Tuesday, March 26, 2024

NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Softball 3-23-24

Savannah Bejarano

Sort of.  I’m going to get an incomplete on this report.

 

Friday night, I was following along over Twitter with the Aggies playing UTEP, which the Aggies won 9-1 in a run rule.  After the game, I kept refreshing to see if they were going to update the schedule over the weekend.  The plan was to play two more games over Saturday and Sunday.  However, there was a consistent forecast for very high winds on Sunday.  I thought they’d go ahead and make a double header of it on Saturday.

 

Which they did . . .  but didn’t update the schedule until Saturday, where I didn’t see it.  I’m sure they waited to the last minute, since they probably really wanted three sold-out games.  So, I showed up at 5:30 for the 6:00 game and almost had to park over in the baseball lot.  (I rode in behind a cart delivering a 4-ft tall bag of popcorn.)  An usher told me that the game had started at 5:00 and that Sunday’s game would be played right after.  Inside, it was good to see a capacity crowd for the rivalry game.  This did make finding a seat difficult, though.

 


I saw that Xophia Venegas, who I met at baseball, got her picture in the paper promoting this weekend’s games.  Between showing her and Savannah, they’re doing a good job of promoting the team.  No scorecards today, since I arrived in the third inning with UTEP up 2-1.  There were enough weird plays that I was sort of okay with that.  This recap is just going to be some disjointed notes on the game.  It was overcast with a light breeze, or at least, the stands were out of the wind. 

 

About a third of the crowd was UTEP fans.  We’d hear from them later.  The team looked fairly smart their orange “915” jerseys and blue pants.  The Aggies were coming off a successful three-game road sweep.  Desirae Spearman won her third Freshman of the Week honors. 

 

Top of the third, we got what we came for right off the bat.  Jillian Taylor made a leaping catch at the wall to probably rob a home run.  She’s worth the price of admission. 

 

The big crowd was also fun.  Every foul ball out of the stadium produced a horde of kids rushing after it.  The crowd would get a laugh of it.  Then there’d be a giveaway toss and the crowd would go frighteningly insane.  Even the UTEP fans wanted the Aggie swag. 

 

There were lots of dogs in the crowd.  A football player (there were several there) had a bulldog.  There was a dog wearing a big, inflatable collar, like a cone.  There were a couple of service dogs.  One was like a pit bull.  Another was an old, tired German shepherd.  I wanted to give him a hug.  I think it was past his bedtime.  He seemed to just want to sleep.

 

The Aggies put two on in the bottom of the fourth, but didn’t score.  Top of the fifth, Jayleen Burton let one go through the wickets at short.  That put two on with nobody out.  A sacrifice drove in one run.  A single brought in another.  Jillian made a throw from the outfield that was just offline to get her. 

 

Then we had one of those weird scoring plays.  There was an attempted steal of second, which started a rundown.  In the attempt, the runner at third came home and drew a throw that was too late.  The runner from first was still between bases.  Jessica Carreon at second dropped the ball and had trouble picking it up, which allowed the runner to retreat safely back to first. 

 

Then an error by Kayla Lunar at third brought in another run.  The Aggie fans started cheering for the Aggies.  The UTEP fans came back with their own cheering and it became a contest.  Finally, the inning ended with the Miners up, 6-1. 

 

There was a New Mexico state flag (the Zia) souvenir tossed to the crowd.  Yes, the El Paso fans wanted them, too.  There were a couple of softball teams of little girls in the crowd.  They would occasionally become their own cheering section for the Aggies.  I also noticed the crowd on both sides was really getting on to the ump.  (Sometimes, they seemed to have point from what I was seeing.)

 

To the bottom of the fifth and the Aggies got a rally going.  After a double steal with two on, Jillian had an infield hit.  The runner from third scored.  Shockingly, Des came in right behind her and scored.  Jill took second during the play.  Dezianna Patmon came up and hit a two-run homer to make it 6-5 UTEP.

 

The Aggies had brought in a new pitcher during the fifth, Haiven Schoolcraft, who continued in the sixth.  I hadn’t seen her before.  She was throwing hard, but wild.  After a couple of walks, she gave up a three-run homer.  The Aggies brought in yesterday’s starter, Jaileen Mancha.  She gave up a solo home run, which set off the UTEP fans chanting, “Let’s go Miners!”  Des in left field threw out a runner a home on a single to end the inning with UTEP up, 10-5.  The UTEP coach spent a long time arguing the play at the plate, but it wasn’t close.

 

The Aggies were not quitting.  Kayla jacked out a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.  UTEP brought in a new pitcher.  The Aggies managed to load the bases with a walk to Des with nobody out.  Jillian would strikeout, but a wild pitch brought in another run.  Unfortunately, the inning ended with Jessica getting picked by the catcher at third.  The play looked even worse than it sounds.  10-8 UTEP. 

 

There was a brilliant pink and purple sunset to the west with low clouds surrounding it.  The Miners weren’t done scoring, either.  A double drove in two runs.  Jill crashed the centerfield wall going for it.  12-8 UTEP.

 

No quit tonight with the Aggies.  In the bottom of the seventh, Jayleen Burton beat out a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out.  A sac fly brought in a run.  Jessica managed an infield hit to reload the bases with two outs.  Des came up and was walked on four pitches, which drove in another run.  Jill came up and this all felt familiar with the last inning.  After a battle, Jillian struck out to end the game.  UTEP wins 12-10.       

             

In spite of the disappointing result and that I didn’t see the whole game, it was pretty exciting.  I was glad I went.  However, I got up and left right after the game.  No offense to the girls, but I was feeling a little off.  I’d had a busy day and an exhausting week at work and almost didn’t go at all.  Only because the nice weather had held up, I decided to go.  Also, I thought I’d only be there for a couple of hours.  I just didn’t have the stamina tonight to be there for at least a couple more hours. 

 

I watched the local news Saturday night and they showed highlights of the game.  The newscaster then said that Game 3 of the series would be on Sunday.  Apparently, she didn’t get the notification either.  The next day’s weather was as advertised.  At one point in the morning, there was bright sunshine, a 50mph wind, and rain out of nowhere with small bits of hail. 

 

Sunday evening, I got the report about the game.  (The newscaster apologized and said the game decision was made at mid-day yesterday.)  Desirae returned to the circle to pitch.  She hit an inside-the-park home run with the score at 2-2 and that turned out to be the game winner.  The Aggies win 3-2 and win the series.  I’m sensing more honors in Des’ immediate future (Pitcher of the Week in this case, which happened on Monday).

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