NM State Aggies vs Pacific Tigers Baseball 3-5-23

The last time I wrote about the Aggie Baseball team, they had just lost three in-a-row of their opening series to Bellarmine, a university still transitioning to Division 1.  They went on the road to Sugarland and lost three there.  Tuesday night, the team hosted Benedictine Mesa and lost 9-3.  It wasn’t even that close.  BM is a DIII school.

 

Thanks to Coach Mike Kirby, NM State won a WAC Championship last year.  It was a great accomplishment.  It was especially great because the team was terrible last year.  I still don’t know how they not only won that championship, but dominated the tournament.  After all those losses last year and going 0-7 this year to poor competition, apparently that was enough.  Coach Kirby was fired on Thursday.  Pitching Coach Keith Zuniga was promoted to interim manager. 

 

There wasn’t an obvious scandal that did in Coach Kirby, though there was perhaps one issue.  During the Tuesday game, Gunner Antillon was hit on the face by a pitch.  I was listening on the radio, but it seemed like a deflected shot off his helmet.  They were cleaning up blood around home plate afterward, but Gunner walked off the field to the dugout.  He ended up getting sent to hospital . . . in El Paso, so it must have been serious.  There was a rumor that Coach Kirby didn’t take the injury seriously enough at first.  That might have been enough.But really, it was because the team lost on Sunggie Night.  How could you lose to a DIII team on Snuggie Night?

But really, it was because the team lost on Sunggie Night.  How could you lose to a DIII team on Snuggie Night?

 

One little happy sidebar I can report on.  March 1-st there was an Aggie Baseball reunion at Spring Training.  The Pirates and the Orioles met and Kyle Bradish, Nick Gonzales, and Joey Ortiz all played in the game.  (Joey and Nick respectively are pictured.)  Nick hit a home run late in the game, though not off Kyle.  This game was also notable because, while the Pirates won the game in the top of the ninth, the teams agreed to play out the bottom of the ninth anyway.  The umps had left the field, so they had to play without them.  Only in baseball.

 

This Sunday morning was another beautiful day.  This game was rescheduled to be at the same time as Aggie Softball’s first game today.  I chose baseball just because I wanted to see baseball.  Softball was running late from a preceding game anyway.  At the gate, I saw a couple of ushers that Ron is friends with.  They were wondering where he was for the last couple of games.  I told them he was out sick and they both said to tell him to get better.   

 

I picked up a stale $1 hot dog, corn-in-a-cup, and a bottle of Brisk tea at the Concessions.  I was hungry enough to not care about the quality of the food.  Inside, I saw fan Michael.  He also asked about Ron immediately.  Ron had really wanted to talk to him about the firing.  Strangely, Michael was genuinely sorry that Kirby was released.  He’d had several issues with him (including not letting him talk to the players), but he didn’t want him fired. 

 

Michael talked about Gunner’s injury.  It was much worse than described on the radio.  The whole stadium went deathly quiet and he was on the ground for quite a while sobbing.  He did walk to the dugout, but wobbled the whole way.  Once there, he threw down his helmet and starting yelling.  He was taken to El Paso just as a precaution.  I overheard later that Gunner was at today’s game watching. 

 

There was a pretty good crowd of over 600.  There were several kids in the crowd.  I noticed one little girl in a peach sundress with an Oriental parasol and clutching a baseball poster.  It was too cute, like a Rockwell painting.  I ran into a friendly retriever going down the aisle.  He trotted in front of me and demanded to be petted. 

 

Several cute sorority sisters were back to watch.  (No competition for Ryleigh Whitekettle, though.)  The Pan-Am girl was here with what looked like her little sister.  They mostly all stayed to end, even though the game was terrible (spoilers).  This would seem to confirm they’re “involved” with the team.  (The Pan-Am girl and sis did go directly to Softball afterward like I did.  Maybe they’re big Aggie Sports fans?)             

 

The team gathered on field for a meeting.  It seemed serious and was probably performance-related.  They were decked out in their new black and white threads.  They had an old-timey Field of Dreams look to them that was probably intentional. 

 

This weekend they were facing the 1-6 Pacific Tigers.  The Aggies lost 6-4 Friday night.  They had 3 errors in the game, which led to 2 unearned runs, which were the difference.  Kevin Jimenez did go 3 for 4 in the game.  Saturday night, the Aggies lost 4-3 in the 10 innings.  Logan Galina did hit a tying home run in the 9-th to force the extra frame.   

That brings us to today.  Some defensive changes had been made with Gunner out and after that 3-error Friday game.  Mitch Namie was in the outfield.  Edwin Martinez-Pagani was at third and Romeo Ballesteros was at short.  Romeo had an impressive flow going.  He really fits his name.

 

Hayden Walker started for the Aggies and had a rough first.  After the second hit batter of the inning and 3 runs had scored, the Aggie bullpen started up.  KJ and Romeo had nice plays in field to help end the inning.  3-0 Tigers.  The stands were rather quiet.  I could easily hear Coach Zuniga encouraging players at the plate from the dugout in the bottom.

