The Aggies had a productive road trip going 4-1. They beat conference opponent, Liberty, two of three, wrapped around a couple of non-conference wins. Cooper Reese pitched three scoreless innings and picked up a win in relief. (Sitting next his dad, Trey, I have a rooting interest in Cooper’s performance.) Even better, Steve Solorzano pitched for the first time and had 3 innings of scoreless relief for an extra innings win.
Friday night, the Aggies returned home to play the Dallas Baptist Patriots. I’d wanted to go the game for the “Aggies in the MLB” giveaway poster, but didn’t feel like I could get off work. That was just as well as they lost badly, 14-7, just avoiding a run rule. Starter Jack Turner had one really bad inning in the fourth and gave up 8 runs.
At the same time, Aggie Softball was playing Sam Houston next door. (Thanks to whoever made this season’s schedule.) They won 8-4 behind Desirae Spearman pitching a complete game and hitting a homer. Three other Aggies homered in the game. It was windy out. I wonder if that was driving the ball tonight.
For today’s Saturday game, I couldn’t figure out what to wear. It was hot in the sun, but with a cold breeze. Also, this game would finish at night. The wind was going from breezy to gusting. There were clouds and it sometimes looked like rain, but then it was clear and sunny. I left without sunglasses and regretted it. The wind picked up just as I left for the stadium.
Driving in, I saw a small, intimate tailgate going on out on the moonscape behind the stadium. Not exactly the most scenic place for a picnic. Inside, I met up with Fan Michael, Trey, and Ken. Trey was busy buying bottled water for his wife, daughter, and several members of the Volleyball team. The girls looked quite lovely wearing pastel sundresses. There was a decent crowd of 487. There were several kids and some adults styling in MLB jerseys.
On field, Men’s Basketball Coach Jason Hooten threw out the first pitch. He looked damn happy to be there. DBU was wearing some sharp uniforms. They had red tops with blue lettering. They also brought a very pretty team photographer. I was finally formally introduced to our pretty team photographer, Destiny. She really is a sweetheart. She’s also engaged. I think Michael told also told me that the Hot Marketing girl is going out with Mitch Namie on the team. Well, we’ll let those two go.
Michael also mentioned that the Aggies turned a triple play on the road. I hope there’s a clip of that somewhere. That was surprising, but not a surprising as a further disclosure. For last night’s Greek Night, Coach Angier bought all of the students a free beer. One, given ballpark prices, that must have been enormously expensive. Two, there isn’t an NCAA regulation prohibiting this?
What a day to capriciously decide to use pen on my scorecards. I didn’t even get the score right. Regardless, I do disagree with some of the official scoring. My troubles started when the PA announced the lineups and I missed a bunch while having a conversation. It went downhill from there.
Ferny Barreda started for the Aggies. The second batter of the first inning cranked one right into the jetstream and it flew out for an easy home run. The wind was blowing out to right. Michael was groaning, “It’s just like yesterday.” Boston Vest at third made a nice play afterward. He fell on a liner, but still managed to throw out the runner at first. 1-0 DBU.
The Aggies were not taking this lying down today. They scored 5 in the bottom of the first. They got some help from some wild pitching from the DBU starter, James Ellwanger, with 2 walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch, and two-base error on a pickoff throw. 5-1 Aggies.
I was listening on the radio to the next door Softball game. (Baseball was on TV this weekend.) They were already through three innings. It was 1-0 and Aggie pitcher, Faith Aragon, already had 7 strikeouts. I think the wind was blowing in over there. Ferny settled down in the second, though I muffed the scorecard and missed an out. Ellwanger did not settle down. He walked two more and had a wild pitch, which brought in a run, before being relieved. The Patriots made a nifty double play going from first to second and back to first with an impressive stretch by the first baseman. 6-1 Aggies.
Aggie Softball started driving some runs in and increased their lead to 6-0. There were two plays at the plate. One scored, but the second one was nailed and was the final out. Back to Baseball in the third, Ferny gave up a couple of runs on a walk and two singles. A double play got him out of the inning. 6-3 Aggies. There was another double play in the bottom of the inning. This was followed by another in the top of the fourth. Solorzano made a dive stop at first, threw to second, and got the return throw.
