Sports Journal April 26-30, 2019

4-26-19

Aggie Softball started their last scheduled home series tonight against UMKC.  For some reason, the Aggies were wearing their road grays again.  They do look good though.  I was able to watch over the Internet via the WAC Digital Network.  Adam Young and Brian Cox were on the call.  Basically, I got to watch the first couple of innings and the end.

In the first, Nikki Butler drove in a run with a single.  Mya Felder then hit a ball hard enough that I could hear it going out before I saw it for a two-run homer.  The Aggies went up 3-0.  In the second, Jeanelle Medina doubled in the bottom of the order, who were on base, to make it 5-0.  Shelby Shultes, playing DP, actually stole a base before being driven in.  I didn’t know she was a threat.

I picked the game back up in the sixth.  Samaria Diaz, pitching for the Aggies, had a no-hitter going.  Adam did not mention it, like a good broadcaster, but did hint at it.  The third batter of inning got an infield hit.  Jeanelle dove for it and stopped it, but had no play.  She gave Sam a sheepish grin afterward.  It didn’t faze Samaria at all and she was all smiles too.  

In the bottom of the sixth, Casie Roberto homered to make it 6-0.  Kelsey Horton singled in Brandy Hernandez to make it 7-0.  The Roos are the best running team in the WAC.  In the seventh, one of their few baserunners attempted to steal for some reason.  Nikki threw her out.  That was her second put out of a runner for the game.  Jeanelle was smiling again after making the tag.  Samaria Diaz got the 7-0 shutout, only allowing one hit, with 11 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, Aggie Baseball was playing Sac State in Sacramento, also on the WAC Network.  They’re playing for first place in conference, so it was an important game.  I got pissed listening to the Sac State call.  They have food trucks at their games.  They’re having a music festival before their game tomorrow.  They have people tailgating the parking garage beyond the outfield wall.  They have better sponsorship in their commercials.  Their players were using 80’s music for their walkup songs.

The best I can say for the Aggies is that they either brought a bunch of fans, or the team was making a whole lot of noise from the dugout.  At times, it sounded like an Aggie home game, if not better than.  Their announcer was impressed with the Aggies’ offense, but reminded the viewers that Sac State had national-level good pitching.  They’re undefeated when scoring six runs and 22-5 scoring at least three runs.

Here’s your summary from the first half of the game that I mostly missed.  In the second, an error with two outs brought in a run for the Aggies.  That was all Scott Randall, the Sac State starter, gave up in his six innings.  In the eighth, with runners on corners, one via an error, Joey Ortiz sac’d in a run after a massive battle at the plate.  2-0 Aggies.

Brock Whittlesey worked a masterful game for the Aggies.  He went seven and 2/3.  He only gave up two hits.  Whitt was taken out after giving up his second hit in the eighth.  Aldo Fernandez came in.  He gave up a hit, but got a strikeout to end the inning.  In the ninth, the first two Aggies reached on hits.  For some reason, Coach Green had power hitter, Tristan Peterson, bunting, which just resulted in an out.  Kevin Jimenez came up next and singled in a run to make it 3-0.  A new pitcher came in with the bases loaded and one out.  Bruno Teramoto pinch hit, but struckout.  A foul out ended the inning.

They were going to regret not adding on.  Keaton Graf came in for the bottom of the ninth.  He gave up three hits and a run scored with one out.  The bases were loaded with a walk.  A shallow popup to the outfield got the second out.   Unfortunately, down to their last strike, the Hornets walked it off with a bases clearing double.  Sac State won 4-3, as their team stormed the field.  Here’s your stat of the game: the Aggies left 15 runners on base.

4-27-19

I was at Aggie Softball during this game, but read about it afterward.  Aggie Baseball had a great 12-4 bounce back win over Sac St.  Justin Dehn got the win going five innings, only allowing three runs.  The relief corps went the other four and only gave up one run.  That’s a great turnaround.  Offensively, Eric Mingus had a huge day with six RBI’s and a three-run homer.  Kevin Jimenez went 3 for 5, and Brendan Williams, as a pinch hitter, had one hit and an RBI.

