10:00-freaking-am.
What a crummy time for a game, but let’s do it. Outside, it was cool and overcast, but not
unpleasant. The weather was about to
fool me again into thinking it was going to be bearable. I was outfitted with my heavy coat and sock
hat in any case. Pulling into the
parking lot, I noticed that there were surprisingly players out on the soccer
field. They may or may not have been the
Aggies. After the softball game, I
walked over, but the soccer practice was over.
I only saw local high school players leaving though. The baseball team was also out practicing on
their field.
The lot was pretty full, but it was a smaller crowd
today. There might have been more Creighton fans at first, but Aggie fans
did show up later. Everyone clumped
together in bunches for shared warmth. I’d
forgotten it was $1 hot dog day. Even if
they were bad (which was likely), I still wish I’d eaten that than my lousy
breakfast. It was also dog day at the
stadium. Twin adorable dachshunds were
brought in, which were a constant distraction for cuteness. Later, someone brought in a purse puppy.
Danny was there and I chatted with him for a bit. Surprisingly, Ron showed up. Since he had to unexpectedly work last night,
he’d told me not to expect getting together for the game. He must be an even bigger fan of the girls
than me. Given the weather, everyone at
the stadium who didn’t have a daughter in the game, must have been a little
nutty to be there.
We all got what we didn’t want at the beginning of the
game, a delay. Coach Rodolph didn’t like the condition of the infield, so out came
the grounds crew. I can’t imagine how
the field had gotten messed up to this point since yesterday or this morning,
but they had to repaint the batter’s box and pitching circle. Meanwhile, the scoreboard was still not
working right. The PA would have to
announce the score every so often during the game.
In the outfield, the girls there started cheering along
to the Aggie fight song played by the PA.
As the delay continued for 10 minutes, they also danced to Jump on It. It was terribly entertaining. Meanwhile, the infield girls were all
business, or at least looked like it.
There were Aggie lineup changes today. Chloe
Rivas was starting in right field. Pitcher
Analise de la Roca was in at
DP. Samaria
Diaz started for the Aggies in the circle.
She picked up a couple of strikeouts and a no-damage hit in the first. One of the wiener dogs was wearing a
sweater. He suddenly started barking at
everyone, which was odd, since he was okay before. (Maybe he was trying to warn everyone about
an impending change in the weather.) The
other one was chill the whole time.
The Aggie girls were indeed in good spirits today. They started singing to their batters right
at the beginning with Kelsey Horton leading
off. She walked. Victoria
Castro was up next and promptly jacked one to right center. In spite of the heavy air and lack of wind,
the ball seemed to carry. 2-0
Aggies.
And we repeat, even though the Bluejays immediately
brought in a new pitcher. Nikki Butler walked. She thought she was called over to Coach Cat Heifner with the next batter,
but was sent back, but then the ump told her to go. It was a bit comedy watching her go
back-and-forth. Mya Felder then homered to left center. 4-0 Aggies.
Thanks to where I was sitting, I got to see the bench
players better for the two post-homer celebrations. Freshman #8 Rylan Gonzales looked cute.
She’s another local player from Las Cruces. #22 Alyssa
Barela is a freshman catcher with great hair. She was wearing shin guards the whole game
and warmed up the pitcher once between innings.
If Brandy
Hernandez’s diminutive height seemed to be a disadvantage in playing left
field, she showed everyone on the first batter of the second. A flyball was ticketed to just drop over the
fence. Brandy got to the wall, reached
up and over, and pulled it right back.
For the final out, Kelsey made juggled basket catch in foul ground.
There was the final t-shirt toss for the weekend. The Creighton fan with the spiky blue wig was
waving for one and got it. Out-of-town
opposing fans do like the Aggie giveaways.
The chill wiener dog was brought over to his owner, who was sitting in
front of us. I was completely distracted
for the rest of the game. He was so
cute. Fan Mike came by and asked the
owner, “Is that a $1 hot dog?”
Brandy singled to start the bottom of the second, but
was eliminated on a fielder’s choice. Tori
walked. Nikki hit Creighton pitcher, Logan Black, on the ankle on a
comebacker. Logan was able to stay in
the game, though the bases were now loaded.
She almost got out of it. Kelsey
was thrown out at the plate on a grounder, but then the catcher airmailed the
ball trying to get the double play at first.
