NM
State Aggies vs Texas Tech Red Raiders
Welcome Aggies to the big
tournament! They'd be facing a Texas
Tech team that they'd already played twice this year and would have played
three times, but for scheduling issues.
The Red Raiders are #9 in the nation going into the tournament and
playing on their home field in Lubbock.
Still, there were reported to be lots of Aggie fans there. It wasn't a sellout there though. It was 99 degrees, 130 on the turf. Adam
Young was reminded of stories about old Busch Stadium, where players would come off the plastic grass and
soak their feet in ice water in the dugout.
Free water and towels were being offered to the fans that braved the
heat.
Caleb
Henderson tripled in the first on a ball
that got by a diving fielder. Marcus Still nearly drove him in, but
was out on a diving catch. Jonathan Groff started for the
Aggies. Tristen Carranza made a snowcone catch in the first, but the Red
Raiders scored on an RBI hit and a two-run homer. 3-0 Texas Tech. Their fans certainly made it sound like a big
crowd there as they cheered the runs.
The Raiders got more runners on in the second, but were left
stranded.
A new pitcher came in for Texas
Tech in the third. Their starter was
still getting over an injury. Joey Ortiz would hit a solo home run to
make it 3-1. I wonder if his fielding
problems in the WAC Championship might have been due to his sore glove
hand? It was mentioned that Aggie
catcher, Braden Williams actually
played for Texas Tech two years ago.
NMSU is his third school. In the
bottom, Logan Ehnes made a couple of
good plays, nearly doubling off a runner and making a sliding catch, but two
more runs scored. 5-1 Texas Tech.
In the fourth, Nick Gonzales hit a pitch out that
might have wrapped around the foul pole.
There was no video review available for the game, which is surprising
because it was available at the WAC
Tournament. Adam more-or-less
settled it by mentioning that the Aggie bullpen, which was close to the pole
had no reaction to the hit. In the
bottom of the fifth, Groff gave up a couple more runs and came out for Matt Perea. Perea would strikeout the side. It was speculated the next day that Groff
might have been sweating so much that he was having trouble gripping the
ball.
In the sixth, Adam got on a fan
for not making a play on a foul. Hey, it
was hot out there. By the seventh, Perea
was getting frustrated by the small strike zone. With two outs, he gave up two walks and then
an RBI hit. A pair of misplays in the
outfield scored two more. After another
RBI hit, Perea finally came out for Alex Pinedo. 9-1 Texas Tech. Poor Perea.
He was one uncalled strike away from ending the inning.
The Red Raiders started the
inning with a new pitcher. He walked one
batter and was taken out. Two hits on
the next pitcher loaded the bases.
Henderson would drive in a run.
However, that was the last of the scoring for the game. The Red
Raiders won 9-2. The final score on
the heat was 104 degrees. No telling
what it was on the turf.
The Aggies would be playing Saturday to continue their season.
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