 

Walker settled down in the second and only allowed a single.  The batter, Ben Nemivant, also stole second on a pitchout.  Romeo had another slick play in the inning.  In the top of the third, a difficult sky (overcast) and a bit of wind resulted in a triple.  KJ and Walker nipped the next batter at first to end the inning without damage.  Aggie catcher, Nick Gore, worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third.  He was indecisive on a wild pitch and made the wrong choice and was thrown out.

 

The Tigers broke out again with the bats in the fourth.  Walker was chased after two singles and mammoth three-run homer by Nemivant.  This started a parade of Aggie relievers.  There was another triple.  This one went into the left field corner, but the runner was left stranded.  6-0 Pacific.  Between innings, I had two of the three items for the What’s in Your Pocket Contest . . . in my truck.  They were just giving away fanny packs anyway. 

 

Kevin reached base on an error in the bottom of the fourth.  By this point, I was paying attention to these kind of things.  Galina made a great play to the pitcher covering first on the leadoff batter in the fifth.  The next batter walked.  Romeo had a little trouble going to his right on a single, but might not have had a chance on the batter anyway.  Nemivant, there he is again, impressively beat out an infield hit to drive in another run.  7-0 Pacific.  A couple of kids went down front to a senior fan with a ball and had him sign it.  I wonder who he is.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies worked a pair of walks.  Tiger pitcher, Jacob Smith, was taken out of the game.  He was stone faced going to the dugout and took no accolades from this teammates.  I gave him a small round of applause.  He’d been throwing a no-hitter to this point.  The reliever issued a walk and then induced a double play to end the inning.

 

Saul Soto started the sixth for the Aggies.  He gave up a double and a wild pitch advanced the runner to third.  Saul got a strikeout and a groundout, but was then relieved by Kade Benavidez.  The dugout called for an intentional walk.  Kade then made a great pickoff of the runner at third to end the inning without throwing a pitch.

 

In the bottom of the sixth after a walk, KJ finally broke up the no-hitter with a single to center.  A no-hitter at Presley Askew Field was ever unlikely at best, much less a combined one.  I’d already seen a no-hitter last week anyway.  The pitcher came out after throwing two balls to Logan.  He was likely hurt.  Bases loaded, EMP drove in the first Aggie run with a groundout.  Karl Koerper cashed in 2 RBI’s with a single to make it 7-3.  The crowd exploded.  They finally had something to cheer about.

 

That was as close as it got.  The Tigers put up 5 runs in the seventh to make it 12-3.  They added another run in the eighth, 13-3.  EMP did make a good play to get a runner at the plate.  At one point, a runner was held up at third by the coach.  Pacific wasn’t even trying to run up the score. 

 

In the bottom, Romeo hit an infield flare that the third baseman couldn’t handle.  However, the shortstop grabbed the ball and got the out at first.  Romeo was still standing by home plate.  I don’t know if he didn’t run or tripped or something, but it looked bad.  KJ came up next and hit a wind-aided home run to center.  God bless him.  Crap, there goes a quick run rule finish, I thinking right after.  13-4 Pacific was the final.

 

The last couple of innings, the crowd thinned out and became church-like quiet.  I could hear lots of cheering over at the Softball field.  I chose badly.  The team disappeared after the game.  No handshaking with the opponents.  No meeting on field.  They weren’t even in the dugout.  I don’t know what happened to them.  It unfortunately reminded me of the Football team’s embarrassing loss to FIU.   

 

I have three easy Gameballs to hand out.  For Pacific, Ben Nemivant went 6 for 6 with 6 RBI’s.  Jacob Smith gave up no hits and no runs for over four innings, but didn’t even qualify for the win.  For the Aggies, Kevin Jimenez went 2 for 4 with a home run RBI.  He’s the heart-and-soul of the team.  At least the Aggies’ defense improved for this game.  Now all they need to do is improve the hitting and pitching.     

 

As I walked out, the usher by the front gate told me again to tell Ron to get well soon.  (I told him.)  The game went for under three hours.  It felt longer.  At least the pace-of-play rules are working.  Since it was still early in the afternoon, I walked over to the Softball Complex to see how those games were going. 

NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Softball 3-4-23

It was brilliant weather-wise this weekend.  It was sunny and warm with a light breeze.  Unfortunately, I would be watching softball and baseball without Ron, who was sick.  He’d been sick all week, so it wasn’t surprising he was going to sit this weekend out.  I wouldn’t be left totally alone, however. 

 

I arrived at the Softball Complex in time to see the end of UTEP vs Northern Colorado.  I saw fan Danny and went over to him, but he left right after.  (I think he was just tired.  At least my ego is saying that.)  There was a good crowd present.  I decided to go up to the top of stands to sit.  I was next to a UTEP fan couple. 

 

The game was good.  It was 4-4 in the seventh.  The game went to the eighth.  UTEP scored a pair of runs off a home run in the top.  UNC scored a run in the bottom.  Jaycie Gandert came up with a runner on second with no one out and made two bunt attempts.  Failing at that, she then blasted a walk-off two-run homer to center to end the game, 7-6.          

 

I was wearing my Chihuahuas bucket hat with an Aggie button on the front of it.  It was an attempt at giving myself some shade.  That failed, also the light breeze kept trying to pull the hat off.  One of the UTEP fans recognized the hat.  He said he’d tried to get one at the game where it they were giving it away.  (I might have given him mine if I didn’t need the shade at the time.) 