No double plays in the bottom of the fourth. The Aggies got two on via a walk and a hit batter, but didn’t score. An absurdly cute fluffy dog strolled by in the inning. Michael said it was Kade Benevidez’s dog, Maverick. Over at Softball, Desirae Spearman ended the game with a run rule 2-run homer. I wonder if she hit it into the wind. 8-0 Aggie victory.
Meanwhile, Baseball wasn’t even close to done. The Aggies brought in Jaden Davis in the fourth. He got the first two outs in the fifth, but then a walk, a hit batter, and two errors brought in two runs and chased him from the game. 6-5 Aggies. More importantly, a flyball out in the inning activated a $1 hot dog promotion. I saw some kids walk by carrying a bundle. In the aisle, a guy and his dad, who was in a wheelchair, got their picture taken with the field behind them. They looked like they were having a good time.
The wind was dying down a bit. It wasn't that bad in the stands, but I had some grit in my mouth and my eyes were itchy. After a walk and a double, the Aggies scored two in the bottom of the fifth. Boston singled in a run and Dane Woodcook executed a squeeze play for another. 8-5 Aggies.
The Volleyball girls went to the concessions, but came back disgruntled. A pretty redhead that must be new to the team complained, “They're out of hot dogs! I'm disappointed in Aggie Baseball!” She's got a point, but that $1 dog promotion apparently went over well. After giving up a solo home run in the top of the sixth along with a walk and a wild pitch, Aggie reliever Dylan Weekly gave way to Saul Soto. Shortstop Brandon Forrester made a good play on a grounder by getting the lead runner at third. Dane threw out a runner trying to steal to end the inning. 8-6 Aggies.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Aggies had another big inning. Tommy Meluskey found the jetstream to right and hit out a 3-run homer. Boston followed that up with a solo homer to left. That was his first college home run. I didn't see it, but I think he flipped his bat to the DBU dugout. I did see the bat get tossed back to the field. The umps warned both benches afterward. 12-6 Aggies.
Saul had a rough top of the seventh, as DBU punched back for 5 runs. There was a walk, a hit batter, 3 singles, and 2 doubles. Luke Heefner drove in 3 with a double. Boston made a good play on a popup. The ball went foul, but he stuck with it as it blew back fair. 12-11 Aggies. In the bottom, a single, 2 walks, 2 wild pitches, and fielder's choice RBI gave the Aggies a run, but they left the bases loaded. 13-11 Aggies.
The eighth stared off with Saul changing his belt on the mound. It didn't help, as he walked the first batter. Solorzano stepped away from first to take the mound. Bryce Campbell, the DH, took his place at first. Solo got a double play, the third for the Aggies and the fifth of the game, and a strikeout. In the bottom, the Aggies loaded the bases with a walk, a single, and a hit batter, but did not score. It seemed ominous that the Aggies had left the bases loaded two innings in a row.
The top of the ninth had more foreshadowing. Saul made four pitches to the first batter and walked off the mound. He was cradling his elbow. Saul went to the dugout and slammed his glove down.
Cooper Reese came in. Trey was in a simmering panic. This wasn't the situation he wanted his son to come in on. Cooper walked the first batter with his first pitch, who already had a 3-1 count. He walked the next two before giving up a 2-run double. The coach came and got him and put in Ian Hoslett. Cooper had only thrown 3 strikes in his outing. Unfortunately, Ian didn't do any better. After 6 walks and 2 doubles, DBU had scored 5 and was now leading, 16-13. That would be the final, as Mason Peters came in to close and had 3 strikeouts.
This one hurt my feelings. On top of it, this marathon took almost four hours. I didn't want to cry in front of Mrs. Reese and the Volleyball girls, so I put on a happy face before leaving. Were it not for that ninth inning, DBU would have handed the Aggies a win with 12 walks and 4 hit batters, but after the ninth, it was even on walks.
Oddly for all of the scoring and double plays, I don't have a lot of Gameballs to hand out. For DBU, Keaton Grady went 5 for 5 with 3 RBI's and a home run! I'm sure he didn't want this game to end. Mason Peters' 3-batter ninth was easily the best pitching performance of the night. For the Aggies, I'm just giving one to Tommy Meluskey. He was 1 for 5, but that one was a 3-run homer. Mitch Namie was the only Aggie without a hit today, though he did score twice.
I was pretty gassed after this one, but we'll come back for another tomorrow.
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