The title here is misleading. I only saw the last two innings of the game between Aggie Baseball and the UTSA Roadrunners, #25 in the nation. I’d went to Aggie Softball, instead. No regrets, though I was disappointed that the promised autograph session did not manifest. I’d even dressed up a bit. Just as well, there weren’t any kids in the crowd, which are essential for autographs. Instead, I’ll recap a few games leading up to today’s game, as well as some surprising Aggie Women’s Basketball news and some Aggie Men’s Basketball recaps. It’s a potpourri.
On Tuesday, the Aggies played against the undefeated, 12-0, UNM Lobos. Admittedly, I didn’t want to sit out in the cold and didn’t like the Aggies’ chances. Russ Langer did the radio call, as Adam Young, who could barely speak for the Aggie Coach’s Show on Monday, was out. I think I remember on that show, they previewed this game and somebody said that the Lobo’s had played a “soft” schedule, unlike UTSA, who’d played some stiff competition. That sounds like bulletin board material, but let’s see how that analysis plays out.
The Aggies got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, as Tommy Meluskey tripled and Cole Rogers sac’d him in, 1-0. Colton Sneddon started for the Aggies pitching. A missed flyball that turned into a triple got him taken out for Jake Carvajal, who kept the runner from coming in. Meluskey led off the fifth with a homer to make it, 2-0. Brandon Clizbe got on via an error, advanced by passed ball, and was brought in by Boston Vest, 3-0.
The Lobos did come back in the sixth. With 2 on, Carson Timmons came in and gave up a 3-run homer to tie it at 3. In the bottom, there was a failed squeeze play and Steve Solorzano was out at the plate. Rogers drove in a run anyway to give the Aggies back the lead, 4-3.
Russ was doing a good job calling the game. He mentioned he is a baseball broadcaster in the summer in Las Vegas. I thought I’d heard his voice before. I think I’d listened to an Aviators’ broadcast once, when I couldn’t get the El Paso Chihuahuas’ side of the game.
In the top of the seventh, the Lobos loaded the bases with 2 out. Connor Wylde was in and gave up a bases clearing double, which gave the Lobos a 6-4 lead. In the bottom, the Aggies got two on. The Lobos brought in their best pitcher. Russ had barely said that, before Aidan Taclas doubled in both runs. Easton Rulli and Rogers each drove in runs to get the Aggies back in the lead, 8-6.
Aggie defense closed it out. A double play ended the top of the eighth and Wylde finished it off in the ninth. Aggies win, 8-6! Awesome! And I wasn’t there. It was a beautiful day and night too, with a great crowd of over 1,000. I had meant to go, but had talked myself out of it, because I didn’t want to be there late at night and I’d underestimated the team. To make it worse, I’d actually gotten the time wrong. The game started at 4:00 and finished in the early evening. Good job, boys. Bad job by me.
On Friday night, Aggie Baseball took on #25 UTSA. Russ was back calling the game with Adam still out. Russ had some trouble pronouncing some player names, but was otherwise okay. UTSA was coming in with a pretty good resume having beaten Ohio State, DBU, Coastal Carolina, and Baylor, who the Aggies had been swept by early in the season. The Aggie Band was there for the game and played the Anthem. It was a good crowd of 881.
It did not go well for the Aggies. An error in the second brought in 2 runs. In the fourth, the Roadrunners brought in 4 more. When it was 6-0, UTSA was bringing in their bench. It was 8-0 by the seventh.
By the eighth, Russ was talking about basketball. By the ninth, it was 10-0. In the bottom of the inning, the stadium lights went out, thankfully not in the middle of a pitch. I wasn’t watching the clock, but the delay was lengthy. When play finally resumed, he said, “If you’re still listening, I’m a member of your fan club.”
In the delay, Russ started telling a story about his baseball-hating grandfather. Russ’ dad finally talked him into going to a game, because they’d put lights up at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Grandpa didn’t like the game. It was boring. Little Russ read the paper the next day and found out Johnny Vander Meer had pitched his second no-hitter in row for the Reds at that game. It was an absolute all-time historical game.
Well, back to this game. Jonatan Clough pinch hit a triple to drive in a run. The Band was still there. They were loud and chanting in the background. A Chris Daniels fielder’s choice brought in a second run. 10-2 UTSA was the final.
On Saturday, Russ was again doing the commentary. It was 2-0 until the fifth and the Roadrunners opened up the floodgates. As the game got out of hand late, Russ kept trying to tell stories, but the pace of the game was frustrating his attempts. It ended in a 13-0 run rule in the seventh. At that point, I committed to going to Softball in the morning.
That brings us up to the Sunday game. The baseball game was again on the radio, like softball was, so I followed along a bit. A guy sitting next to me was also giving updates on the score. Russ was not available to call this game. Scott Colletti was in with Adam Young either out for the tournament or still out sick. I know I’ve heard that name before, but I don’t remember where. After the softball game, I hustled over to the next door baseball stadium and was waved inside. It was the seventh inning and there were no programs available.
Inside, I said, “Hello,” to Trey, Robin, and Nellie Reese and sat down by Fan Michael. I felt like I needed an explanation for being late, so I said, “Its ‘Spring backward, Fall forward,’ right?” They figured I was at Softball. I could see the bright orange tops of UTSA from the softball stands. They actually had a bat boy, an honest-to-goodness bat boy working for them. I haven’t seen one of those in few years at the stadium.
