NM State Aggies vs Boston University Terriers 2-18-18

When I saw the schedule for the tournament, this 9:00 am Sunday game, I considered really optional for attendance.  I work at night, so getting up early isn’t something I do very willingly.  I also had had a long day at the ballpark and softball field yesterday.  I didn’t entirely sleep well either, though it wasn’t from an upset stomach from eating late like last weekend.  (I had a large slice of pizza and some frozen yogurt for dinner.)  However, Ron was committed to go.  I still needed to go to come close to getting my money’s worth from the full session pass, so he picked me up after 8:00 and off we went.    

It was beautiful, bright sunny day.  I brought my sunglasses, but quickly realized I should have brought my sunblock too.  There was a clank of bats going next door at the baseball field for their game in an hour.  (Sorry, you guys shouldn’t have overlapped with your schedules.  I could only pick one.)  Boston U and Aggie fans were about equal at the softball stadium, but some more Aggie fans, including a couple of girl’s softball teams, came in late to tip the balance.  It was a decent crowd for an early morning, nothing like the SRO last night.  The BU coach was kind of cute.  I think she was actually older than she looked from a distance.  Coach Kathy Rodolph for the Aggies had made some interesting lineup choices with a couple of freshman starting.  Stefani Duran at DP was a local girl from Onate High.

The Aggies were again the visiting team.  This caused me terrible problems when I started writing this and forgot about that.  Kelsey Horton again led off the game.  She started off with a home run to right center.  After being stifled for the last three games, I was wondering how long it would be before Kelsey took it out on somebody.  The girls actually made a tunnel for her after she crossed home plate.  Rachel Rodriguez came up and hustled a single into a triple after a couple of errors by the Terrier left fielder (only one officially).  Fahren Glackin drove her in for a 2-0 Aggie lead.  A guy behind us was working up a lot of the crowd chatter.  He was calling Fahren “Hammer,” so I’ll try to use that here sometime.  The BU coach had seen enough and pulled her pitcher, Ali Dubois.  Reliever Cali Dolfi finished the inning.

Kayla Green was back out to start this game after her complete game yesterday.  She gave up a couple of hits, but the Terriers mostly ran themselves out of the inning.  Brittany Younan advanced to third with one out, but got caught in a pickle when she tried to take home on a loose ball at the plate.  Madi Killbrew made a heady play by taking third all the way from first in the process.  However, no one scored.

Freshman Sarai Mejia singled in the second.  Jeanelle Medina was up next, but was called out for contact with the ball or stepping out of the box to hit.  The team really needs to work on that.  The order turned over and Kelsey came up with a single.  Rachel then beat out a great bunt to load the bases.  Unfortunately, Victoria Castro hit a grounder which led to a force out. 

There was a final t-shirt toss.  While I wanted one, no matter how much didn’t need it, there were too many kids present for me to think about depriving any of them.  The Aggie fan doing most of the yelling accidently cheered for BU in the bottom of second.  “Who are you rooting for?” asked another fan.  Jeanelle made a good play to get the lead runner on a fielder’s choice.  Rachel had an error at short, but no harm done. 

Fahren led off with a hit in the top of the third.  Zariyah Caldwell, another local girl from Mayfield High, pinch ran for her.  Caity Szcznesny came to bat.  She was choking up on the bat so far, she might have been holding the wrong end, but Caity managed a single anyway.  Stefani hit into a hard luck 1-6-4-3 DP to end the inning.  Good concentration by the BU infield there.

This game was moving along quickly, like BU needed to catch a plane in a couple of hours and the Aggies were planning on brunch.  A remix of The Outfield’s Use Your Love played over the PA.  Kayla allowed a leadoff hit in the bottom without further damage.  I took a look at the Aggie scorer’s table behind home plate.  I think that was last years’ seniors, Haley Nakamura and Misty Hoohuli, manning it.    

The fourth inning began with a remix of Justin Bieber’s Sorry.  The PA was having a good time.  The kids went nuts for the Pistol Pete mustache bandana giveaway.  We could hear the baseball team in the outfield doing their pregame cheer.  The Aggies went down in order in the top.  Kelsey caught a hard liner to start the bottom.  Jeanelle did the same with the next batter.  Neither team scored for the inning.

In the fifth, a new pitcher, Lizzie Annerino, came in for the Terriers.  Rachel collected another hit and stole a base.  Catcher Nikki Butler also singled, but no one scored.  I’ve mentioned that Victoria has a cool walkup song.  The PA turned up the volume on it and even played it twice this inning when there was a delay after her introduction.  [Edit: It’s Fade by Kayne West.  It may be the end of the world here: I sort of like a Kayne West song.  Sort of.  Other than the sample, the rest of the track is crap.]   

We could hear the Anthem playing next door.  Rachel started off the bottom of the fifth inning with an error.  Unfortunately, Marina Sylvestri came around to score on a hit by Madi Killbrew after that.  After, Jeanelle also had an error.  Both errors were on bad hops.  It could have been worse.  Amy Bergeson, who came in for defense in left field this inning, threw out Killbrew at home on a bad send by the coach.  Madi danced around in front of the plate, trying to dodge the tag.  Nikki touched her and then flipped the ball into the circle with disdain.

Centerfielder Jilee Schanda ran down a sure gapper by Stefani to start the sixth.  There was a big roar over at the baseball field.  The Aggies must have scored early.  Destiny Blueford and Kennedy Johnson came in as pinch hitters next, but went down in order.  Kayla made one pitch in the bottom and was then pulled for Samaria Diaz, who also pitched a complete game yesterday.  Perhaps Kayla hit a pitch limit.  Kennedi Sorensen, yet another freshman, entered the game as her catcher.  Sam had a trouble-free frame. 

The top of the order went down in order for the Aggies to start the seventh.  Here’s where I finally remembered that the Aggies were not the home team for this game.  Oh well, better late than never (and a bunch of cut and pasting).  Sam gave up a walk in the bottom, who was sacrificed over as the tying run at second, but she finished the game with a strikeout and a groundout.  Aggies won 2-1 in a squeaker.  Thank goodness.  I’d have hated to pay $40 for two tickets and not seen an Aggie win. 

