NM State Aggies vs SD St Jackrabbits Baseball 2-19-24

 

I didn’t mention yesterday that I was probably only at baseball because I couldn’t watch the Daytona 500.  El Paso’s Fox affiliate “upgraded” their signal and I haven’t been able to receive their station for a couple of months.  I’m not getting cable, nor buying a new TV.  I’m not even sure where I could get a converter box or something like it to pick up the signal.  There’s a couple of sports restaurants nearby that I could go to, but I wasn’t that interested. 

 

I didn’t even think about the race until later at night and, lacking Internet, I couldn’t even get news about it.  There was nothing about it on the radio the next morning.  I found out this was because the race was delayed until Monday.  I finally got news on the radio after tonight’s game.  All I heard was that there was a big wreck and William Byron came out the winner.  I like William.  Too bad I didn’t get to see it.  So much for NASCAR.

 

Aggie Softball was playing their final game of the Troy Cox Classic today at 3:00pm, about an hour before baseball.  I don’t understand this scheduling.  Given that it’s Presidents Day and some people have the day off, you could have put the game on earlier to give people a chance to see it and baseball at 4:00pm.  Anyway, the softball tournament has been a bust for me.  I saw one full game and that was between visiting teams.  I only got to see a few innings of a couple of Aggie games.  Well, it cut down on the amount of games I was reporting on.     

 

It was probably the nicest out of the four days with clear skies, no wind, and a high of 71-degrees.  I walked over to the mall for pizza for lunch and did a little shopping.  I took off to the ballpark later.  The Softball game was in progress as I drove by the stadium.  I couldn’t see the scoreboard.  For the third time, I parked near an attractive group of young women getting ready for the game.  I wonder if they’re a group of player girlfriends. 

 

There was a pretty good crowd for the game at 557.  I noticed a bunch of Football players inside.  Their new coach, Tony Sanchez, threw out the first pitch.  It was a strike.  The South Dakota State bus driver was seated up front.  A large group of young people came in right before the game.  They were all wearing Aggie stuff, but looked too young to be in college.  They stayed for about half the game.      

It all adds up again.  I’m so confident, I’m not even checking it against the official scoring.  Thanks again to Adam Young on the radio call for helping out.  Cade Swenson started for the Aggies.  He had an eventful first giving up two hits, a wild pitch, and a walk (an intentional one to yesterday’s hero, Dawson Parry).  A run scored on a fielder’s choice to make it, 1-0 Jackrabbits.  The Aggies punched right back.  Damone Hale doubled and was driven in by Steve Solorzano.  1-1.  Those two hits already doubled yesterday’s hit total.  The Aggies were definitely more aggressive out of the gate.

 

Adam chatted a bit about SDS’s baseball program, which is always snowed in at the start of the season.  When Aggie coach Jake Angier played there, the team had to take infield practice in rodeo arena.  Swenson started off with a hit batter and went downhill from there.  After a single, Davis Carr, the nine-hole hitter, blasted a three-run homer.  That was the Jack’s eighth home run of the 4-game series.

 

Swenson then gave up a walk.  Thatcher Kozal was caught stealing, but Romeo Ballesteros dropped the ball.  That was unfortunate.  After finally getting the first out on a line drive, there was another intentional walk to Parry.  Cael Frost came up and hit a two-run double.  It actually should have been a triple, but he hesitated after rounding second and was thrown out.  It was 6-1 SDS after the smoke cleared.

 

The now Swinging Aggies were not giving up.  After a single by Gianni Horvat, catcher Nick Gore blasted a two-run homer.  Keith Jones later singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and was driven in by Hale.  6-4 SDS. 

 

Softball was already over by this point.  It was an under two-hour game.  A couple of innings later, Adam reported that the Aggies beat North Dakota, 2-1.  Some members of the team came over after the game to watch.  Coach Angier had seen enough last inning and brought in Conor Wylde in relief in the third.  After a leadoff single, he settled in and even picked off a runner. 

 

In the bottom of the third, Preston Godfrey hit his first base coach on the foot with a foul ball.  He then struckout going 0-12 so far this season.  Horvat doubled, but got picked off.  There were two attempts made.  I think the first one actually got him.  When they tried it again right after, they gave the ump a chance to make the right call.

 

Wylde had two strikeouts and two walks in the top of the fourth, but no damage.  In the bottom, the Aggies had a two-out rally.  The bases were loaded on two singles and a walk.  Godfrey picked the right time for his first hit of the year, as he doubled in two runs.  Mitch Namie crossed the plate and yelled at the crowd and waved his arms.  6-6.  