 

Between games, I asked him about the tournament they had in El Paso in conjunction with the Troy Cox Classic.  They weren’t in town for it.  They’d gone to Arizona to watch Spring Training games with the Padres and the Rangers.  Darn.  Filled with envy, my experience enjoying softball last weekend was suddenly cheapened. 

 

A crowd of 573 was the official attendance.  That’s about what it looked to me.  UTEP isn’t as big a draw as those schools last week apparently.  Some of the UNC girls came back in to watch.  I noticed their catcher, Sabrina Javorsky, during the game with her sleeveless top.  Without the mask, she was wearing glitter face paint.  

 

What I didn’t notice immediately was that Coach Rodolph was not there.  There was no announcement as to why.  The Aggies were very loose.  I’m not sure I saw them this loose last week with their pregame rituals.  They did their bump circle.  The girls in the outfield practiced their dance moves.

Okay to be honest, there’s really not much of a game here to recap, but I gotta talk about the highlight of the season for me.  Ryleigh Whitekettle from the Volleyball team sat next to me and I got to chat with her.  This totally makes up for the team stiffing everyone on autographs last year. 

 

I’d seen her at softball before, so I wasn’t totally surprised.  Her and a couple of guys from the Football team sat down in front of me when the game started.  (I assumed one of the guys was her boyfriend, but that may have been presumptuous.)  OMG, she is gorgeous.  I knew she was beautiful seeing her on court, but up close, WOW!  She was in something like a workout outfit, but with her curled blonde hair, blue eyes, and statuesque 6’4” frame, she made it look like an expensive evening gown.

 

I blindsided enough that I forgot her name for an inning.  The next inning, I still couldn’t bring myself to say anything.  Finally, they all moved to the top row and Ryleigh sat next to me.  It helped to break the ice that I knew her name and that I wanted to congratulate her on her breakout final game against UTEP.  She was pleased with a little recognition.

 

One of the guys she was with had asked her what happened to the team last season.  Her answer was basically, “setter problems.”  I followed up with the burning question: What happened with Alana Embry?  She’d quit team.  No explanation was given.  It had happened on gameday.  Ryleigh had heard that Alana had gone elsewhere and was happy now.  Ryleigh did praise emergency setter Rilen Garcia’s effort.  Rylee Fay has left the program, but they have recruited a new setter.  

 

I asked how Ryleigh how she got here.  She’d been at Houston and Coach Jordan had recruited her.  Apparently, he’s quite charming and persuasive (unlike his on-court coaching persona).  She was also looking forward to playing in Conference-USA.  It’s closer to her home and she’s relishing the new competition.  (I’m admittedly apprehensive.)  I did offer her my stadium seat and cushion, but she refused.  I did say to the football guys that I’d chatted with Shiyazh Pete last week and gushed about their win over Liberty.  One of the guys called me, “Sir.”  Well, that brought me right back down to earth as an old man (comparatively).   

I damn near didn’t see the game for Ryleigh.  I don’t know how these scorecards got filled out.  I think only actually missed a couple of plays.  Doing scorecards is such a habit, it’s apparently autonomic for me. 

 Aydenne Brown started for the Aggies.  She had a walk and a hit batter in the first, but no damage.  Jillian Taylor led off with a single in the bottom.  She advanced on a wild pitch, but was thrown out trying to take third on another wild pitch.  Riley Carley had struck out on that wild pitch, but made it to first and advanced to second on another wild pitch.  Brianna Ford, UTEP’s pitcher, found the strike zone against Kayla Bowen, who jacked out a two-run homer to make it 2-0 Aggies.

 

Jillian singled again to start off the third.  Riley brought her in with a line drive home run.  Kayla walked and was driven in with a home run by Hannah Lindsay.  It was a huge shot to right field that wrapped around the pole.  A pitching change brought no relief.  After two more singles, pinch hitter Kaylin Jackson doubled one of them in.  Jill came back up to bat and slapped one into a Jetstream to right.  The ball just seemed to float over the wall for a three-run homer.  It was 10-0 Aggies when the dust settled.

 

Worse for the Miners, a couple of Football teammates came in and sat down by us during the onslaught.  They began to mercilessly heckle the UTEP players.  It was football field trash talk-level smack.  I could not imagine going after unpaid student athletes like this during a game, even if I was one.  Given that they weren’t playing on the field, they shouldn’t have been saying anything like this.  That said, these guys were hysterical.  I wish I had been writing down what they were saying, but Ryleigh was enough of a distraction from the game.

 

This did lead to an older UTEP fan coming over and sit by them between innings.  He did not scold them.  (Maybe I should have said something, but they were too funny.  I didn’t entirely want them to stop.)  He did tell them, in a friendly way, how hard the girls train to get to this level.  I’m sure he could tell they were athletes, too.  This did tone down some of their comments.  I mentioned to Ryleigh that the Baseball team was here for a game once and that they went after the umpires.

 

Marketing Director Nicole Sack was busy.  A couple of Baseball coaches came to watch the game briefly.  Nicole got their picture and posted it on the team Twitter.  Since the Aggies had scored more than 7 runs, that activated the Raising Cane’s Challenge.  She went around the crowd handing out coupons.  One of the Football guys said, “Don’t give none to those UTEP people!”

