NM State Aggies vs #25 UTSA Roadrunners Baseball 3-8-26

 

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.

NM State Aggies vs LA Tech Bulldogs Softball 3-7-26

 

[Running a little late this week on recaps after what happened Sunday evening.] Let’s catch up with Aggie Softball. The team went to the Sundevil Classic in Arizona and dropped 4 of 5, but did get a win against #21 ASU. At the UTSA Tournament, they did better, going 3 of 5, including a win over host UTSA. (I’m not doing a detailed recap of 10 games I wasn’t at or watched.)

I’m going to do a little digression to Aggie Men’s Basketball. (I don’t know where else to put this.) They played Jax State on Thursday and were in a must-win situation to get to the C-USA Tournament. The team came out flat. The Aggies went down by 15 three times, but battled back. At the end of the game, Jayland Randall was fouled on a 3-pointer and made 3 clutch free throws to tie the game to send it to overtime. The 6,600 in attendance were going crazy, but became deathly quiet on those free throw attempts.

Two Aggies fouled out, including Juice Mims. Jemel Jones hit a 3 pointer for 4 point lead in OT. The Aggies committed a foul in the last seconds. The Gamecocks got 2 attempts at missing the final free throw to get a final shot, but missed it. Aggies win, 77-75, and also beat the refs, who were really against them at times. However, UTEP, who was fighting NMSU for that final spot, won their game at the same time, so this would go down to the final game on Saturday.

Back to Softball, the Aggies were playing LA Tech for their first conference game on Friday. Aggie Baseball was playing at the same time, both on the radio. I listened mostly to Baseball, which wasn’t a great decision. (They were badly beaten.) The Softball game was at least a blowout in the Aggies’ favor. It was 14-0 in the fourth with the Aggies getting home runs from five different players. The fifth and final inning was shaky with a 3-run homer by LA Tech’s Reagan Marchant, C-USA’s preseason Player of Year, but the Aggies got the 14-5 run rule win.

Back to Basketball on Saturday afternoon (this overlaps with Softball), the Aggies were playing the Kennesaw State Owls, but there was some scoreboard watching. UTEP had started playing Jax State an hour before. As that game went into the final minutes, I flipped over to listen to it. It was very close. UTEP tied it with 2 free throws, but Jax State won it with a buzzer beater, 63-61. This eliminated the Miners from the tournament and put the Aggies in. A Miner fan nearly got into a chair-throwing fight with the Gamecocks after the game. That’s dedication.

It was odd scheduling today with Men’s Basketball, Softball, and Baseball all going on with overlapping start times and on the radio on three different stations. I wonder if that’s ever happened before. What a bad time for broadcaster Adam Young to still be out sick.

I took off for the Softball game. In addition to the Pan-Am Center parking lot being full for Basketball, I saw a Pee-Wee Football game going on in the running park, a Soccer tournament going on next door to Softball, and I could see Baseball was warming up beyond the outfield wall. I saw Coach Rodolph coming in after me. She was harassed at the gate. She talked to a couple of people and left before the game started.

It was a good crowd (no stats on attendance). There was a hot sun out, but a cool breeze. They sort of canceled each other out and it was pleasant. A little girls’ softball team player threw out the first pitch. (A little more on them later.) The game actually started a couple of minutes early. Somebody was in a hurry.

Destiny Perez was the Aggie starter. She muffed one of her warm up pitches and laughed. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bad omen. Destiny gave up 3 walks (one on a time violation) and then a grand slam home run to center by Marchant to begin the game. 4-0 LA Tech right off the bat (pardon the pun).

Take Two. Zantelle Rodriguez came in. Skye Johnson made a nice running catch in left field for the first out. Devin Elam then fielded a shallow hit to right, but managed to throw out the runner at first. The radio announcer, whose name I just could not catch, said, “That’s the first time I’ve written 9-3 in a scorebook.” Zantelle finished off the inning with LA Tech up 4-0.

There was a t-shirt toss between innings. A little girl got a t-shirt. She handed it off to another little girl, which was sweet. In the bottom of the first, the Aggies got two on. A muffed grounder loaded the bases with one out, but Bulldog pitcher, Laney Johnson, wriggled out of it with a line out and a looking strikeout. She was grunting on some pitches, I think fastballs.

I was keeping up with Men’s Basketball on the radio. With a minute left, I switched over to listen to the end. It was very tense, but the Aggies held on for a 79-76 win. Since the Aggies were already in the tournament and the game didn’t mean anything, this was a good win. Once again, it was great crowd of 5,300.