4-28-19

I didn’t go anywhere this Sunday, but, boy, was I busy with sports anyway.  First up was some NASCAR at Talladega.  In all honesty, I think I’m enjoying watching Shannon Spake in the pre and postrace segments more than anything else this season.  The first wreck may have happened during the first commercial break of the coverage.  I had flipped over to something else, and when I got back, they were interviewing drivers at the care center.

 

I did see the end of the race.  There was a big wreck with about six to go.  There were two single-car incidents that happened afterward, but no caution was thrown, as they didn’t interfere with the racing.  However, a third multi-car wreck on the last lap froze the field and gave Chase Elliot the win.  One of the ladies at work, who is part of a NASCAR picker, had chosen him for the win, so she was quite pleased with the result.  (I stopped participating in the picker when money and voluminous rules came into play.)

That “something else” on another station was College Softball on Stadium.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen them show a softball game, though I’m not surprised they would.  After being burned so many times last year over phantom scheduling of College Baseball, I was surprised this actually came on, though.  This was a Mountain West matchup between Nevada and Boise State in sunny, but very chilly Boise.  They have a nice grassy knoll beyond the outfield.  The dugouts and pressbox looked great.  However, their stadium with un-shaded metal bleachers isn’t any better than our facility here in Las Cruces for the fans. 

The Wolfpack went up 8-0 after three innings and I nearly abandoned the game.  But, the Broncos came back and tied it at 10 in the sixth.  I couldn’t tune away from the comeback.  The game went to extras.  The Broncos unfortunately gave up a two-run homer in the ninth and lost 12-11.  I noticed the coverage was using the term “DH” instead of “DP” in the game.   

I checked in on the Chihuahuas on the radio at some point early in their game in Las Vegas against the Aviators.  What I heard was an excited Tim Hagerty.  Luis Urias had hit three home runs in four innings.  I kept listening at that point, as Tim was hoping to call a four-home run game.  Urias wasn’t able to do it, but the pups won 10-6 and swept the series.  I got the impression several balls went into the outfield pool.  That area is definitely collecting balls from what I’ve heard.

After the softball was over, I finally checked in on Aggie Baseball at Sacramento State over the Internet.  (I was trying not to watch TV, video on the computer, and listen to the radio at the same time like someone who has some kind of sports-related mental disorder might try to do.)  I came in in the eighth with the Aggies up 3-2, but with two Hornets on and nobody out.  Aldo Fernandez came into the game.  He got a strikeout and started a DP to keep the score the same.  Aldo came back out for the ninth to close it out. 

The Aggies won 3-2, in spite of three errors.  The Sac State announcer questioned that the Aggies hadn’t beaten anyone out-of-conference, but had to acknowledge that they haven’t lost a series in WAC conference play.  Chance Hroch got the win, going six innings, and only giving up one unearned run.  Nick Gonzales and Tristan Peterson both homered in the game.  And if you need your car washed in Sacramento, go visit the “Quick-Quack Carwash.”  (I’m still jealous of their teams’ sponsors.) 

I tried listening to the Cubs versus the Diamondbacks later on MLB.TV.  The game video was blacked out (since the D-Backs are on local cable), but the radio audio was available.  Unfortunately, my connection kept dropping.  I would have given up, but the game went into extra innings and I wanted see who’d win.  It was also nice to hear Greg Schulte again.  We used to get AZ games over El Paso radio. 

Big cheers went up for both teams on every good play.  There are a bunch of Cubs fans in the Phoenix.  In the twelfth, the Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out and Anthony Rizzo up.  Connection drop.  Got it back.  And the Cubs did not score somehow.  In the thirteenth, the Cubs tried to steal home with two outs.  Unfortunately, I heard that ill-thought out strategy play out.  The D-Backs got close to ending it in the bottom.  And then something came on TV and I gave up because of all of the drops.  (The Cubs won 6-5 in the 15 innings.  Five total runs were scored in the last inning.)    

The ESPN game came on the radio after the Chihuahuas’ game.  The Indians and Astros were playing, but I really wasn’t paying attention.  Flipping around the TV later, I found the Monterrey Sultans playing on a Mexican station.  Those guys have a nice crib there.  I decided to watch Les Mis on Masterpiece Theater instead.  (That was a mistake, I admit.  Where’s all the frickin’ singing and dancing, damnit!)  

