NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball 3-20-21 Game 1

So I’m back writing about live sports again at least for the moment.  I can only hope this is the beginning of a return to normal fandom for sports, but I’m not really hopeful.  My last live event was just over a year ago (3-1-20).  It was a swell game.  I feel like I was a bit blasé last year about going to games and didn’t make a concentrated effort like I had in past years. 

 

I maybe needed a break from sports writing, or at least the grind and schedule of having to pump out reports.  Was it really all that important anyway?  Sports, in general since last year, have proven to be a pretty much complete betrayal to my sensibilities.  With that perspective, I had some trepidation about returning to the ballpark.  I love the games, but not the people running sports.  I never really did, but now I know it’s totally mutual; they hate the fans right back.  As for the players, the professionals are no different.  The college athletes are likely mostly indifferent.  I like some the players and have crushes on some of the girls, but I know it’s probably only because I don’t actually know them, just what I’ve seen of them playing or from some limited interaction. 

 

Whoa!  Sorry.  This is supposed to be a sports report.  Let’s put on a happy face and talk about actual sports for most of the rest of this and not existential angst.  Aggie Baseball has had a rough start to their 2021 season on field.  Because they weren’t allowed to play in New Mexico, they’ve gotten to experience what their northeastern pre-conference opponents have experiencing for years; going on the road and playing against good teams and getting beat.  Yeah, there’s been no building up any gaudy player stats and team records this season.

 

During an Aggie Men’s Basketball game at the WAC tournament this month, Athletic Director Mario Moccia announced that Aggie Baseball was finally able to play at home that Friday to start their conference schedule.  With that, New Mexico State would be the last NCAA Division I school to finally get a home game since last year (outside of the Ivy League, which I guess isn’t playing at all right now).  (The New Mexico Lobos had played a home softball game earlier in the week.)  I’m biting down a lot of comments about our state government and government in general.  Men’s and Women’s Basketball never got a home game this season.  In Las Vegas at the tournament, the Men actually saluted the Aggie fans there after their first game.  (Boy, did the guys have a rough season, but still made it to the conference finals.) 

 

Just to make an indulgent digression here, Volleyball finally got to play in the Pan-Am Center for their last two home games, but no fans were allowed.  Given their Monday/Tuesday schedule, I might have been able to have seen the Tuesday games, if they played them at noon.  I’ve been able to see a few of their games on the WAC Digital Network.  So far, near the end of this season, they’ve only lost one match.  Unfortunately, I saw that one.  They were up two sets on Utah Valley, but couldn’t finish them off.  Other than their only pre-conference match against Arizona, that was probably the only other time they’ve been really tested this season.  Other than that, it’s been all positives.  Savannah Davison was been WAC Player of the Week two weeks in a row.  I watched newcomer Victoria Barrett basically finish off a match with an unbelievable five aces on serve in a row.  Then there’s transfer Shaney Lipscomb.  She set a three-set school record by going 14-for-14 in swings for a match.  That’s 14 kills on 14 swings!  Impossible!  The team as a whole hit over .500 that day.  Coach Jordan was literally speechless afterward when interviewed.  He had nothing to criticize.  The Aggies though have already lost the WAC tournament in terms of location.  It’s been moved from Las Cruces to Utah Valley.              

 

Back to baseball, the Aggies were so happy to be back home for their first game that they took it out on Dixie State, 17-3.  I got to watch a little of that.  A Dixie outfielder went over the wall to bring back a home run to end an Aggie 12-run inning.  The Aggie fans in attendance actually cheered for him.  The weather over the weekend for the rest of the series was a windy nightmare in cold, gusty conditions.  My friend Ron was so desperate for live sports; he sat out in it for more three games.  He got to see the Aggies win 14-3 and 19-2 and then lose 19-13.  That inexplicable final score was apparently not even that close.  (The WAC is playing four-game series this season so that the teams can get in some more games.)  In spite of the conditions, I’m not sure I’d ever heard Ron so happy after seeing the games.  I did not regret not going.  Ron also went to a mid-week game against Benedictine Mesa, which the Aggies won 7-3.  On Friday, the Aggies started their series with the Northern Colorado Bears with a 13-7 win.  The Aggies had to battle from behind twice to win the game.  The Bears’ starter was ejected for taunting and spitting at the Aggie dugout. 

 

That brings us up to Saturday.  The weather was forecast to be beautiful and it was sunny with a light breeze.  Capacity at the ballpark was limited to 25% masked and distanced.  There were no concessions, so you could bring your own drinks and food.  (I really wanted some popcorn.)  Tickets only went on sale an hour before the game at the ticket office.  Ron was sure that Friday’s game had sold out.  Since he wasn’t going to be able to get there when the office opened, he told me to get there a half-hour before tickets went on sale.  I’m so glad I showed up an hour-and-a-half early for the game.  I just got in line behind 248 other people and barely got the last two tickets.  Or, there was no one there in line and I had no problem getting tickets.  You can guess for yourself which one happened.  Ron came by shortly thereafter and at least the time passed quickly.