Should I have said upfront that after the first two Aggie batters scored, that would be it for the game?  Kelsey Horton, Rachel Rodriguez, and Fahren Glackin all had a good game offensively.  Coach Kathy’s strategy of emptying the bench didn’t really pay off today, but maybe in the future.  The defense was back to being shaky with three errors. 

The saving grace today was Aggie pitching.  Kayla Green and Samaria Diaz locked it down.  Pitching pretty much ruled today and for the tournament.  I heard later at the basketball game that the highest scoring game was Ball State versus Boston U at 6-5 (Ball State won).  Your stats of the day: Aggies 6-left on base, Boston U-7 left on base.  Both teams had ample opportunities to open this game up.  Boston U winning yesterday against Oklahoma was a big upset in college softball (as I read about later).  They had a successful tournament no matter what.  The Aggies went 1-2 in games, but the pitching really shined.  These games were worth it for the rest of the season, just for the confidence-building.  They proved they can play with anybody.          

     

We left at around 11:00.  There was no radio coverage for the baseball game, due to the Women’s Basketball this afternoon, so we weren’t getting updates, other than hearing some loud cheering during the seventh inning of the softball game.  I had no intention of paying to get into a game that had already going for an hour and also I was hungry for lunch.  Ron checked the physical scoreboard at the stadium before we left the parking lot, before I told him he could get an update on his phone.  It was 8-0 Aggies in the third.  Somehow they did it on 3 hits.  The game ended, 13-3 Aggies, during the second quarter of the Aggie Women’s Basketball game we went to next.  For the third game in a row, it once again ran over three and half hours.  Getting lunch at Schlotzsky’s was probably the better decision.       

  

                                    

NM State vs Oklahoma Sooners Softball 2-17-18

I never thought I’d see it.  We were standing room only at the softball complex.  I thought we were full for the last game. I was mistaken.  More people could fit in as long as they weren’t picky about sitting.  The Oklahoma fans who left after their earlier game and returned may have been angry about the arrangement, not to mention Aggie fans who just came for this game.  I’d heard that people with tickets were turned away or told to wait for an open seat at some point.  Athletic Director Mario Moccia said later that he wished he’d put some bleachers in the outfield beforehand.  He knew there was going to be a big crowd. 

This is why they shouldn’t have been selling tickets on Friday right before the rain out.  Official attendance was over 1,200, which was great, but capacity was 1000.  I think some of these people had tickets for that event that were being honored tonight, along with everyone who had full session passes (like me and Ron), and everyone who just showed tonight to buy tickets.  This overflow wouldn’t have happened if they were just selling tickets for today.

This wasn’t even the only sellout on campus tonight.  Blake Shelton was at entertaining a full house at the Pan-Am across the street.  (Thankfully, his show didn’t let out at the same time.)  Not to mention, baseball’s opening night was continuing next door.  Out on the field, the Aggie girls were still loose and smiling as they did their pregame routine.  The OK girls wore these shiny, glittering red batting helmets.  Who needs that matte finish crap?  I don’t think fans of the two teams were equal in number, but it seemed like it at times.

Let’s get right to it.  The Aggies were back to being the home team for this game.  Kayla Green was in the circle starting for the Crimson.  Kayla seemed to be getting squeezed early on in the strike zone and walked the first batter.  This set the crowd off on the ump.  The next hitter singled.  The next batter, Nicole Mendes, took one on the knee.  She limped to first and came out for a pinch runner.  Nicole returned to the game in the bottom of the frame.  But now the bases were loaded with no outs right off the bat.

Destiny Blueford in right field made a good catch on a fly and kept the runners from advancing.  (I couldn’t actually see it as it was by the first base foul line.)  Sydney Romero next grounded out to first, but a run scored.  Kayla finished off the inning with a strikeout looking.  This inning might have been one of her finest moments.  She kept her composure under stress.  A couple of hits and the Sooners might have functionally ended the game right there.  Instead, OK was only able to move their batters station to station and scratch out a single run.  1-0 Oklahoma. 

Lefty Paige Parker started for the Sooners.  It seemed like a bad sign that Ron and I had heard of her.  I think we’d both seen her pitch on TV.  For this game, Coach Kathy Rodolph put Kelsey Horton at the top of the order, instead of a power position.  The coach did this last year in the WAC Tournament to a pretty good effect.  Kelsey ended up getting walked and the batters behind her were able to drive her in.  The team sang to her for her at bat.  Kelsey struck out looking.  The call was questionable, but as the night wore on, that at bat set the tone.  The Aggies went down to end the inning.

About 10 people got up and left after the first.  Their seats were immediately taken and people were still standing in the aisles.  I hadn’t seen a double play all day until this second inning when I got two.  One was via the radio, since I was still listening to Aggie baseball.  The other happened at about the same time as Jeanelle Medina at third caught a liner and then doubled off a runner at first. 

That great play was followed with a scary moment as Kayla got tattooed on her leg on a really hard shot.  Everybody in the stadium heard the contact clearly.   The ball was lying next to her, but Kayla had no reaction to it, other than to turn around and not face the crowd.  Knowing what a good fielder she is, she must have been absolutely stunned in pain for that to happen.  She immediately took a couple of practice pitches with the infielders and the coach nervously looking on.  Kayla finished off the inning without a problem. Either that hit wasn’t as bad as it sounded (unlikely), or Kayla is really tough.

There was another t-shirt toss into the crowd.  A cute OK fan standing in the aisle was nearly hit by a bundle that she wasn’t trying to catch.  Watching her reaction, I’m not sure if she was more shocked by the flying shirt or just the concept of the giveaway.  (The shirt was actually non-biased towards the teams.  It just commemorated the tournament.  They should have been selling them up front.)  Catcher Nikki Butler led off the second for the Aggies.  The girls sang to her from the dugout too.  It’s good to hear their spirit back.  But Parker was simply mowing them down to end the inning.

Kayla got in trouble again in the third.  She let on Nicole Mendez with a base hit to start the inning.  Once again, it took three batters to move Nicole from base to base for Sydney Romero to single her in.  Kayla was probably making Oklahoma work a lot harder than usual for their runs.  The last batter hit a weak comebacker to her.  Kayla threw the ball with some heat to first for the out.  She was angry about letting in another run, knowing exactly what a challenge her offense was facing.  2-0 Sooners.  Meanwhile, stadium staff were now positioned in front of the stands watching the crowd, like at the big time sports event.  I don’t think anyone was getting unruly, perhaps it was a precaution.