 

The Jacks came back in the top of the fifth with a pair of singles that scored a run.  7-6 SDS.  Between innings, the Hot Pan-Am Girl came by tossing hats.  I was sitting by Michael and he flagged her down and got a hat for his sister that was with him.  Gore walked to start the bottom of the fifth.  Jadon Arakaki failed in a sac bunt and took his place at first.  Keith then slapped a triple to drive him in and retie the score.  He posed at third and played to the dugout.  7-7.  Dylan Dressen came in to get the final out for the Jacks.

 

The PA recognized Soccer Coach Baarts in the crowd.  It was his birthday.  He was sitting next to Coach Sanchez in the stands.  Kade Benevidez came on in sixth in relief.  Kade was the starting catcher on Saturday, so he’s a two-way player.  Over six batters, he got six different results.  A walk and a double down the line by Parry (possibly the only strike he saw for the game) scored a run to give the Jackrabbits the lead again, 8-7. 

 

In the bottom of the sixth, Namie led off and worked a full count.  The Aggie dugout went wild.  Namie finally got a walk.  He turned to the dugout and shrugged.  Mitch was erased on a double play.  Godfrey got another double, but was left stranded.  Aaron Treloar was the next Aggie pitcher to begin the seventh.  He hit the first batter without damage, as he was removed on a fielder’s choice.  A caught stealing and a strikeout ended the frame.

 

Dressen got the first two batters out in the seventh.  Romeo then walked and took an interesting trip around the bases.  He got to second on a wild pickoff throw.  He took third on a wild pitch.  Finally, Carr at catcher made a bad throw back to the pitcher.  The ball got away from him and Romeo scampered home and tied the score yet again, 8-8.  And just to rub it in, Keith, who’d been at second, stole third because no one was paying attention to him.  Dressen regained control with a strikeout to end the inning.  I was watching Carr during the inning.  He was really urging his pitcher on.

 

Treloar got a punchout looking to start the top the eighth.  He was then relieved by Zach Zwaschka.  I hate to say it, but this decision to play match up, might have been the turning point of the game.  Zach walked the next two batters, including Parry again, and was taken out for Fernando Barreda.  The SDS coach put in Jordan Sagedahl as a pinch runner.  The next pitch was a single by Frost, which scored Sagedahl easily.  (Interesting contrast in managerial decisions this inning.)  A groundout would also bring in Parry to put the Jacks up 10-8. 

 

Still no quit in the Aggies today.  Namie walked again to start the bottom of the eighth.  Dressen again made an error on a pickoff throw to move Namie up.  He moved over to third on a grounder and was driven in on a sac fly by Gore, 10-9.  Three walks after Namie’s walk did load the bases, but the Aggies couldn’t bring any more in.  They had gone back to being overly patient and stopped hitting.            

 

Barreda began the top of the ninth with a strikeout, but then gave up a double and a single, which added an insurance run for the Jackrabbits, 11-9.  Cho Tofte was brought in.  He walked Parry (for his fifth walk of the game).  With two on and one out, Tofte struck out the next two batters to give the Aggies a chance in the bottom.

 

I could hear the fat lady warming up, but this opera wasn’t over.  Keith beat out an infield hit to start the bottom of the ninth, as the shortstop had trouble handling the ball.  He stole second.  Carr’s throw went into centerfield and KJ took third on the play.  Keith then scored on a wild pitch.  The young man did everything he could for the win here.  Solorzano singled with two outs bringing up Godfrey.  Preston would blast one to right field.  It had a chance and sent the right fielder to wall, but Frost hauled it in.  Jackrabbits win 11-10.

 

That was sort of thrilling and crushingly depressing.  I was glad to see the Aggie bats pick up in this game.  They just didn’t keep it up at the end.  Adam picked on the Aggies left on base stats after the game, but both teams left double digit runners on base.  The pitching was hurtful tonight, as neither team could stop the other from scoring for long.  It was amazing that there was only one big inning. 

 

Let’s toss those Gameballs.  For the Jackrabbits, Cael Frost went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s.  Dylan Dressen somehow got the win.  His coach had an awful lot of faith in him to keep him in so long (or had no one left to pitch).  He had 7 walks, 5 strikeouts, and gave up 3 runs over 4+ innings.  His runs were all unearned, though ironically because of two of his fielding errors (and one by the catcher). 

 

For the Aggies, Keith Jones went 3 for 5 with an RBI and gets a hustle award.  Damone Hale went 3 for 6 with an RBI.  Nick Gore had 3 RBI’s with a 2-run homer and a sac fly.   Conor Wylde and Aaron Treloar did well in relief.  Cho Tofte had a high-leverage close out in the ninth.      

 

I enjoyed these four days of games overall.  Even if I didn’t get the result I wanted, at least I got lots of drama.  There’s no such thing as too much baseball.  I’m glad I didn’t try to go to more games, as I’m a bit spent.  Thankfully, I didn’t have trouble keeping up with the recaps.  I will have a lot to look up in the official scoring, especially for that Saturday game.  And I’ll have a lot of back log at work.  At least I’ve got a weekend off before the next two months where there’s a baseball or softball game every weekend.

