NM State vs Arizona Wildcats Baseball 2-27-18

At least there was radio for this game.  Also, I wasn’t sitting out in the cold to watch, since the game was in Tucson.  Adam Young reported that it was sunny, but very windy.  I’m sure it got cold when the sun went down.  Hi-Corbett Field was built big to begin with, so the ball would be staying inside the fences this evening.  During the Anthem, listeners could hear people singing in 2,000+ crowd and even whistling the tune.  Mid-week starter, Brock Whittlesey, was on the mound for the Aggies.  Perhaps the team’s hottest batter, Noah Haupt, was listed as “not available.”  There was no further explanation, but it seemed like a bad sign.

Both teams had their chances to take an early lead in the first and second, but pitching and defense held.  Mason Fishback threw out a runner at second to cripple one threat.  In the top of the third, Logan Bottrell was thrown out at home on a sac fly.  Whitt got a strikeout looking to end the third inning.  The Aggies finally broke through in the fourth with a Trey Stine sacrifice fly, 1-0. 

In the bottom, Whitt was pulled after two batters got on.  Unfortunately, an error at second by Bruno Teramoto led to two runs scoring.  He made a second error on a safety squeeze which scored another run and allowed another runner on.  A second safety squeeze brought in a fourth run.  Finally, a blooper to the outfield scored a fifth run.  It was 5-1 Wildcats, 3 unearned runs and no one was scored on a hard hit ball. 

The Aggies got one run back in the fifth with Joey Ortiz singling in Marcus Still, driving the Wildcats’ starter out of the game.  5-2 Wildcats.  Ortiz drove in another run on a fielder’s choice in the seventh.  Fishback also drove in a run to make it 5-4.  In the bottom, Adam’s voice started cracking.  I hope he’s not catching something.  This frame was battle of the managers.  An Arizona batter was pulled after one pitch.  Immediately after, a new Aggie pitcher was put in, AJ Castillo.  He worked out of a jam with a strikeout.

For the eighth, Stine made a great catch on a hard liner at third and Castillo pitched very well.  I kept hearing cheering in the background.  There was reported to be a good-sized contingent of Aggie fans there.  Still, 5-4 Wildcats was the final. 

I admit, I got angry during the game, something that usually never happens.  I was listening at work, so it might have been partly stress, but it was easy to get frustrated with missed opportunities and bad play.  As Adam said, “The Aggies only had one bad inning.”  Arizona isn’t having a good year; this was the time to beat them.  I was slightly encouraged that the Aggies did score runs, did make a comeback, and did have some pitching.  (Somewhat discouraged that this game, once again, took over three-and-half hours.)  I really think if Haupt had been there, it might have been the difference.  Well, regroup and take it out on Harvard this weekend.