People were now filling in the space behind the home plate wall next to the Aggie dugout, standing there watching the game.  The Sooners started off the fourth with a runner at first for the fourth inning in a row.  Jeanelle made another good defensive play on a bunt.  With the ball right in front of the plate, she threw out the runner at first to Kelsey covering.  In the circle, Kayla’s offspeed was starting to get ooh’s and ahh’s from the crowd. 

And it had to happen.  The university fire department showed up.  They started controlling entry into the stadium.  People in the stands were then moved around a bit to clear the aisles.  At least they didn’t shut everything down.  Now that the sun had gone down, I noticed in the lighted pressbox that there was a broadcaster in there for Oklahoma.  I wonder what he was saying about Las Cruces and the Aggies.  I’ll bet the broadcast was on the Internet.  Ron didn’t want to bother trying to find it.  (We were still listening to Aggie baseball.)  In the bottom of the fourth, the Aggies finally got their first hit in the form of a double by Rachel Rodriguez.  She made it to third, but was stranded.  The dugout was still singing for their batters.

There were OK fans around me.  One Sooner lady liked Kayla and thought she was doing a great job.  Rachel made the season highlight reel in the fifth.  Kayla deflected a soft liner into the air.  Rachel made a diving catch of it behind second base.  The whole crowd applauded her, even the Sooner fans.  It was her inning as she also made a great play deep in the hole at short to throw a runner to end the frame.  The girls sang for Fahren Glackin for her at bat in the bottom.  She hit a deep foul that momentarily jazzed the crowd, but ended up striking out.  The crowd also disputed a call on Amy Bergeson by the ump.  I recorded her getting thrown out at first, but I think the home plate ump ruled her out for hitting out of the box.

Kelsey had an error that let on the first OK batter in the sixth.  No problem.  Jeanelle threw her out at second after catching a liner at her by the next batter.  It was her second double play of the game.  During one at bat, a bouncer hit Nikki behind the plate hard.  The ump walked a ball out to Kayla to give Nikki time to shake it off.  He said something to Kayla that made her laugh. 

Kennedy Johnson came in to pinch hit to start the bottom of the sixth.  She gave it a ride, but fouled out deep.  Shelby Shultes came up as a pinch hitter next.  Kelsey put her arm around her in the on deck and gave her some last minute advice, but Shelby struck out looking.  Kelsey’s own at bat featured a great diving catch by Nicole Pendley in centerfield. 

It’s the Jeanelle Show out in the field.  After a double and a walk with one out, Jeanelle caught a grounder, stepped on third, and threw to first for her third double play, which ended the inning.  Rachel collected the second Aggie hit of the game with a single.  Victoria Castro hit a long out to right field.  The girls were still singing in the dugout, but Nikki grounded into a double play to end the game.  I guess that was coming after all those Aggie DP’s.  Our final: Sooners 2, Aggies 0.  The Sooner team came over the stands and led their fans in a quick cheer, which their fans returned.  The PA again thanked the Oklahoma fans for coming out.  Aggie fans were reportedly getting autographs from the Sooners as they were getting on their bus at the main entrance.

Paige Parker was pretty awesome here for Oklahoma.  Like Aeshia Miles in the last game, the Aggie offense ran into some great pitching.  Rachel Rodriguez, 2 for 3 against her, must have gone back to the clubhouse and said, “What was wrong with you guys?  She was hittable.”  (Just kidding.  She’s too sweet for that.)  Rachel also got two stars on the scorecard for her great defensive play in the fifth. 

Kayla Green took a hard loss with a great effort.  I presume OK hasn’t been winning championships just on great pitching.  She really showed some grit out there and never buckled under the pressure (even getting hit on a liner).  The Sooners had really had to earn both of their runs.  The Aggie defense shined in this game, particularly Jeanelle Medina.  Her three double plays just kept killing the Sooner’s rallies.          

Except for last year’s tournament win, I don’t think I’ve been prouder of the team.  I hope Coach Kathy felt the same way and told her players.  They played so much better tonight than in their two wins over Kentucky.  This sport isn’t fair at all, but has a way of evening out.  In truth, I felt better about these two losses than I did about the Aggie Basesball win earlier (and certainly better than their loss later in the evening).  I don’t think they’ll face better pitching this season, so the bats should come back around.  If they can keep up this kind of pitching and defensive intensity, the Aggies will be tough to beat the rest of the season.

NM State Aggies vs Ball State Cardinals Softball 2-17-18

 

After a brief rest in Ron’s car after the baseball game, we entered the softball stadium next door for the scheduled Aggie game.  We actually came in in the bottom of the seventh of the game between Boston University and Oklahoma, two of the other invitees to the tournament.  While I was in the bathroom, Boston completed a 4-3 win over Oklahoma.  So this was what the cheering was about that we heard while at the ballpark.  Let’s add some context to that score.  That was a win over the two-time defending national champion who was 5-0 this season before this tournament.  I’m not sure how good the Boston program is, but they were real good this afternoon. 

So I missed this game (which I’d already paid for via a full session pass) to essentially watch batting practice at the baseball game.  Of course, there was no way of know that beforehand.  Ron was fairly jocular about yesterday’s softball rainout.  Easy for him.  We both got soaked, but I was out $40 for nothing to this point.  Well, we were here now for this matchup between the Aggies and the Ball State Cardinals.  

Boston and Oklahoma fans left the stands, but Aggie and Ball State fans filled the stadium back up.  It was a really good crowd.  (There was a full house for the preceding game too.)  I noticed Lia Mosher of the volleyball team, and perhaps the softball team, going in.  As a tall and beautiful blonde, she’s hard to miss, even when she’s trying to be incognito wearing a pair of thick frame glasses.  If I’d had any opportunity, I would have loved to have asked her about her flirtation with the softball team.  Out on the field, some of the Aggie girls were dancing while the infield was being dragged.  They also looked super loose doing their pregame ritual. 