A lady below me brought in popcorn bucket filled with nachos. I didn’t know that was an option. I was sort of disgusted, but somewhat intrigued. Zantelle had a good top of the second with two strikeouts. Jade Valladares also made a slick play at third.

Former AD Mario Moccia came in. He greeted a couple of people and went to the pressbox. The Aggies struck back in the bottom of second. Two singles and a hit batter set up Devin for a grand slam to center. Johnson got the first out and Gracie Flores at third made a great dive play on ball down the line, but just missed the runner at first. That was too bad for the Bulldogs, as Tamara Carranza then cranked out a 2-run homer to center. You can tell where the wind was blowing out. 6-4 Aggies.

In the top of the third, the wind was picking up. Bradi Galloway began the inning with a line drive home run to right center for LA Tech. After a double and a walk, Taryn Bennett was brought in. Her first pitch was a 3-run home run to center to Flores. In fairness, it was a popup that caught the Jetstream. Taryn settled down and finished the inning, but the Bulldogs were up, 8-6. The PA announced autographs for tomorrow. Going to Baseball tomorrow was now in jeopardy.

In the bottom of the third, Jade was hit for second time and in the same place, the knee. Marchant made a long stretch at first to corral a high throw from Flores for the second out, but Jade advanced. Devin hit a little single up the middle. Jade acted like a pick on the grounder and it went through and allowed her to score. 8-7 LA Tech. A troop of little girls started chasing foul balls during the inning.

The little girls’ softball team was recognized. They were the 10-and-under National Champions and they were from New Mexico. Congratulations, ladies. They were introduced one at a time and given a gift bag. The top of the fourth began with a comebacker that took off Taryn’s glove, which would be a single. Skye made another running catch in left field, but then Gallaway came up and hooked a 2-run home run to right just inside the pole.

This chased Taryn from the game and brought in freshman Kalena Lemus. With six pitchers on staff, I wonder if she imagined pitching this much after just joining the team. LA Tech catcher, Reese Torres tripled down the right field line and beat the tag at third base. Who says, “Catchers can’t run?” Flores drove her in with a single. A guy blustered in from the Basketball game and asked if I was the official scorekeeper, as he stood in front of me so that I missed final play of inning. Good thing I wasn’t the official scorekeeper. 11-7 LA Tech.

Skye did it with the bat to start the bottom of the fourth, as she homered to start the inning. 11-8 Bulldogs. In the inning, a grounder took a nasty bounce and injured Gallaway at shortstop. She stayed in. Also, a foul ball hits top of pressbox. The radio announcer was unconcerned. 11-8 Aggies.

The top of the fifth began with another bad hop on the infield, which handed Johnna Aragon an error at second. The infield looks nice, but given all the fumbled grounders I’ve seen this season, maybe they should reconsider some of these error calls. Taylor Baca made a dive on shallow liner to center for the first out. Tamara took out the lead runner at third on a fielder’s choice. Makenzie Jones was the new third baseman this inning. Jade’s twice-hit knee might have been swelling up on her. The Bulldogs got two on, but Kalena closed out the inning without allowing a run.

The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, though LA Tech brought in a new pitcher to get the final out. Some fans started leaving for baseball, which would be starting soon. The softball field was now in shadow. The sun was still up, but it was turning cold.

Top of the sixth, Kalena accidentally threw behind Marchant’s back during her at bat. Kalena visibly went, Oops! Marchant hit a line drive homer to center. She might have been mad. Kalena then went way inside on the next batter and cringed. After surrendering a double and getting a strikeout, Kalena gave up a 2-run homer to Aleah Brooks. Kalena gave way to Destiny returning to the circle. 14-8 LA Tech.

More fans were deserting and likely not for the Baseball game. There was a noise of something hitting the metal stands. It was a kid throwing around some Skittles that had been spilled earlier in the game. I love Skittles. This kind of hurt to witness. Destiny got the second out. Allie Furr laid down a bunt next. The ball spun back to the bat lying on the ground, as Furr made it to first. Everyone questioned whether this should stand, except for the umpire, who said it was a safe hit. Destiny finished off the inning deflecting a grounder that Tamara caught and fed Johnna for the final out.

The lights were on at Softball and Baseball, as the game started next door. Bryannah Campos began her second inning of work in the bottom of the sixth. She got two strikeouts, but had loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and a hit batter. Kendal Lunar came in to pinch hit and doubled down the line and brought in 2 runs. Makenzie came up and made a slap hit to right field. Furr made a running catch, but it popped out of her mitt. 2 more runs scored. Both runs were unearned on the error, but Mak got 2 RBI’s on the play.