NM State Aggies vs SD St Jackrabbits Baseball 2-18-24

There was no screwing around today.  It was just going to be baseball.  The only other game was Nebraska was playing softball at 9:00am.  Forget that.  Also, no screwing around with lunch.  I’d been wanting Whataburger all week.  I left early to go there and have a Honey Barbeque Chicken Strip Sandwich.  It was better than I’d been imagining.  It was also pretty much my only meal of the day, but it was plenty.

 

It might have been a little colder today than yesterday, but there was no wind, so it pleasant.  I brought a jacket and scarf in this time to make sure I stayed warm.  I parked next to an RV holding a tailgate.  There was another great crowd at 754 official attendance. 

 

I went over to sit with Michael and his friend Kent.  I thanked Michael for mentioning wanting Whataburger yesterday for getting me motivated to go.  Michael had spoken to Adam Young, who was back on radio duty today.  Adam confirmed that they were installing two hot tubs for the fans at the park.  I’ll get my Speedo ready for the first warm day game.  I can only hope that the Hot Pan-Am Girl will also be partaking.

 

The Aggies were in black tops with easy to read numbers (thankfully).  The Jackrabbits were in sharp powder blues with bright yellow numbers.  There was a live Anthem singer for the game.  Hayden Walker’s dad came over and Michael wished him luck, since his son was today’s Aggie starter.  Hayden also seemed to have a large personal cheering section for his introduction.

 

Unlike yesterday, these scorecards added up thanks to Adam’s radio call.  Hayden struck out the side in the first, but also gave up two hits, including a homer.  The Aggie crowd and sizable SDS crowd had reasons to cheer, which they all did.  1-0 Jacks.

 

It was Bark at the Park day for Sunday.  An adorable little dog came in by me.  This was followed by an unbearably cute little Australian Shepherd Dog puppy!  I fell completely in love. 

 

Keith Jones worked a walk to start the bottom of the first.  On a loose ball at the plate, he went for second, thought the better of it, got caught halfway, and somehow made it back to first under the tag.  Looking at the line score, he used up all his luck for the day on that.  He ended up at second anyway after a wild pitch.  After a walk to Damone Hale, a grounder to the short by Steve Solorzano was mishandled and thrown away.  KJ scored and Hale would come in on a sac fly by Preston Godfrey.  2-1 Aggies.

 

Walker settled in with a 1-2-3 second.  Gianni Horvat at second made a great running play for the second out and lost his hat.  (This kept happening to players all weekend.)  The Aggies also went down in order.  Jacks’ shortstop Carter Sintek made a great dive stop and throw for the final out.  Even Aggie fans applauded.

 

Walker was really in a grove for the third and struckout the side.  Cade Stuff got irritated at his K and started barking at the ump.  His coach came out and quickly pulled Stuff back into the dugout.  The first two Aggies struckout looking in the bottom of the third.  Jess Bellows in center for the Jacks made a great diving catch to end the inning.

 

Cael Frost solo homered in the fourth for SDS.  That was Adam’s fault.  He was overly praising Walker’s pitching at the time.  Romeo Ballesteros made two putouts from short to end the frame.  2-2. 

 

“Solo” (Solorzano) was hit to start the bottom of the fourth.  He advanced to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch during Godfrey’s at bat, which ended in a walk.  After a strikeout, another walk loaded the bases.  Nick Gore came up and hit a weak grounder to short.  Sintek only managed to knock it down and everyone was safe.  I was initially thinking error, but it was ruled a hit and would have consequences later.   

 

Will Kent, the Jacks’ starter, came back with a strikeout before being taken out.  I should have applauded, as he was coming out with only having given up one hit.  Sam Schlecht came with the bases still loaded and got a big strikeout of Keith to end the inning.  The Aggies went up 3-2, but unknown at the time, Sintek’s play had saved the game for SDS.

 

The fifth inning had light traffic on the pads (the Aggies got another walk), but was scoreless.  We had our first on-field fan competition of the season between innings between a kid and a toddler in a dressing contest.  The toddler had a lot of trouble getting that shirt on.  That wasn’t a fair competition.

 

Into the sixth, Romeo had two hard charging outs from short.  He was part of eight putouts today without an error.  In the bottom, the Aggies got a runner on via a hit batter, but he was erased on a double play.  Unfortunately, that was the result of bad base running by both runners on an infield grounder.  They were trying to force things.