During this game and the next game, Ron and I kept listening to Aggie Baseball on the radio.  I did warn Adam Young that we’d be deserting him at the ballpark at some point.  This was Game 2 of their double header with the Towson Tigers.  I scribbled little notes about it, but I was mostly paying attention to the game in front of me.  It was another three-hour 40 minute game like the first one.  It ran until the fifth inning of the next softball game.  My radio actually died before the ending, though Ron was able to finish listening. 

Rather than interrupt the narrative of two other games, I’ll do a quick recap altogether here.  This will not be comprehensive (and may not be entirely correct).  The first two innings were quick and scoreless.  The Tigers struck first with a three-run homer by Richie Palacios.  A balk and a sacrifice brought in a couple of runs for the Aggies to make it 3-2.  In the sixth, Towson added a two-run homer to make it 5-2.  Then the wheels came off.  Suddenly it was 10-2 Tigers with some errors contributing to the rout.  The Aggie bullpen was mentioned as the team’s only obvious question mark for quality.  The Aggies put up a few runs late from a David Bellamy RBI and Mason Fishback driving in three runs with a double.  The final ended up being 11-6 Tigers. 

Without actually watching, it’s difficult to say what happened between this game and preceding one where the Aggies won 24-4.  It’s hard to believe that there’s that much of a drop off in starting pitching after Kyle Bradish and that the Towson pitchers for this game were that much better than the five that were used in the previous game.  This was a bit of a troubling result for the program, but I’ve spent enough space on this.  Let’s get on with the softball.       

Odd things happen in baseball and softball.  In an interview earlier in the week, Coach Kathy Rodolph said that, after Aggies’ two wins against Kentucky, their coach told her that that was the first time in three years anyone had put double digit runs on them.  And the Aggies did it to them twice on the same night.  I thought that the Wildcats might not have prepared well for the Aggies, but they might have been in some genuine shock as the girls started putting up runs on them.   

And I did it again.  I wrote the starting lineups on the wrong scorecards.  I keep getting off on the wrong foot doing this.  The Aggies were the visiting team for this game.  I guess they have to do this to be fair for the tournament.  I wonder if they flip for it beforehand.  We could hear the enthusiasm of the PA while we were at the baseball field earlier.  I’m not sure who it is.  During the first inning, his voice cracked.  I was momentarily concerned about him, but he had no trouble calling this game and the next. 

The girls sang for Rachel Rodriguez, who led off the game.  I think that was all the singing I heard for this game.  After a walk to Fahren Glackin, Kelsey Horton came up third.  The Cardinals had a little team meeting before pitching to her.  That’s some respect.  She grounded into a fielder’s choice.  Victoria Castro came up next and sent a fly ball to deep centerfield, but that was as close as the team came to scoring.  One recurring theme for the weekend for softball was fly balls dying in the outfield.  After the rain on Friday, the air was still heavy and the grass was damp.  Ron noticed that any ball touching the outfield was thrown out and wiped off before being returned to play.  

The crowd was really into it for both teams.  Aggie starter, Samaria Diaz, worked a scoreless first.  In one at bat, she wasn’t able to get to a popup on the infield.  But, she saw the backspin on it and let it roll foul.  Sam was smiling afterward.  Caity Szczesny got the start for the Aggies as the DP.  She singled and stole second to start the second inning.  Next up, Amy Bergeson was called out during her at bat.  It was perhaps for hitting out of the box or running into a bunted ball.  These are two rules that nearly never come up in baseball, but occur regularly in softball.  It’s always weird when it happens.  Caity was left stranded.  Sam got through the second without incident.

People were still coming in to the stands.  They brought lots of kids with them.  We seemed to be nearing capacity.  There was a t-shirt toss in the crowd.  I got a look at them.  They were tournament shirts and looked cool, but I didn’t feel right going for one with all the kids around and so many Aggie shirts in my closet already.  I noticed a kid below me eating a hamburger in an Aggie wrapper.  I don’t think were selling them at the concessions, since there isn’t a grill there.  I wonder where it came from.  I still want to try one of the concession hamburgers at the Pan-Am.

Jeanelle Medina led off the third with a single, but paid the price.  She was hit on the elbow on the throw to first.  She was clearly smarting from it.  Fahren then tripled her in.  There was a play at the plate where the catcher seemed to have her caught.  The catcher might have been obstructing the plate before she got the ball.  It’s hard to say, but it wasn’t blown call on the tag.  Kelsey then got Fahern in with a sac fly.  Again, there was a play at the plate.  I think the ump ruled that Fahern got her foot in under the catcher to touch the plate before the tag.  I think.  2-0 Aggies.

I had on my new red coat for the game.  I hadn’t worn it on Friday, because it matched Oklahoma’s colors, but I wasn’t going choose partisanship over practically today.  Annoyingly, I noticed I also matched the Cardinals here and would match Boston U the next day.  Mini basketballs were tossed into the crowd.  I admit I wanted one, but I didn’t want to take one from the multitude of kids present.  I noticed Brielle Sterns from the volleyball team came in.  It’s good to see her walking around after her injury.  The Cisco Softball team also came in.  I don’t know where they’re from, but we’re officially stuffed here.  What’s going to happen when the large number of OK fans come back for the nightcap?   

Sam was throwing very hard.  You could tell by the pop in the catcher’s mitt.  After getting two outs, the top of the Cardinals’ order came up with three hits.  Unfortunately, two of those hits were home runs.  Maddy Labrador had a two-run shot.  This was followed by a Janae Hogg hitting a solo shot to center.  She’d been hit by a pitch in the first.  It’s now 3-2 Ball State. 

Catcher Shelby Shultes singled in the fourth.  Brandi Wilke came in as a pinch runner, but was eliminated on a force.  I hope I get to see her do more than pinch running this season.  Jeanelle got an infield hit, but somehow on the play, Destiny Blueford, who’d been on first, was out at second after she’d cleanly occupied the base.  I don’t know what happened.  Suddenly, I looked up from my scorecard and somebody was out and the inning was over.  I don’t think she was tagged out.  Maybe she left first early?  This wasn’t a badly called game, just a very confusing one.