 

Lastly, there was a Guess the Number of Jellybeans in the Jar contest for an Aggie lunchbox.  Four names with the closest guess were called out, but none of them were currently in attendance.  (They must have been Northern Colorado fans from earlier.)  Ryleigh’s “boyfriend” had been jumping up and down for it and finally, Nicole just gave it to him.  (Need I even say that the Football guys were going crazy for the giveaway hats and t-shirts?)  The heckling guys told him to give it to a kid, but I think he just wanted to get a good look at it first.  He handed it to them, and one of guys gave it to a kid among some UTEP fans next to the old man.  There, everyone’s happy.   

 

Well, that’s end of my notes.  The game did continue.  Kendal Lunar doubled in two more runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Aydenne had three quick innings in the meantime.  In the top of the fifth, she may have been tired or lost focus.  She gave up two doubles and a home run.  The final was 12-3 Aggies. 

 

For Gameballs, Miner Savannah Favre gets one for going 2 for 2, including a 2-run homer.  Aydenne Brown went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs in “garbage time.”  She had 6 strikeouts and only 1 walk.  Jillian Taylor went 3 for 3, including a 3-run home run.  This game was a beat down.  The Aggies Softball team did their taunting on the field with their bats and gloves. 

 

One hour and 50 minutes was far too short a time to spend basking in Ryleigh’s glow.  She also got up with her friends and left without saying “goodbye.”  I was slightly hurt.  The Aggies were set to play the Northern Colorado Bears next, but I was emotionally exhausted and left myself.  Also, I didn’t want to stay after dark when the game would finish and I was hungry.  I went home and walked over the mall for a Legend Burger that I had been wanting for like three weeks. 

 

The Aggies lost the night cap, 6-4.  Gabby Aragon started the game and drove in a couple of runs.  Aggie Baseball was also playing at night.  I’ll cover that briefly in the next post.  

Troy Cox Classic Softball: NMSU vs UNM 2-25-23

 

While overcast when the game started, the clouds left as the afternoon wore on.  I wasn’t wearing sunblock and was getting a face full of sun.  I put up the hood on my hoodie to protect my ears at least.  Between this 155-th rivalry game between the Aggies and the Lobos and the Aggies playing the OSU, Ron got up to go to his car for a snack.  I correctly surmised that the departing OSU fans would be replaced by UNM fans, so I stayed in order to keep our seats. 

 

Official attendance was over 700, but I couldn’t tell the difference from the last game.  I noticed a bunch of fans wearing Aggie Women’s Basketball Roadrunner hats in the crowd.  I didn’t know they were a giveaway for the game.  (I already have one.)

Let’s get right to it.  Aydenne Brown did start for the Aggies and worked a quick first.  Riley Carly led off with a double in the bottom, but was stranded.  In the second, she ran into a wall going for a foul and went down, but stayed in the game.  Chloe Yeatts solo homered in that inning to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead.

 

Like what happened to Hannah Lindsay at the Creighton game, Devin Elam was hit by a pitch, but called back.  Way to protect the players there, ump.  Devin singled anyway.  Next, Kaylin Jackson was hit, but was eliminated on a fielder’s choice by Kristen Boyd.  She stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Kendal Lunar, who doubled them in. 

 

This brought in Emmalyn Brinka in relief for the Lobos.  She’s the dog lover I saw at the Friday morning game.  Jayleen Burton singled next.  She stole second and the catcher’s throw went into the outfield.  Boyd scored and Jayleen moved on to third.  Jillian Taylor knocked in Jayleen.  Finally, Page Knight blasted a monster shot to left field for a two-run homer.  Up to that point in the tournament, the home runs I’d seen hadn’t been hit hard.  When the dust cleared, the Aggies were now up 6-1.

 

My co-worker and former Aggie catcher, Melika Ofoia, came for this game.  (She told me later, she’d seen the score for the previous game and decided to wait for this one.)  She missed seeing me again in the crowd.  Some Football guys were working at the game.  They were tossing souvenirs to the crowd. 

 

There was a What’s in Your Pocket contest for an Aggie helmet statue.  (I have a picture of one posted somewhere.)  A Lobo fan won it and then gave it to an Aggie fan.  Oh, that was nice.  At least a couple of Nebraska fans stayed for this game.  I hope they enjoyed it, though I don’t know who they were rooting for.  Nebraska and Bakersfield players, who were going to be playing next, were watching from the outfield.

 

Aydenne gave up three straight hits in the third.  A double by Rachel Hathoot drove in two to make it 6-3.  In the fourth, Aydenne walked the second batter of the inning.  The last ball was a wild pitch.  Her next pitch to the next batter also went to the backstop and Coach Rodolph took her out.  I hope she’s okay.  Emily Dix came on in relief.  She gave up a single, but struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

 

In the fifth, Dix gave up a single, a triple, and another single all in a row that scored two runs and made it 6-5 Aggies.  There was a bizarre sequence before the first hit where the umps called Dix for two clock violations.  At least that’s what Adam Young on the radio broadcast was saying.  This apparently hadn’t been an issue all tournament long, but suddenly came up twice in a row.  It may have rattled Emily a bit. 