I don’t have scorecard for this, since the game was well underway. I just made some notes on the game. It was 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh. The Aggies stranded a runner at third. In the top of the eighth, a Roadrunners runner was safe at first on an overthrow, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to second.
In the top of the eighth, the Aggies faced a side-arming pitcher, a rarity in college baseball. The Aggies got a runner to third with 2 outs. Dane Woodcook laid down a bunt for a squeeze play. The pitcher fielded the ball, but missed the first baseman. Woodcook didn’t. The collision was tremendous and Woodcook got the worst of it. He did stay in. Aggies up, 5-4.
Connor Wylde was pitching in the top of the ninth. He gave up a single and hit a batter. A sacrifice moved them into scoring position. There wasn’t a large crowd there, and maybe half was for UTSA, but they were all into it on every pitch. Steve Solorzano squeezed a foul popup for the second out. An intentional walk loaded the bases. A reliever was ready, but Connor talked Coach Angier into letting him stay in. The UTSA fans were doing a rhythmic clap. Aggie fans were chanting, “Let’s go Aggies!” A groundout to second ended the game. Aggies win, 5-4.
After the game, the Aggies lined up for a handshake. Connor and Dane could barely keep the smiles off their faces in the postgame interview. The Roadrunners declined. Oh, well. The game went a tidy two-and-a-half hours. I was lucky I got to see any of it. On the way out, I saw several more Volleyball players beyond Nellie. None of them were together, though. I don’t know if they had been sitting together.
Though I gotten a Whataburger coupon at Softball, I’d been cheated out of a Jimmie John’s sandwich at work the previous week, so I went there. It was tasty and I thanked the workers there. (Cue the ominous music.)
A couple of hours after I got home, my dad called and told me that Coach Jody Adams had been let go of the Aggie Women’s Basketball team. Given that the team had failed to make the tournament and lost their last several games badly, this wasn’t a huge surprise. This firing wasn’t for losing games, so much as for losing the team. I saw their final home game and clearly the players and the Coach were feuding. Somebody had to pay the price. Right now, Coach Hooten of the Men’s team is breathing a sigh of relief that he made the tournament.
Flipping around in the evening, I ran into a WBC game from Houston on Mexican TV. It was Brazil versus Mexico. I knew former Aggie great, Nick Gonzales, was on the Mexican team. He came up and I saw him drive in a run in the first. I didn’t know his former Aggie teammate, Joey Ortiz, was also on the team. [Samy Natera Jr. is also on the team. Fox Broadcasters did mention that, “Playing for New Mexico State does not make you eligible to play for the Mexican national team.] Together again. That’s too cool. Mexico wins in a 16-0 run rule.
A little later, I spent four hours puking up that sandwich from earlier. That really sucked. Needless to say, I didn’t write much that night and that delayed my posts for the week. As the timeline got pushed back, there were several more Aggie Sports events that I’ll go ahead and cover here.
Aggie Baseball played another Tuesday game against the University of the Southwest. Duke Keith did the radio announcing for the game. There was a live Anthem for the game. Aggie Softball was playing the Lobos at the same time. It was cold and raining out, so I was okay with missing being there.
It was 4-0 Aggies after 1 inning and only got more lopsided from there. In the fifth, Jonatan Clough hit the first Aggie homer at 16-1 Aggies. In the sixth, he did it again and it was 20-1. In the seventh, 24-1 Aggies, Duke thought that the run rule would be in effect. It was not. At least the sun came out for a while and it was nice out. I kind of tuned out on listening to most of this one for basketball. The Aggies won, 39-4. Oddly, there were just those 2 home runs. Basically, everyone hit well. Clough was 5 for 7 with 7 RBI’s. Unfortunately, Cooper Reese never came in as a pitcher. That may be a really bad sign for him, unless they were saving him for the weekend.
Over at Softball, it was a 9-1 win over UNM with a run rule. Faith Aragon got the win. Jaileen Mancha was again supposed to start, but didn’t pitch at all. This happened on Sunday, too. Maybe she’s being scratched late for injury after a pregame warm up. Kendal Lunar dealt the big blow with a 3-run double in the fourth. I think Adam Young was back calling the game.
Also on Tuesday, Aggie Men’s Basketball played their first game in the C-USA Basketball Tournament against Jax State. It was basically home game for the Gamecocks, as it wasn’t far from the their home.
The Aggies took a 39-28 lead at the half. Their biggest lead was 14 in the game. However, Jax State made a comeback. It was 65-63 Aggies with a minute left. The Aggies didn’t make their shot, but Juice Mims got the rebound. JS quickly fouled Gabe Pickens, who made 1 free throw, 66-63. The Gamecocks missed their shot and the Aggies got the rebound. The JS big man fouled out and Jayland Randall made both free throws to ice a 68-63 final. Jemel Jones had 17 points and Pickens had 16. Juice only had 3.
The next night, the Aggies played Sam Houston State, Coach Hooten’s old school. Before this game, #1 seed Liberty lost to Missouri St. Liberty was the class of the conference, but fell way off at the end of the season. Tournament was now wide open.
Unfortunately, the Aggies were not shooting well. At the half, it was 37-26 Bearkats. The Aggies got it down to 4 with 10 minutes left, but that was as close as it got. Sam Houston won, 69-61. SH was not shooting that well either, but they were defending and rebounding better. Jemel Jones did well with 19 points. For some reason, Juice Mims barely played in the game. It’s another disappointing season for the Aggie Men’s Basketball. This one was close to catastrophic, as they barely made the tournament. I’d say next season Coach Hooten is definitely on the hot seat.
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