Some little girls wearing lady El Paso Chihuahua gear entered the stands.  I say “Lady Chihuahua” because Chico’s logo was wearing a hair bow.  Could we be seeing a “Chica” friend for Chico at the ballpark sometime?  Interesting thought.  Sam was mixing in a good offspeed for the fourth and only gave up a single.  For the fifth, Pistol Pete mustache bandanas were tossed to the crowd.  That’s who we’re missing here, Pete!  The fans kept coming.  I saw Kaeli Atkinson and maybe Baylee Robinson from the Women’s basketball team come in.  Next inning, the PA would give a shout out to the team, but those were the only two I saw.  Kelsey singled, but that was the only hit in the top.  Rachel and Fahren combined to make a great throw and catch for an out at first in the bottom.

Ron nudged me and nodded at the western horizon.  The setting sun, along with some clouds, created a spectacular neon violet and orange sunset.  A lady nearby stood up and took a picture of it.  She may have been from out-of-town, since residents get these kind of displays all the time.  (Really.)  Ron also said, “We’re full, dude.”  I told him that the listed capacity of stadium was 1000, so that must be where we were at.  Some young people were now sitting on the walkway in front of the stands.       

Caity doubled to start the sixth, but was caught stealing to end that threat.  The Cardinals went down in order in the bottom.  Sarai Mejia came in to pinch hit to start the seven inning.  She flied out on the first pitch and wasn’t even introduced.  The next two batters went down to end the game, 3-2 Cardinals final.

It was a disappointing loss, but also somewhat uplifting.  I give Aeshia Miles, the Cardinals’ starting pitcher, a lot of credit for keeping the Aggie offense down.  The girls didn’t forget how to hit; they just ran into a very good pitcher.  On that note, Samaria Diaz is my easy Aggie player of the game with a complete game, getting six strikeouts and only giving up four hits and three runs.  She might have only made two bad pitches (or maybe the hitters hit her best on those pitches).  This was a much better appearance than her last two.  On that note, the Aggies didn’t beat themselves and really picked up their defense.    

A few fans left at the end of the game, but most stayed and more people came in.  The PA thanked the Ball State fans for coming to the tournament.  Ron and I decided we’d better keep our seats.  We took turns going to the bathroom.  There was little time to dwell on this game as the main event, the Aggies versus the Sooners, was going to commence shortly.  

NM State Aggies vs Towson Tigers Baseball 02-17-18

Clank!  Ah, the sound of a baseball hitting a BBCorr bat greeted me and Ron as we exited his car in the stadium parking lot.  Suddenly, everything was okay.  I still wasn’t quite over yesterday’s rained out debacle at the softball complex and had had a poor night trying to sleep.  The weather also rained out the Friday baseball opener, resulting in today’s double header, which was going to now conflict with the afternoon softball.  But I couldn’t keep up my poor mood on this lovely Opening Day for Aggie Baseball.  The temperature was in the mid-50’s with the sun peeking through the overcast without any wind.  The afternoon never became unpleasant. 

We saw broadcaster, Adam Young, out with the RV tailgaters (now parked at the south side of the stadium) having a good time.  I ran into him inside.  Being a baseball fan, Adam was extremely upbeat to be starting another baseball season.  I finally got to thank him for his interview with former Women’s Basketball Coach, Mark Trakh (12-17-17) while he was at Pepperdine watching the team play.  He did confirm that former player and total sweetheart, Brandee Walton, was there with him.  I also reported to Adam that the baseball team was there for the Softball team’s big wins over Kentucky.  I’m sure they’re now properly motivated and inspired to get their own “signature” win against a big name opponent this season.

Once inside, there weren’t any programs or posters laying out.  While I did get a poster later, I never got a program.  I did what I could guessing the spelling of player names without one, but the visitors are likely very wrong.  The concessions opened up late and I didn’t get anything.  I’m still craving some Corn in a Cup.  Out on the field, the boys were in their bright home whites, filling my heart with joy.  Finally, some baseball was on the way.  They took the tarp off the mound and sprayed on an NM State logo on the back.  Out in left field, they held an elaborate ritual, gathering in a circle, clapping, and then meeting in the center to shout, “Aggie up!”

A good crowd showed up for the game.  (Another crowd was at the next door softball complex for a game between a couple of the out-of-town invitees.  The Aggies would be playing later.)  Towson brought a good number of their fans all the way from Maryland.  Several scouts were in attendance to see today’s Aggie starter, Kyle Bradish.  Five Aggies are on the Baseball America Prospects List.  Richie Palacios on Towson was also being looked at.  The female PA was back.  I still haven’t seen her.  Adam was joined on the radio with new co-host, Brandon Mangum.  Major League ump and Las Cruces native, Tony Randazzo, threw out the first pitch.  Instead of the entire team standing at the foul line together, the starters went out on the field for the Anthem, with the bench standing back at the dugout.  This is the more traditional way of doing it.  

“Trust the process.”  I heard this phrase in an Aggie preseason baseball player interview and in a softball player interview.  I’m really not sure what it means.  I listened to a coaching podcast last week with an interview with Aggie baseball Coach Brian Green.  First he mentioned the civic pride here in town over the football team winning a bowl game last year.  He wants his team to engender that kind of pride too from the city.  For the rest of the hour-long interview, Coach Green talked about developing his players and coaches as responsible people.  Only one specific baseball drill was offhandedly mentioned.  The rest was all about the process of development.  Here’s where we find if that works on the field.  

You might notice that the Aggie scorecard looks a bit “busy.”  We’ll get to that.  Obviously, I was a bit challenged for space due to on-field events.  I even managed to write the lineups on the wrong scorecard during the introductions, which only made the “no program” situation worse.  Good thing I had some scorekeeping practice last week. 

Kyle Bradish is a slow worker, but he made up for it by being efficient getting outs.  He got Rickey Palacios on a Major League popup that nearly burned up on reentry.  It was the highest popup I’ve ever seen.  Seriously, the infield had time to play a round of Gin before it came down.  The top of the first went smoothly enough for recording purposes.  The Aggies started the bottom well by getting their first three batters on.  Tristen Carranza wasted no time in cashing that check with a grand slam home run to left center.  (Is this what I’m doing now?  Padding these things out with a steady stream of corny sports euphemisms?)  Boo Yah!  Shock it to ya!  (Apparently.)  The Aggies batted around and David Bellamy drove in another run, but the scorecard was still readable to that point.  5-0 Aggies.  Eight innings to go.