 

Meanwhile, the Aggie offense had gone silent.  Jayleen had singled in the fourth, but was caught stealing afterward.  Dix worked around an error in the sixth for a clean inning.  In the bottom, Boyd smashed a bomb to right into the trees to make it 7-5 Aggies.  That insurance run was a good idea.  Hathoot homed to start the seventh.  Jillian was hurt a bit reaching over the wall for it, but she was okay.  Yeatts then doubled with two outs, but the tying run was left there.  Aggies win 7-6!  Whew!

 

It was everything you wanted out of a rivalry game: action and drama.  For Gameballs, Rachel Hathoot definitely gets one for going 3 for 4 with 4 RBI’s.  Strangely, she was a single short of a cycle.  The Aggies get Gameballs for Page Knight and Kristen Boyd for their timely and demoralizing home runs.  Those were big shots.

 

For yesterday’s 7-run performance against Creighton, Raising Canes coupons were handed out during the game.  That’s where Ron and I went for dinner.  I’d noticed he was kind of quiet during the game.  He wasn’t much livelier at dinner.  He called the next morning and he was sick.  I guess the good news was that I didn’t catch it. 

 

After the Aggie/Lobo game, Nebraska defeated Bakersfield 10-1 and UNM 15-0 Saturday night.  I almost went by myself on Sunday morning.  The forecast was for high winds, but it was nice to start.  While I was showering, suddenly the wind started beating on the window.  I decided not to go. 

 

Nebraska and UNM played an early morning game.  I don’t know how bad the wind was at the field later in the game, but it must have been bad.  From the official scoring, there was a game delay to repair wind damage to a wall.  (A tarp must have come up.)  NE won 1-0.  I don’t know if it was the wind or if they were playing really fast to beat the wind coming. 

 

The Aggies’ last game in the tournament against Bakersfield was postponed until the evening and then canceled.  The rule is that they won’t play in 35+ mph wind.  I think it peaked near 70mph.  Some of the visiting teams were also playing in El Paso at a tournament with UTEP.  The Miners be coming here next weekend.

 

Aggie Softball went 2-2 in the tournament.  That game against Bakersfield would have been a good opportunity to get a third win.  I still question inviting two really good teams here and then not putting out the best lineup to face them.  But the two wins the Aggies got were good and they needed their best players, so you can’t argue with the result.   

Troy Cox Classic Softball: NMSU vs #4 OSU 2-25-23

It’s another day of softball at the Troy Cox Classic.  Softball is really where the Aggie Country Pass really pays off.  For these tournaments, they sell day passes and tournament passes, both of which can be pricey.  They don’t sell individual game tickets.  With the Pass, you get all of the tournaments (except for the WAC one, if they hold it in Las Cruces) and the rest of the sports (except Football and Men’s Basketball).

 

It was overcast when Ron picked me up.  I wasn’t sure if it might rain or clear off and wasn’t really prepared for either possibility.  Outside the stadium, I ran into Tayelin Grays from the Women’s Basketball team again and said, “Hello.”  I should have asked her about her playing this season, as she’s done well.  Inside, I saw a couple of former Softball players.  It was hard to miss Tori Castro with her piles of curls.  I think that was Amy Bergeson with her.  Amy was with her husband and with a near future child in her belly.

 

I had been amazed five years ago by the overflow crowd to see Oklahoma (2-17-18).  I was not surprised this time by the near capacity crowd to see Oklahoma State.  It was over 900 today.  (The stands fit 1,000.)  OSU brought a lot of fans and Aggie fans turned out to see them as well.  It felt 50/50.  I saw a couple of fans wearing new Montreal Expos hats.  One of them was wearing a Rizzo Yankees jersey.  That seemed a bit weird.  An OSU fan had on a Swinging Pete golf hat.  Hey, our Golf team just put out one of those!  (And we have the real Pistol Pete!)  Both teams had radio call for the team.      

Laurali Patane started for the Aggies.  I questioned why the Aggies’ best pitcher, Aydenne Brown, wasn’t starting this big game, but the rivalry game with the Lobos was next.  I felt like Coach Rodolph wasn’t giving the team the best chance to win this one, just like yesterday.

 

The team, unfortunately, responded in kind.  There was comedy on the first play of the game.  Shortstop Jayleen Burton lost a soft grounder at her feet and spun around in a circle looking at the sky for it.  That was ruled a hit.  The Aggie fans in the crowd groaned.  It got worse.  Talien Edwards laid down a bunt and Rachel Becker scored from first.  Again, no error, except no one covered home and Rachel just kept running.  Edwards didn’t even advanced from first.  I watched the play and I can’t account for what happened.  The OSU fans had a chant for their first run of the game.

 

The next batter laid down a perfect bunt for a single.  Jayleen shook off her nerves by catching a popup at short and then grabbing a grounder on the next batter.  The runners moved up.  Next, Chyenne Factor slapped a soft single and both girls on base scored.  They nearly came in together.  There was a play at the plate, but Edwards slid under the tag.  Morgyn Wynne then came up and hit a line drive homer to center.  It was the only hard hit ball of the inning.  Kayla Bowen at first grabbed the final out.  5-0 OSU.           