 

I did run into the Assistant Athletic Director, Herb Taylor and we said, “Hi.”  Ron chatted up a pretty ticket taker he’d befriended in the foul weather last weekend.  Inside, one of the regulars at the ballpark recognized me, even in the mask, and wondered where I’d been.  It’s nice to be missed.  I’d worn my Aggie Volleyball shirt to the game on the off chance somebody from the volleyball team would be there so I could congratulate them on their season, but I didn’t see anyone at the time.  At our seats, I could hear the scouts in attendance betting on the over/under on today’s scores.  On field, I was startled by what looked like a 7ft tall ump.  Dominic Toledo would be calling the balls and strikes.  He called a high, but consistent strike zone.  There wasn’t much argument, though I’m not sure the players he towered over were not inclined to argue with him anyway.  Today’s double header was scheduled as a 7-inning game followed by a 9-inning game.       

Game 1

I was glad I had no trouble remembering how to keep a scorecard.  I did so badly and things didn’t add up, so everything was back to normal.  (Then there was weirdness in Game 2 that had me scratching my head, even with Adam Young on the radio call helping.)  The first two innings were simple enough as the Aggies and Bears mirrored each other’s performances.  I was a bit confused as the Bears’ pitcher, Sam Leach, batted for himself.  New Stanford transfer, Brandon Dieter, helped turn a double play in the second.  He was a big time recruit and has the big time shoes to fill taking Nick Gonzales’ place at short.  The highlights of these innings were a t-shirt toss by a new pretty intern and a guy carrying in an adorable little pug dog.  I also learned wearing a mask out in the sun makes your face sweat.

 I needed Adam on the radio to score the final out of the top of third.  Aggie pitcher Chris Jefferson made a rushed throw on a comebacker and Mark McNelly dropped it at first.  The runner was still called out for interfering with the catch.  That wasn’t immediately obvious watching from the stands.  In the bottom of the third, Tristan Stacy started a rally with a double and was driven in by Zerek Saenz to make it 1-0 Aggies.  The last out of the inning gets a star for the Bears’ pitcher.  A comebacker from Kevin Jimenez knocked Leach’s glove off.  The two-way player still managed to pick up the ball and throw out KJ.

 

In the fourth, Ethan Mann got on via an error and was moved over by a balk.  Austin Duffy moved him to third with a perfect bunt that turned into a hit.  Catcher Jason Bush sacrificed Mann in to make to 2-0 Aggies.  Friday night, Bush took a heck of a beating behind the plate.  I guess it was better he started the earlier game though, since it was scheduled for just seven innings.  In the fifth, Saenz and Dieter hit their way on and were sacrificed in by KJ and Mann to make it 4-0 Aggies.  Nice small ball there.  The only fan contest for the game was a quick “What’s in your pocket?”  There was a little girl in a yellow sundress wearing a surgical boot and using a scooter at the game.  Like a bit of a daredevil, she’d make high-speed passes in front of the stands going back and forth.  Another fan had a very cool Albuquerque Dukes hat on.    

 

Ron had wandered off and came back with a foul ball.  He said he’d gotten three and given two away to kids.  The PA was asking for balls before the game, but Ron is ignoring their pleas.  Ron also had a story about a pidgin Friday night.  The bird kept dodging foul balls trying to watch the game.  Bush led off the sixth with about a 10-pitch battle and won it with a double.  The Aggie dugout went nuts over the effort.  McNelly drove him in and, after a Saenz double, KJ brought in McNelly with another sacrifice.  6-0 Aggies.  At 106 pitches, Leach finally came out, one out short of finishing the game.  He was still batting in the seventh though when the game finished with the Aggies winning 6-0.  I finished my scorecard with a mis-add on the hits and an unknown error.  Annoying.

 

I can tell why there wasn’t much to talk about for this game; Chris Jefferson threw a complete game shutout.  He finished the seven innings in under 90 pitches and only gave up 3 hits with no walks and 8 strikeouts.  Needless to say, it was a great performance.  He also had a little silver insignias on his shoes that glittered in the sunlight.  I’ll toss a couple other gameballs to Zerek Saenz for going 3 for 4 with a run an RBI, and to Kevin Jimenez for driving in two runs with sacrifice flies.  That’s unselfish fundamentals right there.  The game clocked in under two hours.  That worked out well for the front end of a double header.       

 

There was only a 30-minute break between games.  (The players didn’t even change uniforms.)  That was a good thing if you were waiting around, but lousy if you were going to Chik-fil-a to finally use a Christmas gift card for dinner.  As Ron and I rushed out of the stadium, Ron gave his other foul ball to a little boy wearing a Bears t-shirt and made his day.  I was momentarily mesmerized by beautiful Megan Hart from the Volleyball team standing by the gates.  Here I’d worn my Volleyball t-shirt just for this possibility.  However, she was chatting with about six friends there and I wasn’t going to intrude, not when I was in a hurry for food. 

Game 2