 

I noticed Kendal Lunar and Desirae Spearman from the Aggie Softball team here on their day off.  Hayden Walker made it to the seventh, but walked the first batter and came out.  It was a heck of an effort.  Matt Romero came in in relief.  He struckout the first two batters and looked good, but then gave up a run-scoring double.  A walk then followed.  In a gutsy move, the Jacks pulled off a double steal before another walk and loaded the bases.  Cho Tofte was brought in.  On a grounder, Horvat made a remarkable stop and toss to Romeo to get the final out.  3-3. 

 

The Aggies had no answer in the bottom of the seventh and went down in order.  Tofte walked the first batter of the top of the eighth, but a double play and strikeout sent us to the bottom of the eighth tied.  The Jacks put in their closer, Alex Clemons.    

 

Mitch Namie worked a walk to start the frame.  He tossed his bat and screamed at the Aggie dugout.  Jadon Arakaki came in to pinch run for him.  The SDS coach came out for a talk, while the crowd started chanting, “Let’s go Aggies!”  Clemons got a strikeout next, but also threw three wild pitches which scored Arakaki to give the Aggies the lead. 

 

Clemons got another strikeout, but walked four batters around it.  Romeo’s walk forced in Godfrey, who played up to the crowd as he crossed the plate.  With the bases still loaded, Keith hit a fly ball for the final out.  The Aggies were up 5-3 and brought in their closer, Hayden Lewis. 

 

The Aggies had brought in three subs in the innings, which shuffled their defense.  Solorzano was moved from third to first.  The first batter hit it to him.  Solo juggled the ball, but managed to hold it and beat him to the bag for the first out.  The Jacks got two singles next.  (For some reason, Romeo wasn’t playing at double play depth on the second hit.  Otherwise, he would have gotten the ball.)  Davis Carr grounded a DP ball to Horvat, but he didn’t make a good toss to Romeo and drew him off the bag.  Everyone was safe with the bases now loaded.

 

Cohen Henry was our fourth Jack leadoff batter of the game.  (I ran out of space in the slot.)  He worked a walk, which forced in a run.  The Aggies only led by a run now.  Parry, who’d already homered today came up.  He only saw one pitch and he liked it.  Off the ball went and over the centerfield wall.  The SDS dugout and their fans erupted.  Parry executed a giant bat flip and rounded the bases to complete the grand slam.  8-5 Jacks.

 

Clemons came back out for the ninth.  As per the pattern of the game, the Aggies worked two walks in the inning around two outs.  Horvat flied out to end the game.  The Jackrabbits won 8-5.   

 

The first half of the game was so quick, but the last three innings dragged the game time out a bit to 2:50.  Where to start with the stats?  We’ll start with the obvious one: the Aggies had 1 hit today.  They didn’t deserve to win.  On the other hand, with 12 walks and 2 hit batters by SDS pitching, they didn’t really deserve it either.  How did you let a team nearly beat you with 1 hit?  The Aggies left 10 runners on base!  They could have won this at two different points in the game (the bases loaded situations).

 

The Aggies had 10 K’s.  4 of them were looking.  Between that and all those walks, the Aggies were entirely too passive.  Until the Aggies play another opponent, we won’t know how much of this was SDS pitching and how much was Aggie patience.  The Jacks had 14 K’s.  Players weren’t happy with the ump, but he was consistently calling that high outside pitch a strike. 

 

Nick Gore, with your weak infield hit, you are the Aggies’ offensive player of the game.  Congratulations on cheating me out of seeing a no-hitter at Presley Askew Field.  Like this’ll ever have a chance of happening again.  Dawson Parry of the Jackrabbits, thanks to you as well for your grand slam (2 homers, 5 RBI’s).  I didn’t get to see a team win a game with 5 runs off of 1 hit.  It would have been borderline miraculous and made baseball news somewhere. 

 

Pitching-wise, Will Kent and the SDS middle relief was pretty good.  Their closer was a bit of a disaster.  For the Aggies, Hayden Walker had a great performance along with the middle relief.  The closer was a total disaster.  In a close game like this, somebody was going to be disappointed at the end under those circumstances. 

 

I waited around after the game to talk to Adam.  The official scorer was talking to him about the pitching line after the broadcast.  I was about to offer my scorecard to help, but they didn’t need it.  (Darn it!)  I told Adam how glad I was to have him back after Lou Romano’s turn at the mic yesterday.  I related Lou’s issues in seeing the action on the field, though I did say I enjoyed the broadcast anyway.  Adam asked if I was coming back tomorrow.  It’s gonna be cold in the evening, but if it’s not too bad, I’ll be there to see what happens next.

NM State Aggies vs SD St Jackrabbits Baseball 2-17-24

It was a busy day in Aggie Sports.  Softball was playing a pair of games, along with Men’s and Women’s Basketball and Baseball.  All of these games were basically happening at the same time and overlapping, so I had to make some choices.