 

The Aggies seemed to have some nerves going into this game.  In the bottom with two outs, Paige Knight thankfully singled.  Even though she was left stranded, at least the Aggies weren’t going to be no-hit again this weekend.  In the second, it was more of the same for the Cowgirls as they scored 5 more runs and batted around.  Megan Bloodworth homered softly to left to start the inning.  Felicia de la Torre came in in relief, but gave up a three-run homer to Kiley Naomi and an RBI single.  10-0 OSU.

 

The Aggies got two on in the bottom of the second via a single and a walk.  Bowen was batting eighth in this game.  Given that she went back to her usual cleanup spot in the next game, I think the Coach put her lower to try and protect her batting average.  Though down 10 runs, Aggie fans got into an uproar when Jayleen was ruled out on a close play at first.  Micaela Wark made a good stretch to hold the bag on the throw. 

 

The second best play of the top of the third was a fan in the crowd catching a foul one-handed in the stands.  He was protecting his daughter, who was holding a cute little dog.  The guy got a round of applause and recognition on the radio call.  OSU had a single and then a walk in the inning.  A single to shallow center should have brought in a run, but Jillian Taylor nailed the trailing runner at third before the lead runner crossed the plate, which ended the inning.  No run.  OSU fans were upset, perhaps correctly, but it was a great throw by Jill.

 

The Cowgirls came back in the bottom of the third with two great plays.  One was a running catch by Edwards in left.  Factor then had a running, diving catch from center.  The play mirrored Jillian’s catch against Nebraska, but running to right field, instead of left. 

 

Felicia walked the first batter of the fourth and was relieved by Ana Rodriguez.  Catcher Hannah Lindsay made a good play on a sky-high popup behind the plate by the net.  Unfortunately, Ana gave up a single, a three-run homer, and then another single.  The inning ended with a good double play started by Kayla at first.  13-0 OSU.

 

The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the fourth.  Ana worked a 1-2-3 fifth.  Kayla stabbed at a hard hit liner for the second out.  Even the OSU fans applauded the play.  Kayla singled to start the bottom, but never made it around.  13-0 OSU final by run rule.

 

For the Gameballs, Cowgirl pitcher Kyra Aycock pitched all five innings, scattering 3 hits and 2 walks for no runs.  Megan Bloodworth hit 2 home runs with 4 RBI’s.  The Aggies, honestly, didn’t have any standout performances, other than making a few good defensive plays. 

 

I think Volleyball Coach Jordan would say, “The girls were stepping around some yellow puddles.”  After those first inning nerves, I think they settled down well, but were overmatched.  The Cowgirls were mostly not even hitting the ball hard.  Again, I don’t think Coach Rodolph put out her best pitching for this game and was saving it.  We’ll see how that worked out in the next game.   

Troy Cox Classic Softball: NMSU vs Creighton 2-24-23

Using the Creighton gameday image to do something different

Ron and I were munching on our sandwiches in the stands when the Aggie game versus Creighton started.  (We smuggled them in.)  Shiyazh Pete, who may have gone for something to eat as well, came back in and sat down with us after the game had started.  This time, I was next to the large Aggie Football lineman and spent most of the game talking to him.  As a consequence, I have about a half page of notes and it’s all just annotations on the game itself.

 

Ron and I were sitting near the center of the grandstand and for some reason balls were flying back there.  In the previous game, one came right to me.  A guy front of me intercepted it and we were both briefly holding it before he got ahold of it.  Right after this game started, a ball came back and bounced next to me.  I caught it off the bounce.  I handed it to Ron to give to a kid.  (They take the balls up to the press box for candy.)    

 

When Shiyazh came in, I told him that a foul ball hit where he was sitting.  He said he’d always wanted to catch one.  I mentioned that I’d seen the Men’s Basketball team here once.  When a foul ball came to them, they took cover like it was a grenade.  Ron chipped in that I had caught a ball at Aggie Baseball.  It’s not worth the effort to find the post (because I don’t remember where it is), but a ball did land in my lap once. 

Shiyazh is holding the flag

On that subject, Shiyazh had no comment on the Men’s Basketball team scandal.  So much for inside information.  He was interested in my scorecard and how to score the game.  Also, though he’d played baseball at some point, he wasn’t entirely clear on how the game was played, so I was explaining some rules, too. 

 

Ron offered Shiyazh a snack pouch of little cookies that he’d brought in for dessert.  He also got a hot dog that Ron had got from the concessions when they were giving them away at the end of the night.  Ron caught a souvenir t-shirt tossed into the crowd.  Ron gave it to me, since it was in my size.  I gave it to Shiyazh when said he knew someone he could give it to.  I’m sure the NCAA will be investigating this booster scandal shortly.

 

It turned colder as the sun went down, but the crowd was listed as twice as large as the Nebraska game earlier.  (I’m still doubting the numbers.  I don’t think they were counting people who stayed from game to game and didn’t leave the stadium.)  I didn’t dress warmly enough.  Ron brought out a blanket for me.  Shiyazh was in shorts and a bit cold, but he was tough.  He knew some of Softball team and was out here to support them.  I told him one of girls owed him a date for sticking it out for them in the cold.  He was all, “Ah, shucks,” about it.  Maybe he’s working on one of them.  (In my opinion, catcher Hannah Lindsay might be a good match for him physically.)          

