Opening Day for Aggie
Baseball was a lose/lose proposition for me on Friday. I was scheduled to take the day off for the
night game, but when Ron called I stepped outside and five seconds out in the
cold wind was enough for me to cancel. I
went into work to continue to chip away at a punishing backlog while listening
to the game on the radio. Then the team
lost badly on top of it.
It was a 7-2
loss to Bellarmine, a team still
transitioning to D1, and the score wasn't that close. The two Aggie runs were unearned. Aggie pitching gave up four runs and Aggie
hitting had 16 strikeouts. On the plus
side, in spite of the cold, there was a full house out for the game (including
a bunch of Knight fans that I could
hear cheering over the radio). The game
also only took two and-a-half hours. I
don't know if it was the cold or some new pace-of-play rules. A penalty Ball was called for a team not
being ready to play out of an inning break.
Also, Coach Kill threw out
the first pitch. Him and the Football staff were there watching the
game.
The Saturday game was much more amenable to in-person viewing. The afternoon game was 40-something degrees
and partly cloudy with a cool breeze, but it wasn't that bad. I was bundled up when Ron picked me up. He had on a couple of layers. When we got there, a bunch of people were
wearing t-shirts. Some girls were in
shorts. Speaking of that, it was
sorority day at the park and they were mostly very good-looking. I assume the girls were there to pick out
their future boyfriends from the team.
The girls were also there with their parents, which made it convenient
if you wanted to ask permission for a girl's hand in marriage. So impulsive!
We ran into a giddy Adam
Young in the parking lot. He asked
if we were going to Women's Basketball
as well. He'd be calling that game,
which would be overlapping with baseball.
Broadcasting legend, Jack Nixon,
would be calling the ballgame. I'm not
sure how long it had been since he called baseball, but he didn't have anything
better to do with Men's
Basketball canceled.
The two of them were inside chatting by the concessions trailer. I kind of wanted to say, “Hi,” to Jack, since
I'd never met him before, but I was way too intimidated. (I'm sure he would have been gracious.)
Inside the stadium, the bunting was out. The outfield wall had added signs for the 2022 WAC Championship and for “71 Draft
Picks.” Portraits of Kyle Bradish and Joey Ortiz were added to the batting facility. The hot marketing girl was here in very tight
yoga pants. I guess she was in the
sorority, too. She was with her
dad. I could have asked him . . .
Ron and I chatted with fan Michael. He often has inside information on Aggie
sports, but not this time concerning Basketball. Also in the crowd were some other interesting
fans. There was a young man in a pale
blue suit and sneakers. (And I thought I
was over-dressed.) There was a lady
wearing a Cleveland Indians Spring
Training hat. Go Tribe! F the imposters! Lastly, there was a guy wearing a “Pistol
Peake” t-shirt with a gunsight on it.
Points for cleverness, but could an Aggie fan wear a shirt in poorer
taste? Somebody actually died over this,
dude.
It took two tries to get some Corn-in-cup. They weren't ready. They didn't even have the hot dogs
ready. (The corn was still delicious.) One of the sorority girls tossed out the
first pitch. Jack had a co-host on the
radio, Jon Opilea. I think he works for Aggie Sports, but this
was his first time on the air. He did a
good job and was necessary to help shepherd Jack along. I don't think Jack pronounced “Bellarmine”
correctly once, but of course he still did a great job. The loudspeakers kind of drowned out most of
the pregame. At some point there was a
quick discussion of WAC
“Football?” (Don't get excited. It wouldn't be FBS level college football.)
There's no sugar-coating it. This game was worse for the Aggies than
Friday night's game. It was a good thing
that Jack was there to tell some stories.
A bad baseball game can still be entertaining with the right
broadcaster.
Tyler Hoeft
started the game for the Aggies with a strikeout. Unfortunately, Gunner Antillon at short made an error to give the Knights their
first baserunner. Hoeft had another
strikeout and a walk and gave up an RBI single, which gave the Knights a 1-0
lead. Bellarmine was wearing crimson
tops. (The Aggies were in black.) Knight starting pitcher, Drew Buhr was wielding a bright blue glove. (Fashion faux
pas.) The Aggies trotted out a
different lineup than Friday. Logan Galina singled and unexpectedly
stole second, but was left stranded.