 

I decided to skip a Visitor’s softball game with Nebraska and the early Aggie Softball game, since they’d conflict with Baseball.  Darn it!  One of the reasons to get the Aggie Country Pass was for the Troy Cox Classic, so you didn’t have to buy an expensive tournament day pass.  I had some idea of going to the late game, which I figured would start after the Baseball game.  No, the baseball game was still going at that time.  Also, it was freezing and I had no thoughts of staying any longer. 

 

I got the scores later from local TV news.  The Aggie Softball girls won their first game 8-7 over North Dakota.  Thank God, I didn’t stay for the second game.  They lost 20-10 to Sac State!  I’m sure it took quite a while to get to that score in the freezing cold.  I heard from a fan there the next day.  He only managed to stay to the fourth inning.

 

I was listening to the Men’s Basketball game on the radio before going to baseball.  They were on the road and playing WKU.  Earlier in the season at home, the Aggies had their biggest ever comeback win in the Pan-Am Center against them.  They were down 23 points in the second half!  Today though, the road curse continued.  I periodically checked the radio call and they lost 72-58.  The Aggie Women at least won their game against WKU at home 64-61.    

 

It was sunny outside, but there was a cold breeze blowing.  I brought a coat with me, but left it in my truck (mistake).  By happenstance, I’d parked closer to the Softball Complex and could actually see my truck where I was sitting inside baseball stadium.  This was a cruel taunt, as it got colder.  

 

This first thing I did was pick up a program and check the stats.  The scoreboard was wrong yesterday and I was right!  Ha!  The Raising Cane’s people had set up their Prize Wheel next to the table.  Last time, this didn’t go well, but I took another spin.  I got lip balm.  Hey, I’ll take it.  That’s useful.  (Not as good as a free meal, though.)

There was a capacity crowd for the game (attendance 700) with quite a few South Dakota State fans.  I sat by Michael again.  He took off before the Anthem.  He always does that.  It’s like he plays for the Women’s Basketball team.  I got a call right before the music started.  It was my out-of-state friend, Andy.  I ended up singing the Anthem over the phone for him.  I really would have loved to have talked to him, but I couldn’t hear him at all over the large crowd and the PA music.  I had to try to tell him to call me on another day and couldn’t even hear myself do it.  Hopefully, he’ll call back soon.

 

I recognized a familiar voice for the radio call, but it wasn’t Adam Young.  He was calling Women’s Basketball at the Pan-Am Center.  Our guest host was long-time border sportscaster, Lou Romano.  Lou said he hadn’t called a baseball game since college, but he did have two kids playing baseball.  To say this now, I enjoyed the broadcast and he sounded like he was having a great time (he really liked today’s mostly “small ball” game), but boy, was it rough. 

 

He couldn’t see the dimly lit scoreboard.  This is a problem everyone is aware of during daylight hours.  He couldn’t see the Aggies’ uniform numbers because they were only outlined in crimson and not solid.  He couldn’t see the field at times because the fans in front of him were blocking the view.  Lou was getting the players out of order continuously and wasn’t able to keep track of pitching changes.  I nearly tried to force my way into the Press Box to help.  If my scorekeeping is better than yours, you’ve really got a problem. 

 

Lou kept trying to talk about the transfer portal, NIL, and other new aspects of the game, but the pace of play kept interrupting him.  By the end of the game, I’m not sure he ever really finished his thoughts about it.  He did think that Nick Saban may have retired over having to keep track of these things, in addition to coaching, recruiting, and keeping boosters happy. 

 

Lou did was talk about today’s Aggie starter, Josh Sharman (sounds like the tissue paper).  Josh is running a faith-based merchandise business for college athletes and has at least one big name signer.  He then donates the profits to religious charities.  That’s a pretty ambitious.  Lou also mentioned that the new student section of seating was put in, so that they could move the visitor’s bullpen to a place where the Aggie coaches could see who was warming up.  Before, it was behind their dugout and hidden from view.   

What a mess these scorecards were after the game!  There was plenty of weirdness in the game and I got no help from the radio announcing.  I spent some time after the game to get them to add up.  Then I found out the next day that the Aggies were charged with four errors, which weren’t posted on the scoreboard.  Two of them were Catcher’s Interference on Kade Benavidez.  I didn’t catch those.  Lou had no chance over the radio. 

 

I had to go over these with the official scoring later.  That was a mistake.  The official scorer may have done a worse job than I did.  I would have gone with my originals, except that I erased and rewrote a bunch of my scoring.  Now they’re completely hashed.  So who knows what really happened at this game.   

 

Okay, do I finally get to talk about the game now?  It was quite the spectacle.  As mentioned, Sharman started for the Aggies and began the game with a hit batter.  He got the next two outs, but a tough error on first baseman, Mitch Namie, allowed the runner to score.  The batter fell down trying to get to second and was tagged for the final out.  1-0 SDS.

