NM State Aggies vs Iona Gaels Baseball Feb 21 to 23-20

Since I only went to one game of this four-game series, I thought I’d combine the recaps.  Featured above is one of the two new schedule posters available.  Nick Gonzales is looking handsome there.  I learned a couple of things about the opposition.  Iona is in New York.  Their coach, Paul Panik, is the older brother of former Giant and World Series winner, Joe Panik.    

  

2-21-20

I’m kind glad I wasn’t there for the Friday game because of the in climate weather.  It was cold and overcast, but at least it wasn’t windy.  It may not have been too bad as long as the sun was out, but this late afternoon game didn’t finish that quick.  I started out listening to the game over the radio, but was able to watch on the WAC Digital Network when I got to work.  My friend Ron was actually there.  He didn’t think it was too bad.   

Gael Jake Liberatore led off the game with a first pitch home run.  Aggie starter Chance Hroch was known for avoiding giving up homers, so that was a bit of a shocker.  Nick Gonzales came back in the bottom of the first with an answering shot off a pitcher who hadn’t given up a homer all last year.  However, the Gaels added a two-run homer in the second to make it 3-1.    

Noah Haupt was back in the Aggie lineup.  I found out he’d been ejected last weekend for arguing balls and strikes.  Hroch had his best inning in the third with three strikeouts, but the Gaels increased their lead to 4-1 in the fourth.  In the fifth, Nick was robbed of a home run by the right fielder going over the wall to bring it back.  Hroch was out in the sixth and Mitchell Allen relieved him.  In the inning, a Gaels player was ejected for arguing balls and strikes.  No backtalk to the umps today either.

The ejected player’s replacement made an error in the bottom of the sixth that scored two for the Aggies, 4-3.  Allen allowed a run in the seventh to make it 5-3.  In the bottom, the Aggies loaded the bases.  Another Gael error scored two more runs.  A fielder’s choice and a hit scored two more to give the Aggies a 7-5 lead.  Alex Reyes worked the last two innings to nail it down for the 7-5 win.   

2-22-20 Game 1

Ron wasn’t able to go to this game, but I decided to go by myself.  The weather forecast for the weekend was poor, but Saturday morning it was only a bit chilly and overcast.  Since I had things (other sports) to do this evening, I decided I’d only stay for one game of this double header.  I made that stick by only taking along one set of scorecards.  (Have to have scorecard for every game I go to.  If I don’t, there will be a triple-play, a no-hitter, and/or Nick will hit four home runs, which will all cause me to be miserable because I didn’t record it.)

Emerson was a pleasant sight right at the front gate, but I didn’t see much of her later.  They only had a couple of promotions during the game.  Perhaps they were saving some for Game 2.  I made a mistake after entering by going to the Concessions.  They’ve taken their best item, Corn-in-the-cup, off the menu.  (And it was only ever good about half the time.)  The hot dog was only barely warm and the bun was stale and soggy.  The Lays chips were even a bit subpar.  Pepsi was the only soda choice.  At least it was cold.     

There was only Country music playing over the PA during warm-ups for a change.  Iona was wearing bright yellow jerseys with maroon trim.  Pretty nice.  They brought plenty of fans with them.  They were happy to be here, since it was still nicer here than where they’re from.  The rest of the crowd turned out to be pretty good too, but were kind of quiet.  The dugouts were fairly chatty to make up for it.

Three former Aggie athletes, who were being inducted into the Aggie Hall of Fame at tonight’s Men’s Basketball game, threw out the first pitches.  One of them brought a little boy with bright rusty red hair, hard to miss.  The former footballer threw from the rubber.  The Women’s Basketball player threw from the foot of the mound.  The former Men’s Basketball player threw from the rubber, but not without shaking off the catcher twice.  He nearly missed him, but the guy was still looking good in a great suit.  They all seemed to enjoy the experience.

      

This game became very tense late as my mechanical pencil ran out of lead.  I was forced to continue the scorecards in pen.  I could only hope nothing weird happened.  I ended up making a couple of judgment calls, since there wasn’t a radio call to bail me out.  New for this lineup, Tristan Peterson was in to catch, Zach Smits took his place at first, and freshman Mark McNelly was in at DH.

