Troy Cox Classic Softball: NMSU vs UNM 2-25-23

 

While overcast when the game started, the clouds left as the afternoon wore on.  I wasn’t wearing sunblock and was getting a face full of sun.  I put up the hood on my hoodie to protect my ears at least.  Between this 155-th rivalry game between the Aggies and the Lobos and the Aggies playing the OSU, Ron got up to go to his car for a snack.  I correctly surmised that the departing OSU fans would be replaced by UNM fans, so I stayed in order to keep our seats. 

 

Official attendance was over 700, but I couldn’t tell the difference from the last game.  I noticed a bunch of fans wearing Aggie Women’s Basketball Roadrunner hats in the crowd.  I didn’t know they were a giveaway for the game.  (I already have one.)

Let’s get right to it.  Aydenne Brown did start for the Aggies and worked a quick first.  Riley Carly led off with a double in the bottom, but was stranded.  In the second, she ran into a wall going for a foul and went down, but stayed in the game.  Chloe Yeatts solo homered in that inning to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead.

 

Like what happened to Hannah Lindsay at the Creighton game, Devin Elam was hit by a pitch, but called back.  Way to protect the players there, ump.  Devin singled anyway.  Next, Kaylin Jackson was hit, but was eliminated on a fielder’s choice by Kristen Boyd.  She stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Kendal Lunar, who doubled them in. 

 

This brought in Emmalyn Brinka in relief for the Lobos.  She’s the dog lover I saw at the Friday morning game.  Jayleen Burton singled next.  She stole second and the catcher’s throw went into the outfield.  Boyd scored and Jayleen moved on to third.  Jillian Taylor knocked in Jayleen.  Finally, Page Knight blasted a monster shot to left field for a two-run homer.  Up to that point in the tournament, the home runs I’d seen hadn’t been hit hard.  When the dust cleared, the Aggies were now up 6-1.

 

My co-worker and former Aggie catcher, Melika Ofoia, came for this game.  (She told me later, she’d seen the score for the previous game and decided to wait for this one.)  She missed seeing me again in the crowd.  Some Football guys were working at the game.  They were tossing souvenirs to the crowd. 

 

There was a What’s in Your Pocket contest for an Aggie helmet statue.  (I have a picture of one posted somewhere.)  A Lobo fan won it and then gave it to an Aggie fan.  Oh, that was nice.  At least a couple of Nebraska fans stayed for this game.  I hope they enjoyed it, though I don’t know who they were rooting for.  Nebraska and Bakersfield players, who were going to be playing next, were watching from the outfield.

 

Aydenne gave up three straight hits in the third.  A double by Rachel Hathoot drove in two to make it 6-3.  In the fourth, Aydenne walked the second batter of the inning.  The last ball was a wild pitch.  Her next pitch to the next batter also went to the backstop and Coach Rodolph took her out.  I hope she’s okay.  Emily Dix came on in relief.  She gave up a single, but struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

 

In the fifth, Dix gave up a single, a triple, and another single all in a row that scored two runs and made it 6-5 Aggies.  There was a bizarre sequence before the first hit where the umps called Dix for two clock violations.  At least that’s what Adam Young on the radio broadcast was saying.  This apparently hadn’t been an issue all tournament long, but suddenly came up twice in a row.  It may have rattled Emily a bit. 

 

Meanwhile, the Aggie offense had gone silent.  Jayleen had singled in the fourth, but was caught stealing afterward.  Dix worked around an error in the sixth for a clean inning.  In the bottom, Boyd smashed a bomb to right into the trees to make it 7-5 Aggies.  That insurance run was a good idea.  Hathoot homed to start the seventh.  Jillian was hurt a bit reaching over the wall for it, but she was okay.  Yeatts then doubled with two outs, but the tying run was left there.  Aggies win 7-6!  Whew!

 

It was everything you wanted out of a rivalry game: action and drama.  For Gameballs, Rachel Hathoot definitely gets one for going 3 for 4 with 4 RBI’s.  Strangely, she was a single short of a cycle.  The Aggies get Gameballs for Page Knight and Kristen Boyd for their timely and demoralizing home runs.  Those were big shots.

 

For yesterday’s 7-run performance against Creighton, Raising Canes coupons were handed out during the game.  That’s where Ron and I went for dinner.  I’d noticed he was kind of quiet during the game.  He wasn’t much livelier at dinner.  He called the next morning and he was sick.  I guess the good news was that I didn’t catch it. 

 

After the Aggie/Lobo game, Nebraska defeated Bakersfield 10-1 and UNM 15-0 Saturday night.  I almost went by myself on Sunday morning.  The forecast was for high winds, but it was nice to start.  While I was showering, suddenly the wind started beating on the window.  I decided not to go. 

 

Nebraska and UNM played an early morning game.  I don’t know how bad the wind was at the field later in the game, but it must have been bad.  From the official scoring, there was a game delay to repair wind damage to a wall.  (A tarp must have come up.)  NE won 1-0.  I don’t know if it was the wind or if they were playing really fast to beat the wind coming. 

 

The Aggies’ last game in the tournament against Bakersfield was postponed until the evening and then canceled.  The rule is that they won’t play in 35+ mph wind.  I think it peaked near 70mph.  Some of the visiting teams were also playing in El Paso at a tournament with UTEP.  The Miners be coming here next weekend.

 

Aggie Softball went 2-2 in the tournament.  That game against Bakersfield would have been a good opportunity to get a third win.  I still question inviting two really good teams here and then not putting out the best lineup to face them.  But the two wins the Aggies got were good and they needed their best players, so you can’t argue with the result.