NM State Aggie Baseball at NCAA Tournament 2022

This season’s Aggie Baseball team always had talent, but some hits to their lineup this season have hobbled them.  Their dramatic comeback from near postseason elimination two weeks ago (down six runs in the top of the ninth) galvanized the team.  Losing shortstop Brandon Dieter for the WAC Tournament and a couple of other players may have further motivated them.  They didn’t just win the WAC Championship, they dominated it.  Whatever the reasons, the Aggies were going into the NCAA Tournament regional hot.

6-3-22 vs. #3 Oregon State Beavers

The Aggies first game matchup was with the #3 in the nation, Oregon State Beavers.  It was an historical mismatch.  The Aggies had something like the second-worst record to ever reach the tournament.  Still, the Beavers were taking the Aggies seriously.  Their coach showed them the ultimate respect by starting staff ace, Cooper Hjerpe, against them instead of their #2 or even #3 starter.  Cooper is leading the country in strikeouts (including a 17-strikeout game) and is likely a first round draft choice.      

 

The game was at Corvallis, Oregon, the Beavers’ home.  Other sites that the Aggies have been to for the NCAA that were closer weren’t in use this year.  Goss Stadium at Coleman Field opened in 1907 and was reported as the oldest ballpark in the continuous use in the country.  There’s a video board there, but no radar reading for the pitches.  The field there is all-turf.  It wasn’t installed because they couldn’t grow grass, but because the constant rain made it more practical.  It drains better.  Tonight was no exception, rain was falling on and off with varying intensity all game long.

 

It was standing-room at the park tonight, just under 4,000, which was over-capacity even with extra bleachers put in.  About 90 of them were Aggie fans and family.  The crowd all proved to be VERY into the game and hanging on every pitch.  Adam Young on the radio broadcast was as excited as I’ve ever heard him.  This was the best game I’ve heard him call.  Adam said he felt, “goosebumps,” there with crowd after the organist played the Anthem.  He described smelling the hot dogs, hamburgers, and popcorn from the stands.        

 

At this point, I have to mention that I was at work and got busy just as the game started.  I basically missed most of the first half of the game.  I’d hoped to try watching the game on the TV in the break room later in the night, but I was so busy I couldn’t leave my desk.  Like I said though, the radio was really good.  I was able to listen to most of the rest of the game.

 

Ian Mejia started for the Aggies.  Dieter still wasn’t with the team.  The main change to the lineup over the WAC Tournament was that Gunner Antillon now batting leadoff as the DH.  Ian gave up a couple of walks and a single in the first.  A run scored on a fielder’s choice.  In the top of the second, Kevin Jimenez led off getting hit by a pitch.  He somehow got to third on a groundout by Logan Galina.  Adam said the ball went five-feet foul before coming back fair.  Tommy Tabak drove KJ in to tie the score at 1.

 

I was a little shocked by the crowd reactions to umpire pitch calling.  They were giving it to the ump on every close call that went against the Beavers.  The players and coaches were complaining as well.  I feel like this all more emotional than bad umpiring, but I wasn’t watching.  On the other hand, we’ll revisit this later. 

 

The tie score held until the fifth.  The Beavers took a 2-1 lead on a double and a single.  Up to that point, they’d been getting chances, but Ian had held them back.  The Aggies picked off a runner at second in the fourth.  In the sixth, they got a double play on a strikeout looking and a caught stealing.  The player was tagged as he over slid on the wet turf.       

 

Adam happened to mention that Darwin Barney was one of the coaches for Oregon State.  Oh, he was one of my favorite Chicago Cubs back when I was able to watch their games on WGN.  Barney was a great defensive second baseman.  I wonder if Kevin Jimenez, also a great defensive second baseman, knew about him and chatted with him before the game?  Probably not, but it’s fun to think about.  (If I’d known this, I would have tried to communicate with Adam to get Barney’s autograph.) 

