NM State Aggies vs Clemson Tigers Men's NCAA Tournament 3-16-18

Jack Nixon postponed the Aggies vs Clemson Tigers pregame show and went straight into doing play-by-play for the preceding game, which had run over.  Certainly I was impressed by his seamless call of two teams he'd probably never called before.  He must have done some homework for the Aggies' possible future tournament opponents.  Auburn won in a close game.

I was momentarily heartened before the game after checking out the Aggie Baseball win from earlier in the evening.  Embarrassingly, I'd forgotten about the Softball girls.  I found out they had big win over Minnesota that night too.  Back to the basketball, I was able to watch this game on TV, though that did mean I wasn't able to listen to Jack all of the time.  I was still at work though and my viewing and listening tended to be spotty.

Zach Lofton came out firing and put in a three to start the game.  It looked like a great crowd in San Diego.  Some woman was doing the color commentary.  I'm assuming she was a player.  I'm going to refer to her as “The Chick,” since I never got her name.  It was a bit different listening to her.  There was some talk about Zach, since he's had an interesting college career.  He's been at five schools in his five years.  When the Aggie program took him on, Coach Chris Jans was assured that Zach wasn't moved around because of personal problems.  He's a good kid.

Though the Aggies kept up with the Tigers, there were troubling signs early.  Keyon Jones had three straight turnovers, which led to 4 points and a 13-10 Clemson lead.  Over halfway through the first half, rebounding machine Jemerrio Jones had no offensive rebounds.  Worse, the Tigers were having no trouble getting to the rim.  They had a significant height advantage.  

 

There was a feature on the Tiger mascot.  Where's Pistol Pete?  Clemson started pulling away late in the half.  They were keeping the Aggies from getting good shots, they were getting turnovers, and they were putting in hurtful threes.  It was 44-32 Clemson at the half.  Zach had 13 points to lead all scorers.

To start the second half, Jack mentioned that the crowd in San Diego was cheering about another tournament game.  I'd seen something on TV where the hosts were talking about some #16 seed team giving a #1 seed team a fight.  I didn't pay much attention to it, since I was sure nothing interesting would come of it.  However, it was now late in that game and the 16 was still winning. 

Shamefully, I flipped away from the Aggie game to watch the end of what would become an immortal moment in tournament history.  The #16 University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers beat the #1 Virginia Cavilers 74-54.  What's even more shocking than this never before accomplished feat of a 16 beating a 1, it's that they did it in such dominating fashion.  Dad, who was just listening to the radio, told me that the people in San Diego were angry when they turned off this game from the video screens.

Not much had changed when I got back to the Aggie game.  Clemson was still up 54-40, five minutes in.  Pistol Pete got a little airtime.  The Chick reported that Pete and the Tiger were friendly before the match.  (No doubt the Tiger was jealous though.  Seriously.  Being Pete must be awesome.)  The Chick did hang out with Pete a bit.  I'm sure he charmed her.  She asked him about mustache care.  When briefly on camera, it didn't look like she had a problem with that.  Perhaps she was asking for the men in her life.      

I'm avoiding talking about the game.  The Aggies did manage a comeback attempt.  Keyon Jones hit three's on back-to-back possessions to make it 60-49 with 10 minutes left.  Zach hit a three to bring it to 68-60 with 6 minutes left.  Jemerrio got it to 68-62 with a couple of points in the paint to cap a 10-2 run.  The Chick reported from talking to the coach that Double J even wants to win every practice.

It was a good effort, but Clemson had an immediate answer.  The Aggies just couldn't figure out how to stop them down low or in transition.  They were giving up too much in height, which as they say, you can't teach.  (Although that Baltimore team looked even smaller than the Aggies.)  The lengthy and frequent commercial breaks also had me flipping stations.  I caught a little of a Diamondbacks/Dodgers' Spring Training game.  There looked like a full house there.  The announcers were fascinated by switch-pitcher Pat Venditte throwing with both arms for the Dodgers. 

Zach hit another three with 30 seconds left, but there was no dramatic finish here.  The Aggies' season ended with a 79-68 loss to Clemson.  The big difference stat appeared to be points in the paint going 42 to 28 for the Tigers.  Zach Lofton did all he could, finishing with 29 points.  Jemerrio Jones put in another double-double effort.  There was no post game interview with Coach Jans.  In fact, the radio coverage ended pretty quickly.  Jack sounded a bit melancholy, but I'll pick everyone's spirits up here.

Season Rewind

Wow, when I went back over the season, I couldn’t believe all the highlights (and some lowlights).