I noticed the new Aggie second baseman, Bruno Teramoto, jumping up and down at his position between pitches in the second.  One of the players did a flip at the pregame circle, so I guessing it was him.  Bruno is from Brazil and has the best walkup song on the team.  Not that the music was good, so much as it was the lyrics consisting of his name, Teramoto, just being repeated over a Latin rap beat.  How awesome is that to come to the plate to?  (I need to find out what “Teramoto” means in Portuguese.)  [Edit: Earthquake.  Awesome.] 

 Bradish, meanwhile, struck out the side, though he hit the Tiger’s huge first baseman, Charlie Waters, on the helmet.  Not hard at least.  Waters didn’t have any reaction when it hit him and it was clearly a mistake pitch.   

The Aggies went down pretty quickly in their half.  Hours later, Ron asked about catcher Mason Fishback getting to first base after striking out.  Not quite complex as the Infield Fly rule, but every out has to have a corresponding put out.  Thus, if a catcher does not actually cleanly field a third strike pitch, the batter may attempt to take first anyway, though he has recorded a strikeout for the at bat.  This usually results in the catcher having to throw to first to get the out, but occasionally leads to the anomaly of having a box score showing three strikeouts and a line out for an inning.  It’s not even an error, it’s a passed ball.

The most dramatic example I ever saw of this rule was years ago.  I think it was the Braves and the Diamondbacks playing, so we’ll go with that.  The Diamondbacks backup catcher, not a quick individual, was at bat and made the final out of the game with a strikeout.  The final strike was dropped and the batter ran to first after dodging a tag.  The Braves catcher casually threw the ball to first.  Unfortunately, the first baseman was already on his way to the dugout.  The ball rolled out into right field and the Diamondbacks catcher made it all the way to second base.  This sparked like a three-run comeback and the Diamondbacks ended up winning.  Always run out it out until you’re called out.

During the inning, Adam also mentioned that the team would like any foul balls back, because they’re expensive.  The MLB can afford to toss out every ball that gets hit.  Now I felt bad, because I have a foul ball from a game.  If they really want them, they should make an announcement during a game, like they do at softball games.  (They really want those balls back.  They’re even more expensive and they only have a limited supply on hand during a game.)  Perhaps they’re a bit embarrassed officially asking and don’t want to deprive a kid of a ball.  Ron, on the other hand, is intent on starting a foul ball collection and pretended like he didn’t hear what Adam said. 

Towson fans finally had a reason to cheer.  Their team got a lead off hit to start the third.  It came to nothing and Bradish finished off the inning with a pair of strikeouts.  Palacios had a talk with Fishback and the umpire after his strikeout.  Over the wall at the softball complex, we could hear their PA announce a shirt toss into the crowd.  The Aggies managed to tack on a couple more runs in the bottom to make it 7-0.  (Detailing every run in this game would get way too tedious.) 

There was a radio discussion about the Aggies’ presumed main conference rival, Grand Canyon University.  They just opened a new park.  It seats 4,000 (Presley Askew Field seats 1,000) and was full for opening night.  The Lopes hosted #4 in the nation, TCU.  They had the lead in the ninth, but lost it, but this is all very intimidating news.  Oh my goodness, my attention has completely shifted at the ballpark.  A lady has come in carrying an unbearably adorable cocker spaniel.  His huge eyes looked my direction and into my soul.  At that moment, he knew that I desperately pet him and hug him.  Sigh, it was not to be.  The occasion never materialized to allow me to cross his furry path.  And he left early, un-petted.

Suddenly this baseball thing isn’t as meaningful, but let’s carry on.  While we could hear The Outfield’s Use Your Love from the softball field, Bradish added two strikeouts to his total in the fourth.  At least the Towson fans were here instead of at home, where the weather update contest pegged conditions there at 37 degrees and snowing.  But it was about to start raining here in Las Cruces to the tune of five runs.  Fishback doubling in a run chased Tiger starter Michael Adams from the game as the PA serenaded him with Let It Go.  Carranza greeted his replacement, Mason Anderson, with a two-run homer to same spot he hit the last one.  Teramoto tripled in a run with an opposite field shot down the first base line.  Another pitcher came in, Alex Parker.  He slipped on the mound on his first warmup toss, which wasn’t a good sign.  Bellamy drove in his second run off him before the inning ended.  12-0 Aggies.

The Towson fans around us started discussing current events.  They were very opinionated.  I take the weekends off from the news and didn’t join in.  Bradish notched two more strikeouts in the fifth.  I’m thinking the scouts must have liked what they saw today.  The fourth inning didn’t prepare me for the fifth.  After getting the first out, two walks, two hit batters, and two singles drove in six more runs before another pitching change. 

The inning kept going.  For a moment, I shuddered that Aggies might bat around twice.  As it was, five more superfluous runs crossed the plate before a fly out to center ended the inning.  It was an 11-run inning.  I’d like to say it was fun, but this was ridiculous.  (And scary.  I lost a foul popup in the overcast that hit the canopy above us.)  Once again, Adam reminded us that non-conference game don’t have a run rule to give mercy, mostly to the fans.  Not to mention, it’s two 9-inning games for the double header.  Double headers in professional Triple-A baseball are 7 innings.  There was loud cheering coming from the softball field.  I thought I saw the red of Oklahoma fans there.  I’m reminded that the ticket I bought yesterday would have let me into that game.  I was so happy just a couple of hours ago.  Well, that’s part of it.  This game was taking forever to reach an inevitable conclusion. 

Meanwhile, the Towson visitors thought the Pecan Grill restaurant here was excellent.  One lady’s daughter was really good at softball, but hated the sport.  It’s 23-0.  Welcome to the sixth inning.  (Remember, this is a baseball game, not football.)  The out-of-towers did get to cheer a leadoff double and did so in a non-ironic way.  Mangum mocked them on the broadcast, but this turned out to be the only blemish on Bradish’s line.  After adding one more strikeout (looking), he was lifted for Chance Hroch, who allowed the runner to score.  Bradish came out to a standing ovation.  Okay, it’s 23-1 Aggie.  Now, we have a game.                   

