I took off for today’s game in a t-shirt. It was very pleasant out. After a five-minute drive to the stadium, I
got out there was suddenly hit with a cold, stiff breeze. It was over 60-degrees, but probably colder
with the wind chill blowing across the stands.
Most of the fans seemed like myself and were unprepared for the sudden
shift in weather. Fan Michael had
grabbed a windbreaker from his car. He
was also listening to the game today on the radio, like I was. I’d made a convert. (It’s the best way to take in a game at the
ballpark.)
Fan Ken sat out today’s game to watch the Indycar Long Beach Grand Prix. Yesterday, he was a little miffed that he was
missing the IMSA race at the same
venue. I admit, I would have liked to
have seen those races myself, though the races there tend to be more glamorous
than dramatic. (And they’re on cable,
which I don’t have.) I was still missing
the Looney Tunes marathon this weekend on TV.
What I’d seen after yesterday’s game had been hysterical. This included three cartoons worth of “Duck Season/Rabbit Season.” Need I say more?
There was a first pitch from a university professor. His family chanted, “Daddy,” during the
pitch. There was a second pitch, but
this was actually a putt with a club from a member of the Aggies’ Women’s Golf team.
(She left it short.
Disappointing.) The Aggie Baseball team photographer had
her hair down today and was dressed a bit more conservatively than usual. She looked beautiful, but she disappeared
early in the game. The Hot Pan Am Girl
was not tossing out souvenirs today. I
felt a bit cheated in entertainment today.
(Crowd-watching is part of the baseball experience.)
It’s hard to imagine with all of the scoring, but
everything added up on my scorecard with the scoreboard. Of course, I’m not checking all the numbers
with the official scoring. That might
damage my ego.
So was the wind a factor in today’s game? Definitely in the top of the first. Yesterday’s cycle-hitter, Armando Becerra for the FIU Panthers, hit a flyball to the
outfield that blew straight out. I think
that was the only shot today that the wind was responsible for. The wind wasn’t really blowing out; it was
blowing uncomfortably on the crowd. 1-0
FIU.
The Aggies struck back in the bottom. Keith
Jones singled and stole second. Mitch Namie doubled him home. He was called out at second, but the second
baseman dropped the ball. Coach Angier complained and umps had a
conference and reversed the call. Who
needs replay? Local player, Steve Solorzano is off the IL and had
been playing this weekend without much luck.
With two on, he hit a liner to first, which was caught and turned into
an unassisted double play by doubling off the runner. 1-1.
Hayden
Walker was the Aggies’ starter.
He was pitching well, but the wind was hurting him. With a runner on, Kishon Frett hit a popup that just drifted out of the infield into
No Man’s Land. Three Aggie defenders
dove for it, but the ball fell in for a bloop double and a run. 2-1 FIU.
Damone Hale led off the
bottom of the second. He walked, stole
second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and was driven in on a sac fly by Edwin Martinez-Pagani. The Aggies tied it at 2, however, the Aggies
left the bases loaded.
Hayden worked out of the top of the third with a strikeout
and a double play. Alex Ulloa threw his helmet after hitting into the DP. The umpire gave him a warning and the FIU
coach pulled him from the game. In the
bottom, Logan Galina was robbed of a
hit on a sliding catch by Frett in the left field. Solorzano hit another liner straight to first
for the second out. The Aggies rallied
and loaded the bases on two singles and a walk.
KJ was hit by a pitch to drive in a run.
Once again though, the Aggies would leave the bases loaded. 3-2 Aggies.
Then the wheels started to come off in the fourth. A walk and two singles drove in a run. Brylan
West doubled in two more. 5-3
FIU. It is worth noting that no one was
warming up in the Aggie bullpen in the inning.
Mitch struck out to start the bottom of the frame. He said something to the ump and got a
warning. Logan was hit by a pitch and Solo
finally got on base via walk, but they were left stranded. Frett made a jumping catch in left for the
final out. He dropped the ball after the
catch. Coach Angier argued the hit with
the ump to no avail.
Then the whole Aggie vehicle exploded to continue the car
analogy. Hayden pitched to six batters in
the fifth without getting an out. EMP
made a couple of hustling plays on defense to no avail. After five runs had scored (including a
three-run homer by Frett), finally Aaron
Treloar was brought in. He gave up a
two-run homer to West. I was at least
comforted that sunlight had finally crept over to where I was sitting. It made it a lot more comfortable in the cool
breeze.
By this point, even the FIU dugout was tired of
cheering. The eighth batter of the
inning was the first out. After just
three batters and a second home run given up by Treloar, Matt Romero was brought in. Third
baseman EMP made an extreme shifted play on a liner, where he was playing next
to first base for out #2. 14 batters
came up in the inning and the Panthers left the bases loaded. 13-3 FIU.
By this point, Adam
Young and Marcel Renteria on the
radio call were relieving the old days doing blow out coverage. The Aggies weren’t able to score in the
bottom of the fifth and the Panthers didn’t score in the top of the sixth. In the bottom, FIU put in their fourth
pitcher of the game. Yes, their coach
was giving an early hook when his pitchers were getting in trouble. The Aggies got three runs trying to stave off
the run rule next inning. Pinch hitter Preston Godfrey singled in a run and
EMP tripled in two runs. 13-6 FIU.
Cho
Tofte came on in the seventh.
He pitched to one batter and walked him.
Coach Angier came out and got him.
The radio said it was for walking someone in that situation. Kade
Benevidez came on and ended up giving up five runs, including a three-run
homer to West (and he walked a batter).
18-6 FIU.
Not only were the Aggies facing a run rule loss in the
seventh, Adam said that it was now 2:00pm and the game was under a travel
curfew and this would be the end of the game regardless. KJ walked to start the inning. He was thrown out trying to take second on a
wild pitch, but then this was overruled when the second baseman dropped the
ball. There was some delay on the call,
which explains my scorecard scribbles. Titus’
groundout was interesting in that the second baseman was playing next to the
shortstop. His throw to first probably
wasn’t in time, but let’s get it other with.
FIU wins 18-6 and sweeps the
series.
For Gameballs, FIU gets two. Brylan
West went 4 for 5 with 7 RBI’s and two home runs. Kishon
Frett went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI’s and a home run, but was pulled from the
game late for some reason. (It’s a bad
sign that the Panther 9-hole hitter, Brendan
Roney, had 5 plate appearances in a 7-inning game.) For the Aggies, Mitch Namie went 3 for 4 with an RBI, and Edwin Martinez-Pagani went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s and really hustled
on defense. Your stat of the game is
14. That’s the number of runners the
Aggies left on base. They had their
chances today.
It was three hours of crushed hopes and dreams for the 456
in attendance. And I thought the fans
were dispirited after the last game. The
team photographer reappeared during the team meeting on field. I did end up behind the Hot Pan Am Girl on
the way out. I had no idea she was
here. I assumed she was a player
girlfriend, but she left and did not go to the “kiss and cry” where the players
were.
Yesterday, I’d gone out with dad to Subway for lunch and to the bookstore. (I’ll have another comic review at some point.) Today, I went to Jack-in-the-Box to use a two free taco coupon. It wasn’t the most filling meal, even with large curly fries, but it tasted really good, especially with an orange Coke. From there, it was back home for more classic cartoons and the marathon. (And a side trip for a chocolate-covered paleta. So much for the diet.) At least my back was feeling better for this game, though I may have re-aggravated it writing this. (Not from the results of the game, just from sitting at the computer.)
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