Fans were on the ump immediately from both sides early,
though I think his play calling was better for the rest of the game. Jack couldn't see the scoreboard in the
outfield. Nobody can when the sun is on
it. Football is getting a new
scoreboard. Could they bring the old one
over to baseball?
The Knights followed up with a two-run homer to right in
the second. 3-0 Knights. The Aggies did make an appeal throw to home,
but the ump ruled the runner had touched the plate. Gunner again looked a little shaky on a throw
to first. Jack told the story about the
Aggie grounds crew stealing a bunch of pine trees meant for the university
president, but were instead planted beyond the baseball stadium outfield. Jack also chatted about Presley Askew, whom the stadium is named after. Jack said he was a nice guy, in addition to coaching
Aggie Basketball into the NCAA tournament and coaching the baseball
team.
In the bottom of the second, Bianca Perez and a couple of Volleyball
players I'm not sure I recognized off hand came in. Rachel
Phillips also came in from the El Paso ABC
station to shoot some footage. You
couldn't miss her. She was wearing lime
green pants and a green plaid blazer.
You also knew who was coming up by the music. Nolan
Funke took his first at bat the disco standard, Funky Town. Damone Hale singled and stole second,
but was left stranded. During the
inning, a penalty Ball was called for the pitcher taking too much time.
In the top of the third, there was a near collision on
field between Gunner and Nolan on a grounder, but Gunner made the play. Between innings, there was a quick trivia
giveaway of a Football lunchbox by the hot marketing girl. I knew the answer. I could have impressed her. In the bottom, the Aggies got two on and
there was another stolen base. Nothing
came of it. There was a hat toss to the
crowd. That was it for the
giveaways.
In Louisville, Kentucky, home of Bellermine, it was
27-degrees, so it was relatively pleasant in Las Cruces by comparison. Jack also mentioned that college started in
the 50's and when they started, they didn't have a front door for their building. (He didn't entirely believe that story. He found it on the Internet.) The Knights got two on in the fourth, but
didn't bring them in. In the bottom was
the biggest controversy of the game.
Funke singled to right center.
The fielder appeared to misplay the ball and it went to the wall. Funke went to third on the two-base error,
except it was scored a triple. I even
rewatched the play a couple of times on Twitter. I don't know what the official scorekeeper
saw. Nolan was left stranded anyway.
To the fifth, Funke and Gunner again had some confusion
and let an infield fly drop between them.
The next batter was hit on the face.
He washed his mouth out and stayed in.
Hoeft came out, though, and Pablo
Cortes came in. Cortes got a
strikeout, but gave up an RBI single.
4-0 Knights. That runner got
picked off after attempting a steal on a ball in the dirt. In the bottom, Galina was hit by a pitch and
thrown out trying to steal second.
Cortes had more problems in the sixth. He gave up two singles before giving up a
booming three-run homer to right center.
Kevin Jimenez ended the
inning by catching a liner at second and doubling off a runner at first. 7-0 Knights.
In the bottom, Cal Villareal came
in to pinch hit off of a new Knight reliever.
Legged out an infield hit, but collided with the Knight first baseman,
who took most of the damage. It was a
nice try on the play by Peyton Back
at second. Hale drew a walk, but Nolan
struck out looking to end the inning.
He'd gotten a penalty Strike during the at bat for not being ready and
argued with the ump briefly after the inning.
By this point, much of crowd had wandered off, as it was getting a bit
cooler. (I was suddenly feeling smart in
my heavy coat.)
Jack may have gone to the bathroom between innings and Jon
took over the play call. There's not
enough time to get to the bathroom and back between innings without
running. Gunner made a good running play
on the first Knight batter, but the next batter grounded one into his chest for
an infield hit. He was driven in on a
single. 8-0 Knights. The Aggies brought in Aaron Treloar to finish the inning.
Galina worked a walk in the bottom, but was left on base.
After a leadoff single, Gunner started a nice double play
with KJ in the eighth. Hale singled in
the bottom, but did not advance. On an
odd note, there were bubbles briefly floating over the Aggie dugout. I don't know where they came from or
why.
In the top of the ninth, Jack mentioned in conversation
that most Western towns were 60 miles apart, since that was as far as old
trains could go without having their water replenished. I'm learning things. A strikeout/throw out double play ended the
top of the frame. Finally in the bottom,
Gunner homered to center to avoid a humiliating home shutout. 8-1
Knights, which was the final. It was
announced at the beginning of the game that there would be a t-shirt toss for
home runs. A guy behind me started
yelling for a t-shirt, but the hot marketing girl was already off duty. Ron had given me a giveaway t-shirt he'd
gotten for turning in a couple of balls, but it was too big for me. I considered giving it to the loudmouth, but
came to my senses.
