NM State Baseball vs Maine Black Bears Baseball Game 2, 3-17-18

Continued from Game 1

To exactly nobody’s surprise, Game 2 of this double header started at about the same time as the softball double header next door.  This scheduling was really terrible.  Now the only question was: Would this baseball game finish before or after the softball double header?  It was worth taking bets on. 

I’d only had a bowl of cereal and a banana for a late breakfast.  Four hours later, my stomach was growling, something that never happens to me.  I was briefly worried that the concessions trailer was closed when I went by earlier, because I didn’t see anyone inside.  Happily I was able get a soda, dog, chips, and my favorite, corn in a cup.  Had I been less hungry, I might have complained about the hot dog, but not today.  The corn in a cup was a lot less soupy than last time, but not quite as melted.  Why am I reviewing this?  Aggie concessions aren’t exactly gourmet (or even El Paso Chihuahuas level ballpark food). 

In the kiss and cry area by the Aggie dugout, a couple of players were eating with their girlfriends (presumably).  The dogs from the stands were also there.  While I was back at my seat in the stands, several kids ran by with newly player-signed balls.  I had grabbed my jacket and undershirt from my truck in preparation for the sun going down, so I was ready for anything.  No, I wasn’t, as you’ll see.

You might notice a smudge on the Aggie scorecard.  We’ll get to that.  The game started badly for the Aggies right off, particularly for Caleb Henderson.  He had two errors to start the game.  Myself and broadcaster Adam Young thought the first one might have been undeserved.  Aggie starter Alex Pinedo didn’t have a good start either.  The pitching coach and trainer suddenly ran out to him.  They left him with one of his nostrils stuffed with cotton.  Adam had no idea how he’d gotten a bloody nose, or maybe he had a runny nose.  The first batter let on by an error scored on a wild pitch, but Pinedo otherwise pitched fine with one nostril.  1-0 Maine Black Bears.

By the second, we could hear cheering at the softball complex from their game.  The girls make a lot of noise and always sound like they’re having a good time.  It makes you wish you were there, but if you were, you then ended up missing the actual seats and shade at the baseball park.  Joey Ortiz caught a low, sinking line drive and then caught a runner off first for a double play to end the inning.

The wind shifted in and I could hear the softball announcer.  That would come and go all during the game.  In the bottom, after a hit batter and a double, Nick Gonzales drove them in with a high, arcing blast to center.  3-1 Aggies.  Oh, oh, Adam’s voice started cracking after that homer.  This was a bad sign for the radio broadcast.  He kept going and eventually worked through it.  There was a bunch of screaming over the wall at the softball complex.  I could see helmets bobbing up and down by home plate and then go to the visitors’ dugout.  I think Minnesota just scored a multi-run homer too.

For the third, foam balls were tossed to the crowd.  Pinedo had a two strikeout top of the third.  Mason Fishback led off the bottom with a line drive homer to right field.  The team gave Fishy a strange high wave upon his return to the dugout.  This is going to be their trademark thing for the season, I guess.  4-1 Aggies.  Brandon Vicens for the Black Bears made a tremendous running, over the shoulder catch in deep centerfield.  There were two on at the time, so that inning-ending catch saved some runs.  The entire crowd applauded his effort.

In the fourth, Maine got their first hit of the game.  It was a hard hit ball at Joey that might have been called an error instead.  A little brother and sister played with their new foam balls next to me in the aisle.  I ended up getting involved a couple of times by errant throws.  Unlike some other times with rambunctious kids, this time I okay with it.  They were kind of adorable.  Pinedo made a rare play by a pitcher on a sky-high pop up.  Three other players lost the ball and he was the only one able to make the catch.  Occasionally, that pitcher’s glove is useful.

In the bottom, Caleb Kerbs at second for Maine made a great falling away throw to get the speedy Marcus Still at first.  Someone in the stands loudly disagreed.  I wonder if it was Marcus’ dad.  Ortiz singled.  Logan Ehnes beat out an infield hit, which even Adam initially called him out on.  Fishback singled in Ortiz next.  Tristen Carranza walked to load the bases.  Alex McKenny, who’d just come in this inning, uncorked a wild pitch that scored Ehnes.  He injured himself on the throw, which the catcher immediately noticed, and had to come out.  The crowd gave him a nice round of applause.  The next pitcher, Trevor Delaite, picked up the at bat to Caleb Henderson with a 1-0 count.  Trey Stine would drive in two more runs with a single.  8-1 Aggies.