4-30-19

This was a big day for Aggie Softball and Baseball.  Both teams were matching up against Power-Five Schools.  (I still don’t really know what that means other than they’re playing against much better programs.)  My viewing of said events was an exercise in frustration.  The softball started first.  There was video, but no sound.  There was also no live scoring, other than the camera sometimes focusing in on the scoreboard between innings.  For Game 2, there were live stats, but the video dropped shortly after the game started.  For baseball, there was video, but I couldn’t get the sound to come up to more than a whisper.  There was our local radio call, but there was about a 30-second delay with the video.  Live stats also dropped off early in the game. 

Aggie Softball was playing #17 Texas Tech here in Las Cruces.  This was a makeup series added to the schedule late.  I didn’t have live scoring, but Ron and my co-worker, Chuck, were there and I did get some updates.  Surprisingly for such a good matchup, this wasn’t a well-attended game.  If this had been on the schedule originally, I’m going to say a lot of local softball teams would have shown up.  I’m not even sure if Texas Tech fans came, like they did for that weekday afternoon baseball game a couple of years ago (4-4-17).

 

Analise de la Roca started Game 1.  She was doing pretty well through four innings.  The Aggies even had a 4-3 lead thanks to a Shelby Shultes’ home run.  The fifth inning was a six-run disaster.  I think saw Coach Rodolph make two trips to the circle trying to nurse Analise through the inning, before finally putting Chloe Rivas in.  Chloe gave up an inherited run, but worked two and 1/3 innings without giving up a run of her own.  Victoria Castro did homer in the bottom of the inning, but that was the last of the Aggie scoring.  9-4 Texas Tech was the Game 1 final.  The Red Raiders even had two errors in the game.

For Game 2, the Aggie bats got into it.  Samaria Diaz pitched a complete game, 8-2 Aggie win.  Kayla Bowen homered and singled in a run.  Mya Felder also homered, so the two freshmen did well.  Shelby doubled in a run, Tori tripled in a run, and Kennedi Sorensen, off the bench, drove in two runs pinch hitting.  This game feels like a good sign for the team at the WAC Tournament next week.

Meanwhile in baseball, the Aggies were playing the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson.  By the fourth inning, two hours into the game, Adam Young, on the radio call, was horrified by how long game was going.  This was turning into a repeat of these teams’ last meeting (3-19-19).  It ended up being four-and-a-half hours. 

Just a couple of observations before starting the recap.  The outfield looks absolutely massive at Hi Corbett Field with towering walls.  When Noah Haupt hit a triple off the centerfield wall in the sixth, it looked like it was about a mile away.  There was a great crowd there, including a couple hundred Aggie fans.  Unfortunately, there was also one really obnoxious fan yelling out during most of the game.  I think it was mostly during three-ball counts.  I don’t know about the players, but it completely got on my nerves.

The Aggies started off well by scoring three runs in the first and knocking out the Wildcats’ starter.  AZ came back in the bottom with a five runs and likewise taking out starter Chris Barraza.  Arizona had another big four-run inning in the seventh, but the Aggies kept adding runs through each of the first seven innings. 

Offensively, the big blow was Tristen Carranza’s three-run homer in the fifth.  Joey Ortiz was on base and AZ elected to intentionally walk Nick Gonzales to face “Trizzy.”  (I don’t know why Adam keeps calling him that.  That’s probably what his girlfriend calls him and only her.)  TC had four total RBI’s on the day.  Logan Ehnes, Eric Mingus, Kevin Jimenez, Noah Haupt, and Nick all had two RBI’s.  Joey went 4 for 5 hitting.  I hope all the scouts in attendance for the game were impressed with these guys.      

Defensively, Chris Jefferson’s two-inning appearance, starting the fifth, held the Wildcats scoreless for two frames.  Brock Whittlesey coming in in the seventh, on his bullpen day, probably saved the game.  AZ had cut the Aggies’ eight-run lead in half and were threatening more when Whitt put out the fire with a double play.  Keaton Graf worked the last two innings for the save.  He gave up a two-run homer, but not the lead.