NM State Aggies vs CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners Baseball 3-23-19

Holy crap!  What a way to start my baseball day!  I was nearly run off the road by Aggie Softball player, Kayla Green.  Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t my fault you were late for practice, babe.  So, after driving into the parking lot with this jeep trying to get into my pickup bed, I pulled in for a long day at the Aggie Baseball/Softball complex.  I was missing an Overwatch Tournament (televised on ABC no less) for this, but I think I made the right choice. 

Inside Presley Askew Field, the team had put up some new large screen prints at the front of the stadium showcasing some great recent players and winning the WAC.  They look good, much like their intern Emerson.  She had her hair up today and was wearing shorts.  It was a nice day.

Inside, my usual seat was taken.  That was fine with me.  I went ahead and sat on the third base side.  I ran into a co-worker who was taking his grandma to the game.  She’s big baseball fan, and this was her first Aggie game.  The CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners looked pretty sharp in their yellow tops.  I think their starter from last night, Darius Vines, was in the stands tracking pitches in the center section.  I saw an Aggie fan and an Aggie coach talking to him.  He pitched a great game.  I felt like congratulating him.  

Unlike last night, the scoreboard was working, so this game was already off to a better start.  Justin Dehn was the Aggie starter.  His first pitch went straight to the backstop, but he got three straight outs afterward.  Meanwhile in the stands, a pair of cute little service dogs met in the stands.  I wonder about the dogs’ two young attractive female owners.  Is being “hot” a disability? 

In the bottom, Logan Bottrell was thrown out on a close play at first to start the inning.  The crowd immediately got on the ump.  Nick Gonzales started a two-out rally with a walk.  Tristen Carranza drove him in with a triple.  Tristan Peterson then homered to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead after one.

I noticed a car driving around beyond the outfield fence.  Good thing Ron wasn’t there; he might have been run over while trying to collect balls.  I also saw Associate AD Herb Taylor out there and Kayla Green.  She was there collecting softballs from their practice session (perhaps because she was late).  A couple of fans behind me were discussing the infield turf.  They said the old turf got delivered to Mayfield High School for their field. 

According to PA Alexia, it was 59 degrees with heavy showers in Bakersfield.  It was a lot nicer here.  Emerson was all smiles for the Pocket contest.  She looks so pretty when she’s smiling (and so hot when she’s serious).  The handsome young man she works with later handed out a backpack to a little girl in the aisle.  Everybody watching went, “Awww.”    

The Aggies added to their lead in the second.  After three straight hits, a run (driven in by Joey Ortiz), and a walk, the Roadrunner starter was chased from the game.  Carranza singled in two more to make it 6-0.  Joey drove in another run in the third, 7-0.  Ron came in and I changed seats to the first base side to sit with him.  I was surprised to see him, since he said he’d be busy today.  I told him he could have met Kayla if he’d shown up earlier (and fought over recovering balls). 

In the fourth, Dehn finally got in trouble.  He gave up a leadoff walk.  The runner was advanced by a passed ball and driven in by a single.  There was also an error that advanced that batter.  Dehn shook it off and got three straight ground outs.  In the bottom, Peterson homered again and it was 8-1.  There was a walk and a hit batter after, but the inning ended with a double play.

Today’s baseball game wasn’t on the radio.  However, the Women’s Basketball game at the NCAA Tournament would be broadcast, so I had my radio with me.  I kept checking up, waiting for it to come on.  It started maybe 45-minutes late.  From here, I was listening to that game, while watching this game (and the softball game next).  It was a test of my concentration.  I’ll recap the basketball elsewhere, though I wasn’t able to write much about it.

Dehn hit the leadoff batter in the fifth, but otherwise cruised through the inning.  The Aggies though opened up a can of whoop ass in the bottom.  They batted around and destroyed my scorecard, while scoring eight runs with eight hits.  Logan Ehnes had a two-run double and Joey batted in another run.

Wow, I wish I’d written my basketball notes separate from my baseball notes.  I mixed them altogether and now have to untangle them.  Nick made a good jumping catch on a liner to start the sixth.  I couldn’t identify one of their pinch hitters.  He was wearing Vines’ number, but it wasn’t him.  (Note: it was Damian Henderson.)  Dehn let on a couple more runners, but kept the Roadrunners from scoring.  I saw a little girl in the crowd with a Mickey Mouse doll in a Braves uniform.  It was totally cool.  Where do those come from?

The Aggies did it again in the sixth.  Carranza and Peterson started off the frame with back-to-back homers.  The Aggies scored seven more runs total.  This time there were four walks, a hit batter, and a two-base error, along with four hits.  Peterson also had a two-run single.  Freshman Tristan Stacy pinch hit in the inning.  Another “Tristan” on the team?  Is this a recruiting strategy?  Evan Berkey, second base for the Roadrunners, did make a great back-turned basket catch in the inning.

Surprisingly, Dehn came out to start the seventh.  It was his game.  He hit the first batter in the inning again, but threw him out on a fielder’s choice and finished out the game.  At 23-1 Aggies, thank goodness this was a conference game and subject to the run rule.  It’s like last night’s 9-4 loss never happened.  My co-worker earlier asked how good the team was.  I’d told him about Friday’s game, but that I thought that the Aggies would have a good bounce back today. 

With a 7-inning complete game and only giving up 3 hits and 1 run, Justin Dehn is an easy gameball winner.  What a performance!  Joey Ortiz went 4 for 6 with 4 RBI’s, but was only the third best hitter of the day.  Tristen Carranza went 4 for 5 with 6 RBI’s and a home run, and that’s still not the best hitter today.  Tristan Peterson went 5 for 6 with 7 RBI’s and, get this, 3 home runs!  F-word!  This was all with the Aggies’ .500+ hitter, Nick Gonzales, not having a good day at bat.  I think I said before, this team will absolutely feast on anything less than good pitching.

Okay from here, me and Ron were off to the Aggie Softball double header next door.  I, at least, was still listening to the Women’s Basketball game as well.  It was a busy afternoon.