Tori scored and it was 5-0.
The lady from Aggie
Sports Marketing came around to take pictures of the dogs. The barking sweater wiener dog chased her
off. Samaria got a little wild in the
third hitting a batter. Mya made a great
shoetop catch of a liner for the second out.
For the next batter, Chloe and Sam changed places, as Coach Rodolph
seemed to be experimenting. Sam enjoyed
the change and danced with the other girls in the outfield to Mariah Carey’s Fantasy while Chloe was warming up.
Chloe made one pitch that went into deep center, but Tori caught it.
Between innings, the Aggie reserve girls ran a lap to
the outfield from the dugout. They were
in their heavy stadium coats. Rylan
smiled and waved at someone in the stands before she went back into the
dugout. Chloe walked to start the
bottom. She was busy. Analise got on with a fielder’s choice and
advanced on a wild pitch. Jeanelle Medina slapped a foul ball
that hit Tori, standing outside the dugout.
It wasn’t hit hard. Tori
pretended to faint and started laughing.
Brandy came up and dropped a little liner in front of the left fielder
that allowed Analise to score. 6-0 Aggies.
Sam was back in to pitch to start the fourth. Freshman Casie
Roberto, also from Las Cruces, came in to play second. In the bottom, Tori walked again to start the
inning. Next, Nikki nearly took out Mya
with a couple of foul balls. She fouled
off about five pitches before drawing a walk.
Caity Szczesny came in to run
for her. That was unnecessary, as Mya
came up next and hit a three-run homer.
9-0 Aggies.
More importantly though, raindrops started falling and
the wind kicked up, dropping the temperature below a comfortable level. This was exactly what no one at the softball
complex wanted. My scorecards and new Aggie
notebook were getting wet. The skies
were overcast and a dark gray. Who could
have guessed that it might start raining?
Not me or most anyone else there, except for a couple of smartasses with
umbrellas.
Of course, both coaches immediately started
micro-managing the game to draw things out.
The Aggies brought out three pinch hitters, and the Bluejays brought out
a reliever. That last move worked well,
as Jays’ catcher #10 Mikaela Pechar caught
a short foul ball and then picked off the runner at first to end the inning
with a double play.
If cold, wet, and windy conditions seemed unpleasant,
the PA informed everyone that it was 28 degrees back in Omaha right now, where
the Creighton fans would otherwise be.
The Aggie outfield girls did the Macarena
between innings. Rylan came in to play
shortstop. The Creighton coach put in
three pinch hitters of her own. The
first batter tripled as Tori laid-out to try and catch the gapper. Mya dropped a popup on the next batter to put
two on. Catcher Nikki caught a popup,
but for some reason it was waved off by the umps. That batter walked to load the bases with no
outs.
Coach Rodolph wanted to see how Chloe would respond to
pressure and again put her in the circle.
Melika Ofoia came off the
bench to play in the outfield. Kelsey
was smiling and unusually chatty on the field during the exchange and the at
bats. The runner at first interfered on
a grounder, which got an out and sent everyone back to their bases. Rylan got her first chance on a grounder to
deep short. She went to second for the
force, since there was no chance at home, and just missed starting a double
play. Kelsey took it to first herself on
a grounder to end the game. Aggies win 9-1.
Yes, the game ended on a run rule. I was again afraid to say anything about the
possibility, not knowing if they’d end it in the fifth with an 8-run lead. It’s not a conference game; the coaches have
to agree beforehand about it. I was
really rooting for the Aggies to not let in two runs this inning.
Aggie pitching obviously did well today with only run
scored. (Even after reading the rulebook
a couple of times, I’m still not sure if it was an earned run or not.) Let’s hand it to Mya Felder, our clear standout of the day, with two home runs and
five RBI’s. I don’t know if I’ve ever
seen the team happier or looser than today.
I’m sure the cold was bothering them this weekend, but they enjoyed the
playing.
Yay! It was over
and I could go back home, where I wouldn’t be freezing or rained on. Additionally, this vacation was totally
successful in terms of Aggie Sports. It
was a complete sweep. I asked Ron about
lunch, but he wanted to get home and finally get to bed. He would have been happier about the game
being cut short, except it still ran two hours with the field delay and all the
substitutions. Next weekend is going to
have some overlapping events, but we’ll figure things out then.
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