Allie Floyd, preseason Pitcher of the Year, came in with the score, 14-12 Bulldogs. Floyd’s first pitch popped out of catcher’s mitt. Mak scored with a head first slide on the passed ball. Madi Buchman came up and singled, but it was waved off for some reason. This confused me and the radio announcer. Never mind, Madi f-ing hammered a bomb to center to tie it. Thanks for the second chance, ump! An error at first put Devin on and pinch hitter, Destan Burks, doubled her in to give the Aggies a 15-14 lead. Too bad all those people left.

I’d wondered why Faith Aragon, the Aggies’ best hitter, was taken out for Destan in the previous inning. She was warming up as the Aggies’ best pitcher to come for the seventh. Faith began the inning with a getting an out on a comebacker. She hit the next batter and walked the next two. She stared in on a couple of questionable ball calls. The remaining crowd was angry.

She threw Ball 1 to next batter. Pitching Coach Paige Bachman, Madi’s older sister, came out for a talk. What happened next was three-straight swinging strikes. The final batter harmlessly popped out on the infield. Aggies win, 15-14! They’d come back from down 4 and then down by 6.

Gameballs for LA Tech, Bradi Gallaway went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s from 2 home runs. Gracie Flores had 4 RBI’s with a 3-run homer. Raegan Marchant went 3 for 4 with 5 RBI’s from 2 home runs, including a grand slam.

Plenty more Gameballs for the Aggies. Devin Elam had 5 RBI’s, including a grand slam home run. Skye Johnson went 4 for 5 with an RBI from a home run. Madi Bachman was 2 for 4 with a crusher of a home run. I have to shout out Destiny Perez. After her disastrous start, she did a good job coming back in later. Faith Aragon had a quiet day at the plate (0 for 4), but her 1 inning of relief got her and the team the win. Our star of the game is Coach Bachman. What did she say to Faith? I’ll have to ask at autographs tomorrow.

The game went 2 hours and 30 minutes. I was cold by end, so I glad that the game finished when it did. There was a brilliant orange twilight with Jupiter shining over the horizon. (I looked it up on a stellar cartography program.) I came back home and listened to the Saturday night Baseball game.  I decided that I’d be back for more Softball on Sunday.

NM State Aggies vs Jax State Gamecocks Women’s Basketball 2-28-26

Since that crushing loss to UTEP, the Aggie Women’s Basketball team has won at home against Kennesaw State, 52-40. The Owls had a 20-11 lead after the first quarter (starting off at 15-2), but were held to single-digits totals for the next three quarters. Lucia Yenes led with 21 points. Freshman Senoj Jones had 14 and Lucia Lara had 10 rebounds. I’m glad to see Lucia L. in there and doing well and Senoj has future star potential. The Aggies forced 27 turnovers and 14 team steals (3 by Emma Christiano along with 4 assists). Iyana Beh even scored on a free throw. (I’m rooting for her, too.)

Meanwhile, the Aggie Men’s Basketball team was playing WKU on the road and lost badly, 93-70. I missed the beginning of the game coverage on the radio. I only missed the Hilltoppers getting out to a 17-0 start. After the game, Coach Hooten didn’t want to talk about it. Two Aggies had good games, at least: Juice Mims scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and Jae’Coby Osborne had 12 points and 9 rebounds.

The Men played Middle Tennessee on the road in the morning before the Women would play here. I’d be lying if I said I was listening to the game on the radio. I did check in here and there. The Aggies were up 14 points into the second half. When I finally started really listening, it was down to a 3-point lead in the closing minutes. A Jemel Jones’ 3 briefly made it a 6-point lead, but the Blue Raiders would tie it in the final seconds. The Aggies had the last shot, but missed it. It was 76 all going to OT.

The refs waved off a goaltending call that would have given the Aggies a lead. The Aggies were down by 1 in the final seconds and missed the last shot. 86-85 MT final. Jemel led the Aggies with 34 points, which is kind of awesome. Unfortunately, he missed a couple of shots at the wrong time. Three other Aggies players were in double figures shooting. Coach Hooten seemed rather cavalier in the interview afterward.

I took right off after that game to the Pan-Am Center for the final Aggie Women’s home game against Jax State. Charming Sydney McIntosh again greeted me inside the door. She was signing up people for a Harlem Globetrotter ticket giveaway. I told her I’d already seen them here as a kid in the 70’s. In other words, let some other kid see them.