11-5-17  I listened to this game, but didn’t even write anything about it, since it was a hastily put together charity exhibition, and they were completely crushed by Texas Tech.  It seemed like a really bad sign for the second game of the Chris Jans era.  He even brought this game up right before the NCAA Tournament as being one of their motivators for the rest of the season.

11-17-17  For longtime Aggie fans, this may have been the game of the year.  It was the revenge win against the Aggies’ traitorous ex-coach Paul Weir and his Lobos here in Cruces.

11-25-17 and 11-30-17  The Aggies stomped their other rival, UTEP twice (though I only wrote about it once).  The Miners had a pretty down year for their entire athletics department.  This was just par for the course.

12-3-17  While this wasn’t much of a game against Prairie View A&M, it was a great game for me, since I had free tickets.  I also had the privilege of going to the Barbara Hubbard Room and I got a motivational speech from football Coach Doug Martin after their big win versus South Alabama.  This game was my personal highlight.

12-6-17   Bad loss to the San Diego Torreos.  Who?

12-9-17  The Aggies got a close win against the Lobos in Albuquerque.  How sweet it was sweeping all the games against our two archrivals.

12-16-17  At the United Center in Chicago, the Aggies beat Illinois in a thriller.  Jack Nixon was a believer after this game.

12-22-17  Ah, a tournament in beautiful Hawaii.  No time for sight-seeing with the high-level competition there.  How did the Aggies get invited?  Doesn't matter.  They proved they deserved it with a win against Davidson, a team that college basketball wonks get all hot over.

12-23-17  Shock the world!  #6 and unbeaten Miami no longer either after running into the Aggies.  This got the program some national attention.

12-25-17  Christmas is usually disappointing for me.  I never get what I really want: real estate.  I was more realistically hoping for a tournament-winning victory over USC, but that didn't happen either.  I was still pretty pleased with the team anyway.

1-11-18  What a way to finish a road trip; three conference games.  The game this night was at Grand Canyon, one of the toughest places to play in the WAC.  No problem for the Aggies.  They wiped them.

1-20-18  I got free tickets to another game and to the Hub (and a super cool poster).  The team returned home 7-1 after a 37-day road trip.  This was their second win upon getting back and was a convincing victory over Utah Valley.

2-10-18  Pack the Pan-Am.  The Aggies needed every single fan at the sell-out as they willed the team to victory over GCU.

2-15-18 and 2-17-18  The Aggies lost two in a row on the road, including an OT loss to Seattle U and wearing down against Utah Valley's strong shooting.  This caused the team some soul-searching and likely cost them getting into the top 25 for this season.

3-9-18 and 3-10-18  WAC Tournament.  They were tested by Seattle U and then dominated GCU in the championship.

Athletic Director Mario Moccia thought hiring Chris Jans was pretty close to a sure thing for success.  He pegged that one.  Here's hoping we can keep him for a while.  Zach Lofton ended his college career with an exclamation point.  I hope somebody in the NBA sees his potential too.  Likewise, Jemerrio Jones, who just about averaged a double-double this season.  Lastly, let's look forward to a bright future with the human highlight reel and local boy, Johnny McCants.  Much like the football program, Aggie Basketball just needs to keep building on what they've established. 

I had a great season.  Not just from listening and watching, but from being able to go to and enjoy a couple of games in person and even experiencing the hospitality suite.  That's likely ruined me for just going to a game.  It's likely I'll remain a mostly remote fan, as opposed to an in-person one.  Good luck to Mario in pursuing Pan-Am upgrades with luxury suites.  That would probably be a great boost to the program.     

NM State Aggies vs Wyoming Cowgirls Women's NIT Basketball 3-15-18

Photo from Las Cruces Sun News by Gary Mook.

This is a great pic of Brooke Salas, and there's UTEP's Katerina Zec in the background, adding to the good looks.

Welcome to 7,200ft above sea level and the city of Laramie,Wyoming.  Apparently , there's only one flight a day into Laramie, so the Aggie girls had to fly to Denver and bus in.  Their destination was the “Dome of Doom,” Wyoming University's arena and a good Cowgirls team (and I appreciate the gender-specific team naming for a change).  I took a look at a picture online.  It is a large, nice facility. 

At least the Aggies wouldn't be battling the elements tonight unlike Wyoming's fans.  It was snowing hard there in the evening.  Adam Young reported that they usually draw 3000 people for their games from the surrounding area, but the weather was keeping many of their otherwise hearty fans away, even for a tournament game.