Kevin Doody came up to bat for the Black Bears in the fifth.  The little girl found the name amusing.  Adam called, “Doody down on strikes,” as he struck out in his at bat.  Adam and the softball PA gave the final score for the Game 1 of the softball double header, 7-0 Minnesota.  Nick started off the bottom with a ground rule double over the wall.  Marcus singled him in, though he was caught off first taking too wide a turn on a good throw in from the outfield.  9-1 Aggies.

To start the sixth, Pinedo lost his glove on a comebacker.  No problem.  He still threw out the runner.  Alex thought he had the next batter on three pitches.  The umpire disagreed.  The count went full, and Pinedo grooved the last pitch.  The ball went 400’ over the center field wall.  Alex walked the next batter and was taken out to a round of applause.  He seemed out of gas.  The Black Bears pieced together another run that came in on a wild pitch.  9-3 Aggies.

Mason Fishback led off the bottom of the sixth.  He hit a foul popup straight back.  It went over the net.  I lost it in the sky, but several other fans were able to track it.  And were looking right at me as the projected impact point.  Plop!  And that’s how that mark got on my scorecard.  The ball hit right in my lap.  The crowd was laughing.  I was laughing too.  That could have been a lot worse.  The ball did not hit the ground and I caught it with my equipment (the scorecard), so I consider it a legal “catch.”  A couple of kids, not the little ones next to me, wanted the ball.  I decided to keep it, since the ball had found me.

Almost inconsequentially, Fishback doubled in his at bat.  Adam said he was hitting over .400 and leading the nation in RBI’s (I think, I should have been paying better attention to the commentary).  What a player to almost get beaned by.  Carranza then came up and homered him in to make it 11-3 Aggies. 

In the seventh, there was an Aggie Baseball shirt toss from the top of pressbox again.  I did stand up and wave for one, apparently not satisfied with my other souvenirs, but I think they only threw two out.  The lights came on at the ballpark.  Softball had turned theirs on last inning.  They may have already started Game 2 by this point.  A double play ended the inning for Maine.  In the bottom, the ump got confused on the count and almost called out a batter on two strikes.  This further confused the scoreboard operator and led to a momentary delay to correct everything.  Carranza drove in a run and Henderson doubled in two more runs to make it 14-3 Aggies.

I could hear the girls singing at the softball field.  The PA was telling leprechaun jokes to the crowd, until a leprechaun claiming defamation showed up with a lawyer.  Kyle Wullenweber made his first appearance in about a month to start the eighth.  He was a bit rusty as he walked two and had two wild pitches, but he also had two strikeouts.  A run scored on a sacrifice.  14-4 Aggies.  The Aggies loaded the bases in the bottom, but didn’t score.  A foul ball by pinch hitter Zach Hardy hit the canopy and landed by a nearby fan.  I flinched before it landed. 

Matt Munden came in to close out in the ninth.  The first four batters hit for the cycle.  Yes, a single, double, triple, and a home run.  Honestly, that was kind of impressive to watch.  There was another foul into the stands.  This time it went to the other side of the stadium, but I still flinched.  I hope this isn’t going to be an ongoing issue.  The Black Bears scored three times before Wyatt Kelly came in and struck out the next three batters to end the game.  Our final: Aggies 17, Black Bears 7.

Great job by Alex Pinedo on the mound and with his glove today (and even without it).  Wyatt Kelly looked good in relief.  Mason Fishback had a great day with the bat, going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, a home run, and one hit fan.  Nick Gonzales and Tristen Carranza both had homers and went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s.  All nicely done.     

I thought about trying to find Fishy after the game to get his autograph on the ball, but I wasn’t in the mood to hang around and further embarrass myself.  I doubt I was going to be charming after 8+ hours sitting at the ballpark.  I found mistake after mistake on my scorecards in the later innings while writing this.  I likely wasn’t very coherent at the time.  My radio ran out of juice right after the final out, so I wasn’t able to check any totals.      

The softball game was still going on.  I slowly drove past their stands to look at their scoreboard.  It was 8-3 Minnesota in either the fifth or sixth.  Since my baseball ticket wasn’t going to get me in, I didn’t bother stopping.  I wasn’t going to buy another ticket for an inning or two (remember, they only play seven in softball).  [Edit: Minnesota won 15-5.]  I think Major League Baseball games let people in without a ticket after the seventh, though I could be really wrong about that or that policy may have changed. 

Adam was concerned about the wind for the Sunday baseball game, so was the weatherman.  It was nice enough in the morning.  I was dressed and ready, but the specter of 50mph reared up with some gusting an hour before the game.  I changed my mind and stayed home.  It was likely okay there for the first hour, but conditions degenerated soon after.  I felt like I made the right decision, but still felt bad about it.  [Edit: Aggies won 8-5 and it was very windy.]  I think I got plenty of good baseball this weekend anyway.