A co-worker came by and said, “Hi.”  While I was shivering in two layers and a pullover hoodie, he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.  (Though he did go get a hoodie himself later.)  The Aggies answered back in bottom of the first.  Keith Jones singled, got to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on grounder by Namie.  1-1.

 

The top of the second went 1-2-3, but with a scary moment.  A foul ball hit an iron pole holding up what’s left of the canopy.  (AD Moccia said he’s still waiting for insurance to pay for replacement panels.)  The ball ricocheted straight back into the crowd and nearly hit a guy in the back of the head, who was holding his infant son at the time.  More encouraging, the Hot Pan-Am Girl came out wearing shorts and a tank top and tossed something to the crowd.  I was completely mesmerized.  A double play ended the Aggie frame.

 

The Jackrabbits scored again in the third between a walk, a fielder’s choice, a hit batter, and a single.  2-1 SDS.  Namie did try the Hidden Ball trick with a runner on first, but was sussed out.  The Hot Pan-Am Girl came out for another toss.  I probably said something to Michael about her replacing my previous sports marketing crush, Emerson.  He sort of knew her, since he was friends with her baseball player ex-boyfriend.  “Yeah, Emerson was a bitch.”  Apparently, she won’t speak to him for some reason.  She’s still working in sports marketing, Michael mentioned.    

   

To start the bottom of the third, Jadon Arakaki struck out, but made it to first on a wild pitch.  I think Keith was then given first from being awarded a ball from the pitcher taking too much time.  Damone Hale cashed them in with a hit-and-run double.  The final out in the inning was a batted ball went off Jack pitcher Jake Goble.  Second baseman Cade Stuff stayed with it, caught the grounder, and threw out the runner.  3-2 Aggies.

 

Sharman walked a couple of batters on in the top of the fourth, but got out of it.  Aggie second baseman Gianni Horvat made a nice effort in running down a foul ball for the final out.  The bottom was a bad inning for Jack right fielder Cael Frost.  The Aggies turned two walks, three singles, and a wild pitch into four runs.  During this, Frost dropped a flyball, overthrew second base badly, and then later juggled a single that allowed a run to come in.  He did start a double play from the outfield to end the inning.  Aggies up 7-2. 

 

Saul Soto came in to pitch for the Aggies in the fifth.  He gave up a single to start, but quickly finished off the rest of the inning.  There’s that Hot Pan-Am Girl warming me up again with a hat toss to the crowd, as the wind starts to blow harder.   

 

The Jacks also brought in a new pitcher for the fifth.  Alex Koep got the first two outs, but then walked the bases full.  Arakaki then hit a grounder up the middle.  Koep lost his hat during the pitch and caught it, but couldn’t field the ball at the same time.  Two runs scored on the single.  (Several players lost their hats during the game.  I didn’t even bother keeping track of every time.)  The next batter, Romeo Ballesteros, nearly took out his third base coach on a foul swing.  (The coach was okay.)  Dawson Parry at first made on nice play on a foul the other side of the field to end the inning.  9-2 Aggies.

 

The top of the sixth didn’t go well for the Aggies or me.  Soto gave up two runs before being lifted for Zach Zwaschka with the bases loaded.  Zach gave up a single and an inherited run, but would finally close it out.  The Jacks were back into it.  9-5 Aggies.

 

As the inning dragged on, I finally got up and went to my truck for my coat, as I could no longer tough-out the cold.  Though I could see my vehicle, I was not parked nearby, which was why I kept delaying going.  I had the radio (such as the radio call was) and my scorecard with me, but still missed at least one play.  Actually, it was kind of amazing that was all I missed, since I also went to the bathroom when I got back. 

 

The Aggies punched back in the bottom of the sixth with doubles by Namie and Steve Solorzano which scored a run.  10-5 Aggies.  The Jacks came back with a solo homer in the seventh by Davis Carr, 10-6. 

 

In the bottom of the seventh, Titus Dumitru came in for Benavidez.  (I’m guess after those two Catcher’s Interference calls.)  Titus struckout looking for the second out of the inning.  He then started arguing with the ump.  That’s a bad thing to do in a college game.  They don’t put up with much arguing from the dugout, much less face-to-face.  Titus was lifted for Nick Gore, last night’s catcher, next inning.  That was probably Coach Angier’s message to him.  I think I saw Titus come back out to warm up a pitcher between innings and then apologize to the ump. 

 

For the rest of seventh, even with two outs and a pitching change, the Aggies loaded the bases with three walks and a hit batter.  This forced in another run, 11-6 Aggies.  For the top of the eighth, as warned in the last game, Solorzano was a two-way player and moved from third to pitch.  He was a bit shaky in his first inning giving up a walk, a wild pitch, and three singles, which resulted in three runs.  (He also kept losing his hat on the mound.)  Encouragingly around all of that, “Solo” did strikeout the side.  11-9 Aggies. 