 

Meanwhile, Cooper had been pitching from a rocking chair.  He’d recorded 11 straight outs until he started the seventh with a walk.  There was an out next, but Cooper hit the next two batters to load the bases.  Tabak was up again at an opportune time.  With just a little easy stroke, he doubled in two runs and gave the Aggies a 3-2 lead.  Cooper got another out, but was then relieved from the game. In the bottom, Ian gave up a walk and two singles.  That brought in the tying run, but it was two wild pitches that brought in another run and gave the Beavers back the lead, 4-3.

The Aggies got some traffic on the bases in the eighth via a hit batter and a walk, but failed to cash in.  Ian was back out for the bottom of the eighth.  I was amazed.  He recorded his ninth strikeout before giving up a walk.  Finally, after 124 pitches, he was relieved by Alex Bustamonte.  I could hear applause over the radio.  The overwhelming Oregon State crowd gave Ian a standing ovation.  He tipped his cap to them as he left. 

 

I saw the viral clip of this.  Goosebumps, indeed.  It played on national sports news and our local news.  The Oregon State fans have been universally praised.  If they didn’t have a reputation for being good fans before, they do now.  Honestly, the rest of the game seems almost irrelevant to this moment of sportsmanship.  Please keep in mind, this game was close and not over.  Praising the opposition was not an expectation in that situation.

 

Alex closed out the inning and the Aggies went into the ninth down a run.  Nolan Funke singled to start the inning.  Tabak moved him to second on a grounder.  Preston Godfrey then singled in Funke.  Just like that, the Aggies had tied it.  During the at bat, I thought the crowd was about to rush the field on a check swing call that wasn’t called a swing.  The pitcher was replaced and yelled at the ump coming off the field.  Kyle Westfall came in to pinch run and advanced to third on an error, but was left stranded.  Alex went right through three Beaver batters in the bottom to take us to extra innings.

 

The Aggies got a runner to second because of another Beaver error, but were not able to score.  In the bottom, Alex got the first batter out, but walked the next, who then stole second.  The crowd became so loud that the umpire and the catcher couldn’t hear the Aggie dugout wanting the next batter to be given an intention walk.  There was a fly out next, but that was followed by a walk on four pitches.  There was no one warming up in the Aggie bullpen, though Alex seemed to have lost the strikezone. 

 

The next batter came in and walked on four straight pitches.  The Aggie team and coaches were furious over a 3-0 ball call that was close.  (Usually, the ump gives a courtesy strike in that situation to keep the game interesting.)  Regardless, the winning run was forced in.  Oregon State wins 5-4.  The final line was Aggies 4 runs, 4 hits, no errors, and 7 left on.  The Beavers had 5 runs, 10 hits, 2 errors, and 9 left on.  The Beavers did also give out 7 free passes (walks, hit by pitch) to the Aggies’ 4, in addition to the 2 errors to none, which kept the Aggies in the game. 

 

Ian Mejia gets an obvious gameball (7 1/3, 9 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, 9 K’s, 2 HBP), as does Tommy Tabak (2 for 4, 2 RBI’s) and Preston Godfrey (one very timely hit and RBI).  For the Beavers, I’ll give it to Garret Forrester (3 for 5, 2 RBI’s), Cooper Hjerpe (6 2/3, 2 hits, 3 runs, 10 K’s, 2 walks, 3 HBP) and reliever Ryan Brown, who closed out the game (1 2/3, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 K’s).                 

 

I might have made some different coaching decisions for the tenth.  I would have had another pitcher warming up to start the inning and I wouldn’t have called for the intentional walk.  I have to explain that last one.  Though there was a base open and a runner in scoring position, I would have rather have forced them to beat me than risk what ultimately happened.  I did see that coming well before it occurred. 

 

Bustamonte was clearly about out of gas and having trouble hitting the strikezone.  Coach Kirby still likely figured a fatigued Alex was still his best option over anybody in the bullpen.  I do not blame Alex at all.  He wasn’t going to be able to make a long outing after his three-inning save in the WAC Tournament.  If he’d been given a lead, I really think he would have closed it out.    

