I forgot what I did between this game and the
previous game with the Lobos. I admit after the volleyball match,
autographs, walking to get lunch, and sitting out in the heat for a
game-and-a-half, I was getting a bit tired by this point. All that happened was that the field got
dressed for the game. The UTEP fans came back. They and their team were more lively than the
Lobos and their fans were. The Aggies
played the Miners in El Paso last week and won, so UTEP was looking for
revenge. It was like a tournament
championship game atmosphere and the game itself reinforced that.
Samaria
Diaz
started for the Aggies and she has a vocal fan club in the stands. Before the first game, I noticed she was out
dancing on the field. The girls were all
probably happy to be playing and not walking up and down the football stadium
berm or serving rolled tacos at the Pan-Am
Center. UTEP’s starter was #20 Kira McKechnie. I looked her up on their online roster. She was a statuesque beauty wearing her eye
black like warpaint.
In the bottom of the first, the Aggies drew a pair of
walks to start. The Miners turned a
double play in the inning, but Nikki
Butler was able to drive in Jeanelle
Medina to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
I could smell somebody working a barbeque nearby, but badly. I lost my appetite. A UTEP fan below me had his phone up and was
Periscoping the event.
Sam ended the top of the second by starting a double
play. In the bottom, the Aggies finally
started singing from the dugout with Sarai
Mejia up to bat, who was in right field for this game. Keala
Brown was the starter in left and also came up this inning. The volleyball girls returned for this game,
after showing up for the first game, and playing a match themselves this
morning. That’s some Aggie
dedication.
Through three innings, both teams were getting runners
on. This was also making the game go
longer, which was what I didn’t want. I
think there was only one 1-2-3 inning in the game total. In the fourth, Mya Felder at third made a good play on a popup by the wall. Freshman Chloe
Rivas came into pitch and finished out the inning.
In the fifth, Chloe ran into trouble with the bases
loaded and two outs. A hit by pitch
drove in a run and a single drove in two runs to make it 3-1 UTEP. The bases were reloaded on another hit, but
Jeanelle speared a liner at second to finally end the inning. While this felt like a playoff game, this was
the one point where I think Coach
Rodolph was playing it like an exhibition.
In this case, she wanted to see how Chloe would respond to pressure.
Anne
Marie Vargas, better known as “Buddy” came in to play second this inning. Hey!
Where’s Caity Szczesny! After a game-and-a-half, I finally noticed I
hadn’t seen her. She has my favorite
player name and is a good player too.
She’s still listed on the roster online.
Hopefully, she’s okay. A Chinese
family came in and sat by me. It’s been
a strangely international day with that Russian family sitting by me at the volleyball
earlier.
In the
bottom of the fifth, after a pair of walks, a new UTEP pitcher was brought in
to face Kelsey Horton. During her
at bat, we had the play of weekend.
Kelsey hit a screaming line drive into the Aggie dugout. The ball went right at Coach Rodolph’s
head. Little Brandy Hernandez
saved the Aggie Softball program by snatching the ball out of the air before it
hit her. The pair started laughing,
which got the crowd laughing too. Kathy
picked up Brandy and gave her a big bear hug.
On
field, Mya sacrificed in Kayla
Bowen and Nikki doubled in Buddy to tie it, 3-3. In the sixth, UTEP got two on with two
out. Samaria came back in to pitch. Buddy made a diving stop and flip to second
for the force out to end the inning. In
the bottom, the Aggies got two on with two out, but also didn’t score.
In the seventh, UTEP again got two on with two out. The last batter hit a monster foul ball out
of the park, but Sam finished it with a strikeout looking. I was not looking forward to the possibility
of extra innings. It’d been a long day
for me, so I was rooting for a conclusion this inning. The Aggie got two on again as Mya doubled and
Nikki was pegged. Kayla Bowen came up
and slammed an absolute moonshot to center.
The fielder started running back at the crack of the bat, but it was a
no-doubter. It was a three-run walkoff
homer. Welcome to the team, KB! 6-3
Aggies final!
I may have been begging for the game to end at the time,
but I was not expecting that. It was a
heck of a game. I noticed afterward,
even the UTEP fans didn’t seem too unhappy.
It was hard to get upset when the winning play was so definitive and
majestic. After two games, I have to say
I can see why the Coach was so enthusiastic about the team and her new players.
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