 

Jordin King started this game for the Aggies after finishing the previous game.  She gave up a walk and then a two-run homer to Kailey Wilson in the first.  2-0 Blue Jays.  In the second, after giving up a solo home run to Alyssa Gappa, Jordin came out for Laurali Patane.  Unfortunately, that resulted in two singles and a hit batter loading the bases.  A groundout, a single, and a wild pitch scored three more runs.  Aydenne Brown came in and finished off the inning.  6-0 Blue Jays.

 

It felt like the Aggies were still in shock over getting no-hit.  Hannah Lindsay snapped them out of it with a leadoff home run to start the bottom of the second.  (See, she’s good girlfriend material.)  Gappa made a good dive play at third on the next batter, but fielding errors would define the rest of the inning.  After a single, there was a dropped foul ball on Kristen Boyd’s at bat.  With new life, she hit a home run for two unearned runs.  Gabby Aragon singled next and a throwing error moved her to second, but she was left stranded.  6-3 Blue Jays.

 

Kayla Bowen hustled out a triple in the third.  She was driven in on a sac fly by Kaylin Jackson.  6-4 Blue Jays.  Meanwhile, Aydenne worked two good innings.  In the fifth, she gave up a solo home run (by Gappa again) to make it 7-4.  Aydenne was interesting to watch.  She was obviously cold out in the circle.  She’d smile a lot, though.  Occasionally, she’d get irritated by the ump’s calls.  It was not your usual stoic pitcher performance.  

 

The bottom of fifth and whole game hinged on a questionable call by the ump.  With a runner on (Bowen), Hannah was pegged solidly on the knee.  You could hear it in the stands.  After a protest from the Creighton coach, Hannah was called back to the plate to finish her at bat.  (She’s tough, too.)  The crowd was not pleased with this development.  Adam Young on the radio call said the ump must have ruled that she didn’t make an effort to move out of the way.  Just to make it more silly, she took a walk anyway.  Hannah would be relieved by a pinch runner and subbed out at catcher. 

 

Jackson then singled and there was a play at the plate.  The throw beat Bowen there, but just to make sure everyone in the crowd was angry, she was called safe.  The catcher seemed to have trouble handling the ball.  It was ruled she didn’t have the ball under control when Bowen crossed the plate.  After another single, which loaded the bases, Boyd brought them all in with a double.  (She was thrown out at third trying to draw the throw away from home.)  The Aggies took the lead, 8-7!

 

Gabby was also perhaps hurt as the final batter of the inning.  She may have been hit on the head on a return throw by the catcher to the pitcher.  She came out of the game, as well.  In the bottom of the sixth, Jillian Taylor was grazed by a pitch, appealed to the ump, and was immediately given first.  (Maybe he liked her better.  She is rather cute.)  In the top of the seventh, Jayleen Burton squeezed two sky-high popups at short and Aydenne finished off the game with a strikeout.  Aggies win 8-7!

 

This was a great bounce-back game and fun to watch.  We’ll hand out the Gameballs.  Alyssa Gappa for the Blue Jays gets one for going 2 for 3 with 2 home runs and some good defense.  Kristen Boyd was a wrecking crew for the Aggies going 2 for 3 with 5 RBI’s.  Aydenne Brown did an excellent job in relief going over 5 innings and only giving up 2 hits and 1 run.  I still question taking her out early in the previous game, but I can’t argue with the results.  Coach Rodolph’s move gave them a chance to win here.

 

Ron and I said our goodbyes to Shiyazh and we all had a formal introduction (a little late).  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him again at Softball.  I ran into Tayelin Grays, senior on the Women’s Basketball team, on the stairs.  I noticed her working at the game (part of her degree probably).  I said “Hi,” and congratulated her on her career.  She seemed pleased with the recognition.  Ron, meanwhile, soothed a couple of angry Blue Jays fans.  They’d been pretty vocal over the play at the plate.  He gave them the official explanation.  And that was the end of a long day of softball.  More to come tomorrow. 

Troy Cox Classic Softball: NMSU vs Nebraska 2-24-23

Using the NE gameday image just to do something different

After this morning’s game between Oklahoma State and Nebraska, I skipped the game between UNM and Creighton, which the Lobos won 4-0.  I returned with Ron to see the Aggies play the Cornhuskers in the early evening.  Since I’d last time seen them, NM State had went to a Texas tournament and went 2-3, but those two wins were quality ones over UTSA and Texas State.  

Further, Aydenne Brown, who hadn’t debuted in the opening home series, emerged as the staff ace.  She recorded 26 strikeouts and two wins in three appearances.  She’d be tonight’s starter.  (Obviously, she’s also quite attractive.)

 

It was still warm out with a light breeze and some clouds.  Inside the stadium, Pan-Am PA Ed Carnathan was working at the courtesy table.  He’s out of a job at the moment.  We wondered why he wasn’t announcing for the softball game.  Inside, there was officially a crowd of over 300, but it looked like a lot more than that.  AD Mario Moccia was there.  He came in with Volleyball Coach, Mike Jordan. 