Aggie starter Lyle Hibbitts gave up a single in the first, but it was erased on a double play.  Iona star, Jake Liberatore, had to duck under one pitch over his head.  Hibbitts was pitching inside to guys.  Iona pitcher Mario Ferraioli came on in the bottom with the PA playing Welcome to the Jungle.  Nick Gonzales hit a deep fly to right, but it was flagged down.  The white sky must have made high flies difficult.  I had trouble tracking them.  Peterson banged an encouraging ringing double, but was left stranded.

An adorable baby in a green frog onesie came in with his dad carrying him like a doll for the second inning.  Hibbitts had two strikeouts in the inning.  One batter fired a foul into his own dugout.  A couple of guys collapsed.  It looked bad, but apparently didn’t hit anyone as the Iona players were laughing.  “I’m not moving!” one of them shouted. 

In the bottom, Kevin Jimenez doubled to start.  Left fielder Brian Picone then robbed Smits of a home run.  These Gael outfielders are pretty good.  McNelly sacrificed KJ in.  Daniel Head singled and was driven in by Zerek Saenz.  Nick struck out looking to end the inning with two on.  He was smiling while he said a few words to the ump.  The pitch looked outside to me too.  2-0 Aggies.

Peterson and Smits were tested in the third on a dropped third strike call.  TP made a wide throw and Smits had to stretch out for it.  The Aggie dugout loved it.  Between innings, I asked an Iona fan photographing the team about their coach.  She confirmed what I’d heard about him.  I told her I was a Giants fan and appreciated Joe Panik’s play in the World Series a few years ago.  She said they’d gone out there to see him play a couple of times. 

In the bottom, Ferraioli made a good play on a bunt by Austin Duffy.  KJ singled and advanced to third on a successful pickoff throw that the first baseman then overthrew.  Smits came up and a fan called him, “Big perm.”  (I haven’t seen him without his hat.  I wouldn’t know.)  The ump lost track of the count and rung him up on the second strike.  “Perm” went ahead and struck out on the next pitch anyway.         

It got a bit colder as more clouds moved in.  I kept watching the sky to see if any rain was coming.  Hibbitts got the first two outs, then hit the next batter.  Hib then picked him off to end the fourth inning.  McNelly singled in the bottom.  Danel drove Picone to the wall with a drive, but it was hauled in.  The game was clipping along at a quick pace, but that was about to change. 

In spite of letting on a couple of runners, Hib had only faced the minimum through four innings.  In the fifth, things started going south.  A double, a walk, and a single loaded the bases without an out.  After a mound visit, Hib walked in a run and gave up a two-run single.  Aldo Fernandez came in with two on and still nobody out.  He started a double play and got a strikeout.  3-2 Gaels.  In the bottom, a bad throw by the shortstop got Duffy to second.  KJ grounded to second next and the ball was muffed.  Unfortunately, Duffy tried to score on it and was easily thrown out.  He jumped into the catcher trying to avoid the tag.

I saw a co-worker at the game and said, “Hi.”  I’d seen him on Opening Day.  Somehow, we haven’t seen each other in stands, only in passing.  Aldo had a bad sixth.  He got two outs, but loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter.  Two singles drove in three more runs, but Aldo finished it out.  6-2 Gaels. 

Ferraioli had pitched a good game, but he was bounced after giving up a single and run-scoring double to Head.  The next Gael pitcher failed to record an out, as three more runs scored thusly.  Saenz got on via a tough chance on a grounder at second.  Tristan Stacy had an RBI single.  With two on, a hush came over the crowd as Nick came to the plate, but he worked a walk and came home on a wild pitch later.  TP got a bases loaded walk, before another pitcher had to come in.  He gave up a mile-high sac fly to Duffy for the fifth run of the inning.  Suddenly, the Aggies were up 7-5.