 

The Aggies weren’t done scoring yet.  For the Jacks, it was more self-inflicted wounds.  The Aggies got one hit in the bottom of the eighth, but converted three walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch into two more runs.  14-9 Aggies.  I saw a guy in the crowd wearing an Arizona Diamondbacks National League champs shirt.  When it gets warmer, I plan on wearing my Texas Rangers World Series championship hat and AL champs t-shirt. 

 

Solo came back out for the ninth.  There was no further heroics, as he went 1-2-3 to finish the game out.  14-9 Aggies Win!  This seemed like a long game and it was at nearly three-and-a-half hours.  How bad would this have been without new pace-of-play rules?

 

Taking 10 walks (no wonder this game took so long) and having 3 hit batters with only 8 strikeouts, the Aggies were good at waiting out the Jacks’ pitchers.  (Maybe a little too good.  4 of those strikeouts were looking.)  Aggie hitting was light (3 doubles), but plentiful with 10 hits.  The offense covered problematical fielding issues and a shelled bullpen. 

 

Gameballs!  For the Jackrabbits, Dawson Parry gets an easy one going 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s (by my count).  Aggie pitcher Josh Sharman didn’t get the win (except on the official scorecard, which is wrong), but did well in 4 innings only giving up 2 runs (1 earned). 

 

It was good group effort by the Aggie bats.  Keith Jones really hustled for that first Aggie run and went 2 for 4 with an RBI.  Damone Hale drove in 3 runs with a double and a walk (again disagreeing with the official scoring).  Jadon Arakaki had a big 2-run single in the fifth.  Lastly, let’s highlight the local kid, Steve Solorzano.  He went 2 for 5 with an RBI and pitched 2 innings.  He gave up 3 runs, but had 4 K’s with only 1 walk.  I have a feeling he’ll get better.   

       

These last two games were the kind of the games that the Aggies lost regularly last year, so this is encouraging.  I stampeded back home as fast as my frozen legs could do so.  I was glad for the win to make it worth getting cold.  Let’s warm up and do this again tomorrow.

NM State Aggies vs SD St Jackrabbits Baseball 2-16-24

I hustled over to Presley Askew Field from Aggie Softball, where I was missing a great game.  I could see the baseball stands from softball field and they were empty, but the baseball parking lot was full.  A large tailgate was going on at the far end. 

 

Inside the gates, the Concessions trailer was moved perpendicular to its usual position.  Across from it was a new merch trailer.  I’d take a look, but I have no more room for new t-shirts.  I picked up a corn-in-the-cup for dinner and then checked out the altered landscape across the street from the stadium.  What had been ratty old dorms that collected foul balls was now only trees . . . and moonscape?  The ground was all grey under the trees.  I’m not sure what was on the ground, but it was kind of scary-looking.

 

Inside the stadium, I found Michael, Aggie Baseball’s biggest fan, sitting in his usual spot.  I was glad to see him.  We chatted during the game.  He’s convinced AD Moccia ran off Football coach, Jerry Kill.  He’s not sure what happened, but it was acrimonious.  I’m sure Mario didn’t want Kill to leave, but there was plenty of friction between them.  The rest of the crowd was a full house at 875.  South Dakota State also brought a considerable group of fans with them. 

 

The Aggies were dressed in all white uniforms.  Even the numbers were white and only outlined in crimson.  That made identifying players by numbers a bit difficult.  New Aggie coach Jake Angier apparently played for the Jackrabbits and even under their current coach.  This explains why they’re here (and also their home field is under a couple of feet of snow).    

Play ball!  Trey Meza started for the Aggies.  He had a rough first giving up a two-run homer.  It was nearly called back.  An ump saw the ball hit a tree limb and come back onto the field.  The umps gathered and decided the limb was behind the wall and it counted.  I’d seen a game last year or the year before where that happened and it benefited the Aggies.  2-0 Jacks (as per the name on their jerseys). 

 

The Aggies got three baserunners on in the bottom without a hit (two walks and a hit batter), but also had a double play turned on them.  Oooh, Aggie Volleyball came in to support the team.  I think they had a couple of new members with them.  The team sat down nearby me.  Though I had something to say to a couple of the closest girls, I couldn’t do it.  I didn’t want to possibly irritate anybody with my gushing.  If I were a booster, I’d probably think I was entitled to chat them up.

Trey (it was Treyjen last year) settled down after a walk and a wild pitch to start the second, but allowed no further damage.  In the bottom, catcher Nick Gore reached first after a strikeout that ended in a wild pitch.  I missed Ron being there with me, since he was obsessed with that kind of play.  Meanwhile my obsession, the Hot Pan-Am Girl came out between innings to toss t-shirts to the crowd.  She seemed to really enjoy it.  The Volleyball girls and the frat guys behind me went crazy for the shirts.  The Volleyball girls didn’t get anything until the next inning when some Raising Cane’s merch was tossed out.