 

The Aggies were in their road grays with crimson pinstripes.  We had radio call for the game.  (Nebraska had their own announcer, as well.)  Adam Young mentioned that the Cornhuskers had former Aggie, Mya Felder, on their team.  I’d recognized her from this morning’s game.  She had been the WAC Freshman of Year when she was with the Aggies a couple of years ago.       

 

On some level, this is an easy game to recap, especially from the Aggie side.  In fact, I have one small paragraph of notes on the whole game.  I can explain this.  Keep reading.  It’ll become obvious.  The other reason was that Aggie Football player, Shiyazh Pete, sat down next to us after the game started.  At 6’8” with a huge build and long, dark hair, he’s pretty easy to spot.  I’d also gotten his autograph at the Downtown Rally last month.  Later in the game, I started talking to him when Ron had gotten up from in-between us.  He’s a really nice guy. 

Ron and I both chatted with him during this game and the next.  We changed seats in the next game and I spoke with him more.  I’ll cover that later.  When Ron was next to him, Shiyazh talked about going to the state capitol with Coach Kill, Trevor Brohard, and Diego Pavia last month.  The legislature declared it Aggie Football Day.  He was really proud of it.  
 

Our first and only Aggie highlight occurred in the top of the second.  Jillian Taylor ran down a sure double in center and laid flat out for it.  Adam’s call bordered on hysterics (well merited).  “You’ll see that one on Sports Center tonight!” he exclaimed.  Shiyazh had come in after the play.  I told him to check out the team Twitter to see it.  After I got home later, I checked it out myself.  The cameraman missed the shot.  The posted video had Adam’s call and a view of the infield.  Thankfully, at least there were a couple of photographs posted with the caption, “Trust us.  It was bananas!” 

 

Usually in these kind of games, it’s the winning team that has one of kind of highlights.  Here, the Cornhuskers didn’t need the dramatics, though there were some good plays in the field.  NE started the scoring with a leadoff homer in the top of the third.  1-0 Cornhuskers. 

 

There were a couple of good giveaways thrown to the crowd.  One was a black Aggie beanie and the other was the black and white Aggie baseball hat.  A kid in front of me got one of each.  (I’m hoping the hat will be a baseball giveaway to everyone in the crowd at a game sometime.)  The PA reported that it was 17-degrees in Lincoln.  We were sitting comfortably at about 60-degrees. 

 

In the top of the fifth, Aydenne came out after giving up a single and a walk.  Katelyn Caneda greeted reliever Emily Dix with a three-run homer to make it 4-0.  Jordan King was brought in to finish the inning.  In the bottom, Jillian scraped the wall with a flyball, but it was run down.  By this point in the game, Adam was saying what broadcasters aren’t supposed to say in these kind of situations, unless you were trying to jinx it because it was happening to your team.  I’m sure the Nebraska broadcaster was keeping quiet.

 

In the sixth, catcher Kendal Lunar threw out a runner at second.  After a walk and a single, Abbie Squier singled.  Shortstop Jayleen Burton threw home.  The ump probably got the call wrong and the runner was called safe to make it 5-0 NE.  On the play, the runner from first took third and dove under the tag from Lunar.  The ump there probably got that one wrong, too.  (Maybe I’m a little bitter.)

 

Let’s go to the bottom of the seventh.  As a fan or broadcaster, you kind of want to see it happen by this point even if it’s against you.  You don’t want to see what happened here, though.  Cornhusker pitcher, Sarah Harness struck out the first two batters.  With two strikes on Kayla Bowen, she hit an easy grounder to Caneda at second.  She’d already hit the three-homer earlier and had a put-out in five of the six preceding innings.  And she booted it. 

 

Harness came back with a strikeout to end the game, 5-0 NE.  It was still a no-hitter and first I’ve seen in person.  But it was nearly a perfect game.  Oh, well.  The Cornhuskers had no trouble celebrating anyway.  Caneda immediately ran to Harness and apologized.  Sarah threw her arm around her and gave her a big happy hug. 

 

Those two do get Gameballs.  Katelyn Caneda went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s.  Sarah Harness went 7 innings, got 10 strikeouts, and gave up nothing.  For the Aggies, Jillian Taylor gets one for her defensive effort.  I felt like Aydenne Brown was pulled too early.  Adam said Coach Rodolph might have been saving her for the next game.  I question this strategy since the game was really close against a good team.  It would have been a great win.  The coach couldn’t have known that it was going to be a no-hitter.  Could she?

 

So I have to ask you, what was the biggest screw up of this game?  The error that ruined the perfect game or the cameraman missing Jillian’s catch?  I gotta go with the catch, because the error didn’t affect the win, but that catch is now lost for all time.  Thank goodness we in the crowd at least have it in our memories and in a couple of pictures.  

 

There’d be a short break and the Aggies would return to play Creighton in the nightcap. There was no time to ruminate over the Aggies being no-hit.  Ron and I took off during the break for a quick dinner to bring back.  We discovered that the local pizza place down the street, where we were hoping to get a couple of large slices, was now closed.  That’s too bad, because they were pretty good.  (Meanwhile, the crappy chain pizza shops remain open.)  Luckily, there was a Jimmy Johns next door and we picked up subs and brought them back before the start of the next game.