NM State Aggies vs CBU Lancers Baseball 5-17-19

I didn’t think things could get better after meeting Chico yesterday, but here I was on Friday petting the Aggie celebrity tee-retrieving dog, Striking the Wonder Dog.  It was his birthday, so they were celebrating it at the park.  What a great idea!  They were handing out dog treats and buttons up front for the occasion.  Ron, who was with me, got the treats for his dogs and I got the button.    

It was sunny and warm today, but breezy.  It was blowing out, so the fans were okay, but pitchers were going to be in some discomfort.  Shockingly for a Friday afternoon game, a great crowd showed up.  I was afraid CBU fans were going to outnumber Aggies fans, but there more people here than last night.  There was a whole section filled with kids wearing t-shirts with “Bell (hearts) NM State.”  That guy that comes around various Aggie games wearing black leather, no matter the temperature, was in a gray suit today.  It was a full suit with a vest even.  He was also wearing jackboots like he was going riding later.  There was another guy who was wearing a tattered airline captain’s shirt.  It felt like these guys came out of central casting.  

There was a three-way tie for first after yesterday’s games, so it was all still on the line today.  Not to say it was all serious.  Coach Green and the CBU Coach Gary Adcock were chatting on field during the Aggies’ infield practice.  Some of the Lancers players were ogling intern Emerson working in the Aggie dugout.  I’ve done the same, so no blame there.  On the other hand, a couple of other pretty girls were with her, along with Striking, so they might have looking at them too. 

One of the cute girls was a reporter.  She set up a camera to record Striking delivering the first pitch, which he did, like a boss, a dog boss.  She set up in the stands later and took some shots.  The reporter tried doing a read in front of the camera a couple of times, but was interrupted by the crowd cheering (during a CBU home run, ironically) and Aggie player walkup music.  She held up a ball during her monologue, which Ron said was in Spanish.  That was the first pitch ball.  She took it with her when she left.       

Bang!  After Justin Dehn had hit the first CBU batter of the game, Ryan Mota came up third as a powerful gust of wind kicked up.  Mota’s swing and the wind blew the ball clear out over dead center.  2-0 CBU just like that.  Logan Bottrell didn’t even move out in centerfield as the ball went over his head.  The wind was blowing out for the Aggies too.  After Joey Ortiz doubled and Tristen Carranza was hit by a pitch, Tristan Peterson slapped one over the batter’s eye.  That was a monster shot by distance, but it didn’t look like he’d hit it that hard.  It just kept carrying in the wind.  3-2 Aggies.

Dehn started the second inning with a strikeout.  Coach Adcock came out on field and consulted with the home plate ump.  In turn, the ump called the other two umps over and they went to the mound and asked to see Dehn’s hat.  They checked the brim, presumably for a foreign substance.  Finding none, the game was resumed . . . with the crowd yelling and the Aggie dugout howling louder than I have ever heard them before.  Adam Young, with the radio call, said he’d never heard of that kind of inspection in a college game.  I’m thinking Coach Green just mentally marked Coach Adcock off his Christmas card list.

I was sitting next to some vocal CBU fans.  I think they were trying to out-cheer Tom, who was in the next section.  Dehn gave up a single to start the third.  The wind gusted again when Mota came up to the bat, but he was walked this time.  John Glenn doubled in a run to tie the score.  In the break, a little bitty kid and his mom came out for the window toss contest.  The kid didn’t like all the attention and started crying and holding on to his mom.  Poor little guy. 

In the bottom of the third, people were still coming in.  It was free admission for faculty and staff today.  A group of about ten came in and sat down around me and Ron.  Ron got up and left to chase fouls.  I wanted to leave too as I was wedged in, but I had to wait.  Since I was keeping a scorecard, I was too busy to get up.  The Aggies had a good inning.  They loaded the bases twice before making an out.  There was an error as a bad throw spoiled a force out.  The bases were loaded again with two outs.  By the time the dust cleared, the Aggies had scored 9 runs and were leading 12-3.

Dehn got a hand in ending the fourth inning, as he redirected a grounder.  Joey stayed with it and tossed it to Nick Gonzales at second, who turned it to Peterson at first.  It was the old 1-6-4-3 double play.  Some Softball players came in this inning.  Nice of them to keep supporting the baseball guys.  The Aggies didn’t score in the bottom, but Eric Mingus did hit the outfield wall on a double.

Dehn worked a quick fifth.  The Aggies had another big inning in the bottom.  They scored four, three off of another three-run homer by TP, who wiped up the bases.  16-3 Aggies.  The school kids had to leave, but I think they’d seen plenty.  Dehn worked into trouble in the sixth.  He’d loaded the bases and gave up a run before giving way to Chris Barraza.  CB walked his first batter to force in a run.  Mingus ended the inning with a great double play.  He caught a grounder, tagged a passing runner, and managed to throw out the runner at first.  16-6 Aggies.

It was a dog day at the park.  I think pretty much every gameday is at this point.  Two adorable wiener dogs came in in the bottom of the sixth that caught my eye.  After a walk and two hit batters in the bottom of the sixth, who came up next?  There’s Peterson again, banging in two more runs with a single.  Barraza closed it out in the seventh for a run ruled 18-6 Aggie victory!

This was a great bounce back game for the Aggies after yesterday’s tough loss.  Tristan Peterson had a monster day.  He went 4 for 5 with 8 RBI’s (!) and two three-run home runs.  Tristen Carranza also had a good day with 4 RBI’s.  I think your stat of the day is 7.  That’s the number of pitchers that the Lancers went through in six innings.  The game only went about two hours and forty-five minutes, but it felt a bit longer. 

It was still bright and sunny when Ron and I left.  I made a suggestion to go to Zeffiro’s Pizza Napoletana downtown.  We’d been to the Zeffiro’s New York on University several times, but the other one has a different pizza menu, since it’s a more upscale restaurant.  I’d already picked out the Prosciutto pie online.  We found out that there was some kind of beer festival going on downtown, but were able to get around it to get to the restaurant.     

In short, the pizza was awesome.  The crust and toppings were perfect.  The service was great too.  The price was actually good too.  One large pizza, a salad (for Ron), and a lemonade cost less than two small burgers, one small order of fries, and two milkshakes at Five Guys.  Ron thanked me for suggesting the meal afterward.  While Ron and I were having ice cream at Wienerschnitzel afterward, we both had the similar sensation of being confused as to what day it was.  It was a bit odd being out on a sunny Friday early evening having just watched a ballgame.