 

Meza gave up another two-run homer in the third.  I was starting to have flashbacks of last season.  4-0 Jacks.  The Aggies had two hits to start the bottom, but another DP ended the rally.  On the radio, Adam Young reported the happy totals from Softball’s win over Nebraska.  He was also saying that two hot tubs were being installed at the baseball park.  Huh?  I feel I didn’t catch everything he was saying.  I ran it past Michael.  He said, “Why?”

 

Top of the fourth and Meza was in form striking out the side.  The Aggies also had a quick inning.  Ryleigh Whitekettle from the Volleyball team came and sat nearby.  Even though I’ve chatted with her before, (3-4-23) now I was more afraid to say anything.  She was also in a midriff and distracted me from my baseball scoring.  (Yes, it was too cold for that outfit.)

 

To the top of the fifth, Romeo Ballesteros at short started a nice double play and Keith Jones in left made a sweet sliding catch on a shallow flyball.  My Volleyball sweetheart, Maggie Lightheart, screamed the loudest and got the Hot Pan-Am Girl to toss her a hat.  Oh my, another crush entered.  Mya Hammack from the Soccer team came in.  I still have her poster up on my refrigerator.  Unfortunately, she may have been there with a boyfriend.  I’m crushed.  (This may have implications for next season in terms of me going out to any more soccer games.) 

 

It had been a pretty good game for the Jackrabbits to this point.  In the bottom of the fifth, the wheels came off.  Romeo started with a single and Keith drove him in with a two-run homer.  The crowd erupted.  Romeo hyped up the dugout as he ran to home plate.  To add injury to insult, Jack catcher, Jayden Gibson, took a foul, “below the waist,” as Adam described.  He stayed in and got a round of applause from the crowd.

 

The shots to the Rabbits’ nuts kept coming to the tune of five-straight walks in a row.  Even a pitching change didn’t break up the streak.  Two more runs trotted home along with another run on a wild pitch.  Romeo came back up and delivered the coup de grace with a two-run single.  When the dust cleared, the Aggies were now up 7-2.  What an inning!

 

Another double play helped out Meza in his final inning in the sixth.  In the bottom, local high school star, Steve Solarzano, made his college debut memorable with a solo home run to center.  He was pumped as he stomped on home plate to score.  8-2 Aggies. 

 

As darkness started to fall and it was getting cold, some of the crowd left.  The seventh inning was a pair of 1-2-3 frames.  A towering foul popup came into the stands.  That was a little scary as hit a section over from me. 

 

In the top of the eighth, Fernando Barreda worked his second inning for the Aggies.  He gave up a two-run homer (that was the fourth of the game), but a great DP (the fifth of the game) ended the inning.  8-6 Aggies.  The Aggies got two on to start the bottom, but couldn’t move them.  Jordan Sagedahl at third for the Jacks made a great spear dive for an out.  Even Aggie fans applauded.

 

Reliever Hayden Lewis came in for the ninth for the Aggies.  Mitch Namie helped him out with a spear grab at first.  Lewis kept losing his hat on the mound, but only gave up a single on his way to the save and an 8-6 Aggie victory.

 

That was about two-and-a-half hours of great baseball.  I’ll hand out the Gameballs.  For the Jackrabbits, Reece Anderson went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer.  For the Aggies, I’ll take the local kid, Steve Solorzano, going 2 for 3 with a home run, Keith Jones hitting a two-run homer, and Hayden Lewis for his save.  This was a good start to the season for Aggie Baseball. 

NM State vs NE Softball Game 2

With that, I hustled back over to the Softball Complex for back end of their double header.  AD Moccia saw me three times today in three different places.  Not to mention, I sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame three times today. 

 

I got there in the fifth with the Aggies down 3-1 to Nebraska.  The Cornhuskers had a line drive solo home run in the seventh to make it 4-1, which was the final.  The Aggie fans did manage to call out the NE fans for not doing the Wave in the sixth.  “Come on, Nebraska!” shouted one fan, who might have had a couple adult beverages. 

 

I was briefly concerned as I saw waves of smoke coming from behind the Aggie dugout.  From the smell, it was apparently a barbeque for the players after the game (possibly burned).  A couple of ladies behind me were chatting about the baseball game and wondered who won.  I jumped in with the score.  This was slightly embarrassing, as one of the women identified herself as the Director of Baseball Operations.  The position apparently doesn’t involve staying to watch their games.  They saw me taking notes and working on my baseball scorecards and asked at the end of the game if I was working for somebody.  No, I’m just an idiot paying admission to do this for my blog.