
out in center, didn’t even move or look as the ball flew overhead. 10-4 Aggies.
Then the Aggies sent 16 men to the plate in the bottom of
the sixth. (Deep breath.) Ortiz walked, Fishback doubled him in. A hit batter and another walk loaded the
bases. Harvard changed pitchers (a
little too late). The PA ran him off
with multiple sound effects and played Pressure
by David Bowie and Queen for his replacement.
Ehnes singled in two runs. Trey
Stine then came up and hit a three-run homer.
The right fielder turned around and watched the ball hit one of the pine
trees behind the wall. He flapped his
arms in resignation, or perhaps he wanted to fly away.
The girls, meanwhile, were reviewing some emergency medical
procedures, maybe for a test. Certainly
the hemorrhaging on field might have reminded them about it. Where were we? Let’s see.
Next up, walk, hit batter, hit batter, grand slam home run. That last one was courtesy of Joey
Ortiz. He hit the scoreboard in left
field. Fishback then got hit in the head
on a fastball. Given how many batters
Harvard hit today (6 in total, 2 in Game 2 yesterday, I don’t know about the
other two games), it might have been an accident. Unfortunately, this one was hard. Fishy had to come out of the game. The pitcher was also yanked immediately. Aggie pitching showed remarkable restraint in
not retaliating.
The Harvard shortstop, Chad
Minato, came over to pitch. Harvard
does have close to a full roster, but I guess he was their best option at that
moment. His first batter, Carranza,
fouled out to the first baseman. That
was the first out of the inning. Then
another hit batter, a three-run homer by Ehnes, and finally the second and third
outs. 13 runs on five hits for the
sixth. 23-4 Aggies.
The girls left after that barrage, but there was an Aggie
Baseball t-shirt toss to the crowd from the pressbox. There weren’t many kids there today, so heck
yes, I wanted one. I stood and waved,
but came away empty. “Good effort, Yale!
. . . I mean Harvard,” shouted out a fan as they came to bat in the
seventh. That was just cruel (but you
shouldn’t have pegged one of our star players).
After three quick groundouts, the game suddenly ended. The run rule was in effect for this game
apparently. (Why isn’t this rule in
effect for every game?) Our final Aggies 23, Harvard 4.
Jonathan Groff
did a great job pitching in conditions not conducive to good pitching. Good job by the fielders too. Offensively, holy crap! Let’s hand it to Logan Ehnes going 4 for 5 with 5 RBI’s and a homer. Of course, there were plenty of other great
performances hitting today (Joey Ortiz
5 RBI, grand slam HR; Mason Fishback
3 for 4, 3 RBI, HR; Trey Stine 4
RBI, HR). This was one of those days
where the Aggies looked like world-beaters.
Thanks to the truncation, the game ended in under three
hours. I drove by the tennis complex on
the way home, since I knew there were matches going on today. I saw a bunch of people there, but didn’t see
the girls playing from the road, so I decided not to stop. I wouldn’t finally be seeing Eli Arnaudova today. This was a feel-good win today after
yesterday’s loss. If that strong wind
had been blowing into the stands, I might not have felt so good about it. Okay, no live Aggie sports for this upcoming
weekend, but we’re hoping to hear the Men
and Women’s Basketball teams playing for the WAC championship on Saturday.
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