The Roadrunner Revue band, Pistol Pete (the one without the mustache, the other one is still undergoing therapy because of the Oklahoma fans), the Cheerleaders, and the Sundancers were all present. It didn’t seem like the crowd showed up, but officially it was 904. I have to question that number just from eyeballing it and from being at last week’s rivalry game against UTEP, which was only listed at 712. The steam cannons from that game were still set up and I appreciated the musical cues from the PA to start this game. All I could think of, though, was that I was missing a NASCAR race for this.

First Quarter

The scorecard added up correctly the first time. Given this was a low-scoring game, I should have gotten the scoring right this late in the season, but it’s always a challenge. Imani Warren was not starting for the Aggies, but was in the lineup to play. This seemed like a troubling sign. Lucia L. started in her place.

The Aggie defense forced two turnovers without a shot on the Gamecocks’ first two possessions. Emma found Senoj for the first points of the game. To this point, it all seemed normal. What was more indicative were the misses that followed by both teams. Eventually, Senoj made a jumper and it was 4-1 Aggies with 5’ left in the quarter.

Imani finally came in after a timeout. Lucia L. missed a couple of shots, but was pulling down some rebounds. She grabbed one reaching over a defender’s head. Morane Dossou came in and grabbed a couple of quick rebounds. Mina Djurojevic came in for the Cocks. She was a tall, pretty Serbian with hypnotically silky blonde hair. Adriana Jones put the Cocks up 4-6 with a 3 with 1’ left. That would be how the first quarter ended . . . with 10 combined points. There were a couple of guys doing running commentary behind me. Their summation was, “The refs are winning.” There were several fouls on the Aggies in the quarter.

Second Quarter

The Sundancers performed during the break. It was a surprising routine with a lot of ballet mixed in. I should have guessed these girls all had had ballet training. The Band gave them an extra cheer when they came back to the sidelines. Lucia L. picked up a second quick foul and came out for Nikki Stanic. She blocked a shot.

Statler and Waldrof behind me commented, “How long do you think they can go without scoring? That was a worthwhile question. The Cocks had put in a few baskets, but the Aggies couldn’t buy one. Finally, Deavion Hudson came in and hit a layup to make it, 6-11 JS with 7’ left in the quarter. I think that was 8 minutes without a basket.

After that, the Aggies got called for offensive fouls on their next two possessions. The crowd was getting unruly towards the refs. They picked up another foul on their next possession. Anna Csenyi was called for a second foul. Both times, she was shocked and pointed to herself, “Who? Me?” The crowd was booing.

In the stoppage, a guy rolled for the Monopoly game. Instead of winning money, he got Go To Jail result. The crowd booed more. Quick, send the Cheerleaders out to throw more souvenirs to the crowd. Yay! They were cheering again. Before play resumed, the Band started chanting, “We want new refs!”

Emma put up a jumper to make it, 8-15 JS with 3’ left. Imani drew a foul going to the basket. The crowd was amazed to finally get a call their way. She made both free throws. 10-17 JS 2’ left. Emma made a bounce pass to Morane for a layup. Lucia L. made a bunny at the rim. Cocker Mya Barnes made a block on Morane. Imani made a layup on the Aggies’ last possession. However, the Aggies finished the half down, 16-23.

Halftime

Okay, this was new. A dance group performed for halftime, but it was a group of middle aged dancers. It was sort modern and sort of ballroom and well done. They performed a long routine and were into it. A couple of the Sundancers were watching and appreciated the effort. One of the dancer ladies was wearing a mask. I have to question this woman being involved in this activity when she’d surely be safer locked up at home.

I went to the bathroom. I considered changing seats so that I could watch a game playing on a TV in one of suites. Maybe it’d be a better game. I noticed Mia Fox and Zoe Ziegler in the crowd representing Aggie Volleyball. The team’s been pretty faithful supporting the girls.

Third Quarter

Emma took a charge in the lane from a much bigger girl. It wouldn’t be an Aggie game without Emma hitting the deck on a charge. Lucia hit an open jumper to make it, 20-23 with 8’ left in the quarter. It seemed like the Aggies were about to make a game of it, but this would actually be as close as it got.

Anna took another foul from forcing a Cocker into the sideline table on a fast break. “Good foul,” said the guys behind me. Barnes hit a 3 and suddenly it was, 22-33 JS with 6’ left. (Obviously, they scored a few more times than that.) In the timeout, Coach Adams and Emma started going at it on court. It was not an insignificant argument. At the beginning of the season, Emma was going over to the Coach for guidance in every stoppage. What is going on here? Before play resumed, the Aggie girls had a long huddle on court.