 

Conventional baseball wisdom and Adam on the broadcast thought the intentional walk was a “no brainer,” to get to a worse hitter.  I don’t fault the Coach’s decision-making here.  In all honesty, I think the result would have been the same whether a reliever was brought in and/or the intentional walk wasn’t given.  I didn’t like the Aggies’ chances of maintaining the tie for long. 

 

No recriminations.  The Aggies played their best against a really good team.  On some level, they even out-played the Beavers.  Their fans in the stands were probably more relieved than any other emotion.  What can I say, even in a loss, this was the game of the year for Aggie Baseball.  They showed that winning the WAC wasn’t a fluke. 

 

6-4-22 vs. Vanderbilt Commodores   

And here, we come back down to earth.  We’ll tear the Band-Aid right off, the Aggies lost 21-1 to Vanderbilt.  I’m not doing a detailed recapping of this game and there aren’t really any highlights, but I’ll hit some interesting points. 

 

Since this game was on Saturday afternoon, I didn’t have any work to interfere with my listening.  What did interfere was a rain delay in Corvallis, Oregon.  Thankfully it was short, but the rain came and went throughout the game.  There was a lot smaller crowd for this game to play in front of.  Coach Kirby was sure last night’s crowd was the largest this Aggie team had ever played in front of.    

 

Pablo Cortes started for the Aggies.  Vandy scratched out a run in the first and added a three-run homer in the third.  Kevin Jimenez drove in Cal Villareal in the bottom (NM State was the home team) to make it 4-1.  That’s as close as it got.

 

Sammy Natera made a surprise appearance in the fourth.  There were reportedly scouts there to see him.  He looked good for an inning, but the next inning was a disaster as five runs came in.  Villareal slipped on the wet turf trying to make a play.  After Sammy came out, two runs scored on a squeeze play to make it 9-1.  Don’t ask me how that happened without an error on the play. 

From there, Vandy just kept piling on.  Hunter Antillon relieved Cal Killgore catching, likely to give him a little postseason experience.  Tommy Tabak fouled a ball off his foot in the seventh.  The pain was bad enough to bring out the coach and trainer, but he stayed in.  In the eighth, the cameras caught him playing catch with some fans in the stands.  He was taken off the field for a sub to honor him as a senior. 

 

In the ninth, Kevin Jimenez and Cal Villareal were also taken off the field.  (They’re actually academic seniors.  Their futures are kind of up in the air.)  Unfortunately, both of their subs immediately committed errors.  (Poor Ryan Grabosch.  He’s going to need some psychological work in the offseason.)  Things went from bad to worse as Vandy went through the rest of the Aggie bullpen as they struggled to get the final three outs.  Their coach was even holding up runners from scoring.  The rain started coming down hard in the bottom of the ninth as the game finally came to an end. 

 

Adam Young on the radio call thought that the team was tired after yesterday and collapsed.  By that, he probably meant emotionally exhausted more than physically.  We’re not bothering with gameballs for this one.  We’re going to try and forget this one happened.  As the score went out-of-control, I was watching Twitch.  (The streamer I was watching was doing something inexplicable.  I won’t explain, but I couldn’t look away.)

 

What a season!  I’d totally given up on these guys and they completely surprised me in the end.  (Good thing I wasn’t playing.)  I’m not going to recap the season.  All the best parts were the WAC Tournament and the Oregon State game.  I don’t know what’s coming in the WAC for the Aggies’ final season there, much less their impending move to Conference-USA.  (Still taking bets on whether the conference folds before the Aggies join.) 

 

I might have said Coach Kirby was on the hot seat after this regular season, but this unexpected championship might have bought him an extension.  Hopefully, this run helps with his recruiting.  It brought the university some good publicity.  This championship and the Men’s Basketball WAC championship and NCAA win are NM State’s athletic highlights for the school year.  We can savor this for the summer and wait for the fall and a new season of sports.