The bottom of the sixth began a series of Aggie substitutions, the most interesting of which were the Williams brothers, Brendon and Braden.  Not quite as interesting as the lovely identical Mills sisters on the basketball team, but still interesting.  Braden was involved in a rare 1 Unassisted out with the pitcher beating him to first.  Brendon gets a mention for getting errors in consecutive innings playing at short (and with the same player batting).  They’ll work on it. 

For the bottom of the seventh, I missed a couple of outs finally succumbing to the call of nature.  I think they were ground outs.  Earlier, Adam had requested Tweets from people listening to the game over the Internet.  By the eighth, he had gotten replies from several former players and their families from as far away as Macedonia and Australia.  Wow.  That’s some reach and some alma mater loyalty.  In the top of the inning, Towson sent eight men to the plate and scored three runs.  It was hard to work up any panic, but their fans enjoyed the rally.

In the bottom, one of the Aggie subs, Logan Ennis, blasted a 400’ shot to straight center.  That’s a homer and then some anywhere else in the park, but it unfortunately hit the batter’s eye which is located there.  It ended up being a triple.  Fellow sub, Nick Gonzalez knocked him in so as not to waste that prodigious display.  That was the only run given up by Joe Anea (that’s not spelled right) for the Tigers, who restored some order for the last three innings for them.  Kyle Wullinwebber (also likely not spelled right because I didn’t get a printed program, and I’m not looking it up in protest), worked an easy ninth and Adam and Brandon fell in love with his name.  And there was more cheering at the softball field.  It sounded exciting.   

Is it over?  Is it?  After three hours and 40 minutes, we have a final: Aggies 24, Tigers 4.  Of course this game was actually decided definitively in the fourth and should have ended earlier.  Gee, I wonder who should get the gameballs today?  How about Kyle Bradish, who went 5 1/3 and only gave up 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and had 11 strikeouts.  Then there’s Tristen Carranza, who went 4 for 5 with 4 hits and 8 RBI’s, and he did all that in 5 innings too.  The player development process worked out in this game.

If only there was a fan development process.  Oh, I’m sorry for being cranky on Opening Day.  Rainouts suck.  Overlapping event scheduling sucks.  NCAA baseball rules suck.  Looking back at last year, I didn’t enjoy the blowouts then either.  (It was also a lot colder then.)  Should the baseball team schedule Kentucky and Oklahoma like the softball team did to get a more competitive matchup?  In this case, no.  I don’t want to sit through being on the wrong end of a 20-run game.  Don’t worry.  I’m still looking forward to the rest of the season. 

While we’d planned on watching as much of the double header as possible, the length of this game ran it directly into the Aggies’ first softball game of the day.  We’d sort planned on missing it, but with the 40-minute break between baseball games, there was no reason to do so.  Besides, we could listen to the baseball game on the radio.  Time to go next door and see what all the shouting was about.                            

NM State and UTEP Men’s and Women’s Basketball 2-15-18

The UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball team played a late afternoon game versus the Marshall Thundering Herd.  Since they were playing in West Virginia, it was actually an evening game, I guess.  Brandon Cohn was there riding solo and damn happy to be there.  The Marshall band played All My Ex’s Live in Texas during the Miner player introductions.  One of the Miners missed the trip for academic reasons, giving them a short bench.  I can see why NMSU has made a point of keeping all of their players eligible. 

I was getting ready for work during the first quarter.  I heard Katarina Zec get a block.  Given that I’m listening for her, I’m always glad to hear Kat some highlights.  The quarter ended 17-12 Herd.  I was in transit for the second quarter and tuned back in at work at halftime.  It was 28-25 Herd.  Brandon complimented the Marshall staff.  They gave him and the team a tour of the university, including the tribute fountain.  It’s turned off on the anniversary of the tragic accidental deaths of their football team in the 70’s.  (I haven’t seen the movie.)    

Things got kind of busy at work, so I wasn’t entirely paying attention to the game.  Marshall went on a run in the third and the quarter finished with them leading 45-39.  Late in the fourth, Jordan Alexander got a put back to bring the score within two.  I missed the end due to a loud conversation in the next cubicle, but the final was 66-64 Marshall.  UTEP may be in trouble making the post season conference tournament with their current record.  My girl Kat led all scorers with 20 points and along with 9 rebounds. 

During the game call, Brandon said, “She missed the bunny,” a couple of times, referring to a player missing a layup.  I’d never heard anyone else using that phrase, but upon searching, it’s apparently common.  I’d only use it during Women’s games frankly.  My next door cubicle mate asked, “Why are you listening to a Miner game?”  He then answered his own question, “Oh, it’s that girl, right?”  I mentioned Kat wears nerdy glasses when she’s not playing.  He immediately got the Superman reference.   

Later that night, I got to watch the Aggie Women take on the Utah Valley Wolverines on TV here at the Pan-Am Center.  Well, not really.  I was pretty busy and only got to check in on the game a couple of times and watch the last few minutes of the game.  I joined the game at the half with the Aggies up 30-24.  This was in spite of 10 Aggie turnovers and Mariah Seals of the Wolverines putting in 14 points, mostly off of four three’s. 

During the third quarter, the Aggies went on a 16-0 run to take a definite lead.  I also noticed that the girls on the bench were wearing pink sweaters.  I thought that campaign was over.  In the fourth, the Aggies had up to an 11-point lead.  That got trimmed to 4 in the last minute.  The game got rough as Jasmine Cooper and a Wolverine player both got technicals, but only the Utah Valley player fouled out.  The Aggies would go on to ice the game with free throws for a 59-51 Aggie win.  Brooke Salas led with 25 points, 17 of those in the second half.  Gia Pack came in with 18.  In the postgame, Coach Atkinson used the phrase, “The Nail,” to reference the free throw line.  I like that.  I’ll have to work it into a post sometime in the near future.

An hour after the Women started, the Aggie Men started their game against Utah Valley on the road.  I joined this game on the radio at the half, after the Women finished.  It was 41-37 Wolverines.  Zach Lofton only had 2 points.  In the second half, it was a close back-and-forth.  The Aggies took a slim lead of 61-60 with under 10 minutes to play. 