Lucia found Senoj under the basket for a layup. Adriana Jones made a 3 for the Cocks, but Anna replied with an Aggie 3. Still, it was 27-36 JS with 3’ left. The margin increased to 27-40 with 2’ left, when a timeout was called. In the break, a girl played the card match game and won. It was surprising because she was so disinterested while doing it. The guys behind me were shouting, “Faster!” The girl came back to her seat profoundly unhappy. Was she forced into it or didn’t like the free tickets as a prize?

Iyana came into the game and would make a block. Lucia L. made a block. Anna hit another 3. The refs missed an obvious travel call and set the crowd off again. It was 30-47 JS going into the final quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The crowd was just mad at everyone now. Thank goodness Wave the Wonder Dog didn’t show up for this game. He didn’t need to see this. Iyana fought for a rebound and got it, but the Aggies turned it over anyway on a foul by Imani. Coach Adams had sent out a strange lineup to start the fourth without a point guard. It was as confused as you’d think on two possessions. Emma was put back in. Imani came out in an obviously very bad mood.

The crowd was becoming ominously quiet as the score was getting worse. Senoj got the rebound on a missed 3 and put it in for a layup. Mina got smacked down hard to the court on the play. She had to come out and was walking off slowly. Barnes put in another 3. She was completely wide open for the entire possession. I can’t believe it took several passes for the Cocks to find her. Even I saw she unguarded. 34-52 JS 6’ left in the game.

The pretty Aggie trainer was complaining at the refs for a Travel call. She was still into the game. I’ll miss seeing her. During a timeout, PA Ed thanked Aggie Nation for their support this season. Issuing a heartfelt apology for this game would have also been in order. Forget NASCAR, I’m missing Gilmore Girls right now for this. (I started watching this show on the weekends. I really can’t explain why.) Even the two JS parents in the crowd were clearly not entertained by this game.

For some reason, both coaches called timeouts in the final minute. I think Coach Adams meant to do something with the seniors, but I don’t think it happened. One good thing came of it, Abril Ricart-Mensah came in off the deep bench for the Cocks. She was very pretty. Well, that was the final highlight. Aggies lose 38-57.

This was an entirely winnable game. The Gamecocks were not that good a team and didn’t even play that well today. This isn’t sour grapes; the Aggies were just that bad. The Cocks shot 37% to the Aggies’ 28% and 31% to 16% on 3’s. A lot of JS’ 3’s came when the team was already well up and the Aggies couldn’t answer. The Cocks shot 90% on their free throws for 18 points. This is significant because JS was called for 9 fouls, while the Aggies were called for 23. Maybe the crowd was right about the refs. (Maybe the Aggies completely broke down in discipline.)

Mya Barnes led Jax State with 13 points. Adriana Jones had 12 points and Kyera Thornsbury had 11. For the Aggies, Senoj Jones at least had a good game with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Morane Dossou only had 2 points, but pulled down 11 rebounds. Anna Csenyi had 8 points with two 3’s and was hustling.

I’m not criticizing all the players’ efforts, but if Lucia Yenes or Imani Warren aren’t scoring, the Aggies aren’t winning. The Coach wasn’t even putting them in that much. The lineups out on the floor seemed almost random at times. There’s clearly some kind of friction between Coach Adams and some of the players. I’d suspect a house cleaning of players in the offseason. I didn’t see AD Fields at the game, but if he was or had been there, I could see him cleaning out the coaching staff, too.

It just felt like the whole team and the Coach quit, not on playing hard, but on each other and the fans. I didn’t want it to end like this. I’m already planning on not getting an Aggie Country Pass next season, but I thought I might come back for a couple of Women’s Basketball games to see Emma as a senior. Now, I’m washing my hands of this.

The team went around the sidelines. Lucia L. was in tears going around greeting fans. Poor thing. She was playing hard. Next season, some of those missed shots will drop for her. I just don’t know if she’ll be playing for the Aggies. On the way out, I was behind a family with a little girl wearing a giveaway t-shirt several sizes too big for her and holding souvenir ball. She had a good time, at least.

I’d like to report on having a good a good dinner, but my grilled cheese sandwich with macaroni from Roni’s wasn’t that great. It was kind of flavorless and irritated my stomach. This week at work I had a Jimmie John’s sub with my name on it and a leftover jug of McAlister’s sweet tea stolen from the fridge from me. It’s been that kind of week.

I again decided to miss the Aggie Baseball nightcap. It was a nice night, but I didn’t want to go to another game, especially since I could listen to it on the radio. Adam Young, who was calling the basketball game for TV, also called the Baseball game. He’s got stamina. Anyway, I’m done with Aggie Basketball for the season unless they give me a good reason to write about them.