The sun came back out and it warmed up, but I’m sure that was just a coincidence.  Frank Dickson Jr. took the mound for the Aggies in the seventh.  He worked a quick inning with Nick contributing two slick plays at short.  Noah Haupt pinch hit to start the seventh.  He got on with an error and advanced to second on a passed ball.  However, he was cut down going to third on a good play by short on a fielder’s choice.  McNelly drove another ball into the Gael dugout before striking out.  Cal Villareal, pinch hitting on the FC, made it to second on a wild pitch.  He was scored on another single by Stacy.  Nick got his first hit of the day on an infield single, which loaded the bases.  Unfortunately, TP struck out.  8-6 Aggies.

Nick started the eighth with a highlight reel play.  He knocked down a ball to his right deep in the hole and still threw out the runner.  A Gael batter nearly took out the hole batter in the dugout before getting on from being hit.  That dugout has easily been the most dangerous place in the ballpark today.  Jason Bush pinch hit in the bottom.  He walked, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a McNelly single to make it 9-6.  Bush stayed in to catch and made a good play on a foul popup in the ninth.  Dickson closed it out with no drama.  9-6 Aggies was the final.

Gameballs.  The bottom of the order for both teams did most of the damage.  Derek Becker and pinch hitter Jim Pasquale both drove in three runs for the Gaels.  Mark McNelly went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s, and Tristan Stacy went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.  Credit to Nick Gonzales, even if his bat was a bit quiet, he did it with his glove in this game.  Starting pitching was good for both teams up to a point.  Neither starter figured into the decision.  Frank Dickson’s three scoreless and hitless innings locked down the win.

It was another entertaining game and another comeback win for the Aggies.  I don’t know if they can count on other teams making errors and having poor relievers though.  (With three errors, it was surprising the Gaels didn’t lose worse.)  It was swell, but not enough Emerson today to make it great.  

Game 2

After getting a satisfying amount of baseball today, I went straight home afterward.  The game had finished in just under three hours, but I didn’t want to go for dinner at 3:00pm.  (Though I considered going for ice cream.)  It was mentioned during Aggie Men’s Basketball later in the evening that the Aggies had won Game 2, but I didn’t get a score until later, 8-1.

I felt a bit better about not staying for Game 2 when I heard it raining outside my window a couple of hours after I got home.  It was only light sprinkles, but it had gotten cold outside with the sun down.  During the basketball game, Nick Gonzales was honored out on court.  He was in a sports coat that looked borrowed.  I suspect in a few months Nick’s wardrobe will get an upgrade.

2-23-20

I admit, even without Ron and mine’s plans to go to hockey in El Paso on Sunday, I’m not sure I would have gone to this game.  The high cold winds would have made viewing conditions miserable.  While the game featured some impressive hitting and pitching by the Aggies against Iona, it was a blow out.  It wouldn’t have been entertaining to sit through while shivering.

Once again, the game started an hour after its scheduled start time.  Is the schedule wrong on all of these Sunday games?  I tuned in on the radio before leaving and we listened to most of the game on the way to El Paso.  The hit parade started early with, of course, Nick Gonzales, who hit a first inning two-run homer.  Jason Bush, with his .500 average, was moved into the clean-up position and delivered an RBI in the third.  Zach Smits also drove in a run to make it 5-0 Aggies. 

I haven’t seen newcomer Tommy Tabak play, but he was impressive in the fourth.  He hustled a double out of a single, stole third, and took home on an error.  Bush came up and hit a three-run homer.  The ump then warned the Iona dugout.  Whatever they were saying after that home run to the Aggies apparently crossed the line.  I didn’t mention it before, but heard somebody yesterday from that dugout saying something derogatory about Las Cruces.  I don’t even understand that kind of criticism.

Chris Jefferson worked six scoreless innings today and has worked 11 scoreless this season.  In the sixth, Tristan Peterson hit his first home run of the season, in addition to getting hit a couple more times.  In the seventh, Nick hit a three-run homer to make it 15-0.  At this point, we lost radio reception travelling.  Looking it up later, the Aggies unsurprisingly won 18-4.  Nick Gonzales put up video game-like numbers today going 5 for 6 with 7 RBI’s.  It was another series sweep for the Aggies this weekend.