The crowd there in Ogden was really into it.  The score tied at 66 with six minutes left.  With under four, Utah Valley got a block and a three for a 71-68 lead.  That grew to 81-74 with under a minute.  The Aggies weren’t able to catch up.  86-79 Wolverines was the final.  Wolverine Kenneth Ogbe, whom the Aggies silenced in the second half of their game in Las Cruces (1-20-18), scored 22.  The Wolverines ended the game with five players in double figures.  Zach finished with 19 in the Aggies’ first conference loss.  Coach Jans blamed the team defense.  The Aggies never stopped them from scoring to be able to get on an offensive run.  

NM State Softball Troy Cox Classic February 16, 2018

NM State Aggies vs Oklahoma Sooners 2-16-18

In quick summary, rainout. 

Since I work at night, going to this afternoon game with the Aggies against the two-time defending national champion Sooners was possible for me.  Unfortunately, we were socked in the day before with light showers.  The forecast for today wasn’t good, and it was raining when I woke up.  Ron, who was also eager to go, called and said the team Twitter feed updated that the game time was moved back an hour.  I told him I couldn’t go with that timing and got on with my day. 

Ron called back a half-hour later.  The rain had stopped, so the game was back on.  I hurried to get ready and we arrived in the Softball Complex parking lot with about ten minutes before first pitch.  The lot was full and there were fans milling about, several of them were Oklahoma fans.  The PA was playing loud, but decent music, which made for sort of a festive atmosphere.  We could see the girls on both teams warming up on the field. 

Ticket prices for the tournament were double and then some over regular ticket prices ($12 to $5).  Since we were planning on going to at least games two games over two days, it was going to be cheaper to get the full pass ($20).  Right before I got to window, it started raining.  At that point, I knew they were going to get rained out.  It didn’t take a meteorologist or fortune teller to make that prediction.  And yet, there I was at the window.  G******it!  I bought two passes. 

There weren’t any programs out front, which was probably a good thing because they would have gotten wet.  Inside, the weather hadn’t kept anyone away.  It’s kind of hard to judge the size of the house, since most of the crowd had umbrellas out, but it was a good turnout.  There were a bunch of Oklahoma fans with the Aggie fans.  I expected this.  I’d even decided against wearing my new waterproof jacket, since it was basically Sooner red more than Aggie crimson.  Well, that was another bad decision.  In the 15 minutes we were sitting in the stands, I got soaked to the point that I had to change socks when I got home.  Yes, I did bring an umbrella and was sitting underneath it.  I suggested to Ron that he wear his wide-brimmed sun hat before we left his car.  While he was sitting in the stands, he periodically leaned forward to empty the water pooling on his brim.

It seemed like a bad sign that the player introductions were being made and none of the players or umpires were out on the field.  After that, there was two song musical interlude, during which Aggie Coach Kathy Rodolph walked over to the visiting dugout.  Then the umpires came out.  They quickly inspected the dirt infield, which was now muddy, and then joined the coaches.  Soon enough, the PA called off the game and all the rest of the today’s schedule (four games).  Tickets would honored tomorrow, which was scant consolation.  On field, Fahren Glackin ran out and met a Sooner player at home plate where they chatted.  They must be friends or related.  The other players hung around the dugout.  They’ve got to be disappointed, especially given the crowd that showed up.   

Even if they’d started the game, I couldn’t take notes with the rain.  Really, I tried.  It wasn’t going to happen.  Without the program, I’d have trouble doing a scorecard anyway.   This tournament was on a pretty tight schedule with four teams playing each other over three days.  I can see where they really wanted to at least get this big game in today, but it was really questionable green-lighting it based on the rain stopping for an hour and a half beforehand.  Did anyone look at the radar?  It’s right there on the Internet and doesn’t require expert interpretation.  Crap, now I’m absolutely committed to going tomorrow and Sunday so I can attempt to get my money’s worth.  I may be watching Ball State versus Boston U, but I’ll do it.

(And just to make matters worse, I didn't finish the basketball post I was going to do today and left my notes at home, which is why I'm posting this.  So, there's going to be some chronologically out-of-order posting next week.)

UTEP Miners vs LA Tech Lady Techsters Women’s Basketball 2-10-18

Okay, “Lady Techsters?”  Are you kidding me?  As time goes by, that “El Paso Chihuahuas” name just sounds better and better.  Is American society really sure it wants to eliminate Native American names from sports teams?  There doesn’t seem to be anything good to replace them with.

Today was National Girls and Women in Sports Day.  UTEP celebrated by offering free admission to today’s Women’s basketball matchup.  (The Aggies did not for today’s softball matchup, but at least they didn’t raise ticket prices for their game against a big time opponent in Kentucky.)  There were a bunch of local girl’s teams there.  (Sounds like a good idea for NMSU.  Offer free admission to some games for kid’s teams.  Actually, they might already be doing that.  I’ve seen out-of-town teams come to games.)  So, they had a good crowd.  Boxer Jennifer Han was also there, probably signing autographs.

These are not the top teams in C-USA, but they had something to play for.  Both were trying to stay out of the cellar so they could qualify for the postseason tournament.  While they were the home team, the Miners were wearing their colors today with the . . . Lady Techsters (sigh) in white.

Brandon Cohn did the play-by-play today.  He was extremely excited in calling the game.  Color commentator Tracy Miller was only present in the commercials for her business.  As usual, I was listening only because I wished I were watching so I could see more of Katerina Zec (and I was waiting for the softball game).  She’d had a good game last Sunday, which I didn’t hear.  She came out taking some shots early here too.  The first and second quarters were tight.  It was 33-32 UTEP at the half.  Zec had 11 points.  Tamara Seda had 12.

Much like the 2-2-18 game, the Miners gave up a big run as LA Tech ran off 12-straight points.  It was 54-46 Techsters after 30 minutes.  (It could be worse; they could be the Hipsters.)  During the fourth, I was busy getting ready to go to the softball game, which was unfortunate because the game got exciting.  UTEP started off with a run of their own.  LA Tech took a timeout as my scribbling became incomprehensible as it was about time to go.  Crap.  The crowd was really into it at the end as UTEP was only down by three.  However, they missed their last shot.  65-62 Techsters was the final.  And it just hurt worse because of the name.  Zec finished with 15 points.  Tamara finished with a monster 23 points, but was hampered at the end with four fouls.