That was three somewhat depressing hours to start baseball
season for me. Let's toss out those Gameballs. (I'm writing that with no enthusiasm.) Knight catcher Gabe Bratetic went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI's, including a two-run
homer. Winning starter, Drew Buhr, threw 5 innings, scattering
4 hits, no runs, with 9 strikeouts. (The
Aggies had 13 K's, the Knights 10.) As
for the Aggies, sigh. I was impressed with Logan Galina showing some patience and working two walks. Gunner
Antillon had a sometimes rough, sometimes great, day fielding at second and
accounted for the Aggies' only run. Your
stat of the day is that the Aggies left 10 runners on base. They had their chances.
Bonus Coverage: NM State Aggies vs CBU Lancers Women's
Basketball
The Women's game had started during the Baseball game. When the game let out, the halftime score showed the game was close, so we decided to go. We parked in the back and went in through the rear entrance to the Pan-Am Center. By the back door, there were reserved parking spots for Volleyball Coach Jordan and Women's Coach Adams. There was also a spot with an empty pole. We can guess who used to park there. I was still wearing my heavy coat inside. It wasn't necessary, though I'd heard in El Paso earlier this week that they were warning people going to the Miner game to bring a coat. The facility furnace was out.
Ron and I arrived about 5 minutes into the third quarter. It was 38-41 CBU. Right after we sat down there were back-to-back timeouts that took 10 minutes. At least I had time to finish filling out my scorecards. There were some Brownies (little Girl Scouts) sitting at the courtside seats. Behind us were the loudest and most enthusiastic Aggie fans in the building. It was also “Pride Day.” Every break, there was a teeth-gritting announcement about it. Those little girls aren't going to groom themselves.
I remembered a pretty player on the Lancers, Georgia Kehoe. I scanned the visitors on the floor and then
their bench, before I found her there.
She was apparently injured.
Georgia's from Australia and has a teammate from there as well. Of course, Ashlee Strawbridge on the Aggies is also an Aussie. I looked for Rachel Phillips, but she wasn't
there. I'm sure she would have loved to
meet so many fellow countrywomen. Also
of note on the Lancers is Trinity San
Antonio. What a name!
I took some notes, but I don't feel like writing them out
for a quarter and-a-half of coverage.
CBU was shooting 3's like crazy and took a 42-53 lead into the fourth
quarter. Moe Shida had a steal to start.
She'd had a great game with steals and points on Thursday. The Aggies wouldn't let the Lancers pull
away. Taylelin Grays made back-to-back 3's to make it 59-61 with 2
minutes left. Unfortunately, she missed
her next two attempts and the Aggies never recovered. 65-73
Lancers final. That was extra
disappointment for the day.
Extra Bonus Coverage: It was cold and rainy on Sunday for
the final game between the Knights and
the Aggies. I decided to watch the Daytona 500 instead. Brought
to you by P-fizer with three separate commercials. (One, general propaganda and self-promotion; two,
telling you to get a booster, since your shots are fading; and three, when you
catch the cold anyway because their shot didn’t work, taking their magic pill
for it.)
Frankly, the race only became interesting at the end,
while the baseball game was great throughout and both finished at the same
time. The NASCAR race went two overtimes after a couple of big wrecks. A wreck on the final lap gave Ricky Stenhouse Jr. the win. When the crew told him to do a burnout, he
responded that he was out of fuel. (Danica Patrick was no doubt kicking
herself that they broke up. She would
have gotten so much camera time if she was still girlfriend.)
The ballgame went back and forth. The Aggies tied it with a clutch run in the
ninth. They finally lost it in the 11-th,
10-9. Ron did brave the cold and wet for nearly four
hours to watch the game in person. He
questioned the official attendance of over 500.
He said not even all of the Bellarmine fans were there from the last two
days.
Ron blamed three Aggie infield errors for the loss. Adam Young on the broadcast also said the Aggies had, “Trouble with the left side of the diamond.” The hitting at least was there. Logan Galina, Kevin Jimenez, and Romeo Ballesteros had 3 hits and 2 RBI’s each. Unfortunately, Aggie pitching gave up four home runs. This season is going to be a work in progress.
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