Before the game, I wondered how the girls were going to react to playing in the NIT.  Seniors Zaire Williams and Jasmine Cooper, who haven't known anything other than playing the NCAA Tournament for three years, must have been keenly disappointed.  Likewise, everyone except new players this year, would have been looking forward to it.  This had to be a come-down. 

They were at least playing for the possibility, given the NIT's arcane scheduling, of at least one more home game.  I seem to remember that the UTEP Women's team a couple of years ago actually played for the NIT title in El Paso.  I'd hoped this game would be here, since tickets were a fairly reasonable $13 (as opposed to the $100 Men's NCAA tickets).  Standing in the Aggies' way though was Mountain West Player of the Year, Liv Roberts.  This Cowgirls team had also beaten the New Mexico Lobos three times this season.  This was the same team that the Aggies had lost to twice, including a barn-burning in Las Cruces (12-2-17).

First Quarter

Regardless of the size of the crowd, they were very enthusiastic.  The Aggies didn't get their first points until five minutes into the game, but their defense held up well, so it was only 6-2 Cowgirls halfway through the quarter.  Unfortunately, Wyoming planted a couple of three's right after to make it 12-3.  The quarter finished with the Cowgirls firmly up, 21-11.  The two conference Players of the Year were leading their teams, Liv Roberts with 15 and Brooke Salas with 9.

Second Quarter

Coach Atkinson was making frequent substitutions for the altitude.  Jeneva Toilolo  came into the game wearing a new number.  Her regular jersey didn't make the trip.  The Aggies turned up their defense and managed to close the difference to 6, but the Cowgirls soon had it back to double digits.  Good thing for them that their team doesn't play like their band.  I caught a little of them during a break.  They suck and made me appreciate the Roadrunner Review all the more.

Aaliyah Prince cycled into the game off the bench and immediately hit a basket.  Good for her getting some playing time.  Gia Pack, who'd been playing well, got hit with an elbow on a flagrant foul.  She had to come out for the rest of the half.  Prince came back in for her.  I was skeptical given what I'd seen of her play this year, but she proceeded to get get a reverse layup and hit another jumper.  I was happily impressed.  The Aggies were back in it, down 35-30.  Roberts finished the half with 22, 7 for 7 on free throws.  Brooke was up to 16.

Third Quarter

Adam reported that both highways out of Laramie were closed.  This was going to be putting a bit of a crimp in the Aggies' departure plans, which involved taking the bus back to Denver tonight.  Gia came back into the game with a vengeance.  The Aggies got within 2, but a couple of turnovers drove the Wyoming lead back up to 7.  Brooke was covered like a blanket was it was on Gia to score.  The coach became infuriated over a non-call on Brooke being hit while shooting.  It was 53-48 Cowgirls after three quarters.  Terrible stat during the quarter: the Aggies were 1 for 14 on three-point attempts. 

Fourth Quarter

The game continued to be tight.  Playing the hot hand, Prince was back in and scored 5 to tie the score at 53.  The crowd definitely got into it.  The Aggies picked up three quick fouls and the Cowgirls were back up 57-53.  The crowd was still roaring at the two minute mark as Wyoming increased their lead to 63-56.  Brooke hit a three late , but it was too late.  67-59 Wyoming was the final.  The Aggies did not try fouling in the last minute and just let it expire. 

Only five Aggies scored in the game.  Brooke Salas had 21 and Gia Pack had 20.  We're looking forward to seeing these two back next season.  Our next leading scorer was Aaliyah Prince with 11, going 5 for 6!  Was this the same little hotdog I'd seen out on the court this year with more ambition than talent?  Did she just need a bigger stage to showoff?  I'm looking forward to seeing more of her too.

Zaire Williams had 6 points, but really had a bad game with turnovers.  Jeneva Toilolo had 1 point on a free throw.  She had a couple of chances in the paint, but wasn't able to finish.  I see the potential with her.  I hope she'll be able to work on it over the off-season.  Okay, that was all the offensive contributions, and I'd say that was why they lost.  I don't know where Monique Mills or Jasmine Cooper were, but some scoring from them, probably would have put the team over the top.  Meanwhile, there was no defending Liv Roberts on the Cowgirls.  She had 28 points on 8 for 10 shooting and went 9 for 9 for free throws.    

There wasn't an interview with Coach Atkinson again after the game, just like after their last WAC game (3-19-18).  With that, I'm going to take a stab at recapping the season.  I wasn't really prepared for this today, so forgive me if I forget lots of stuff and don't link to every game I went to.

The Aggies had some bad losses at home in 2017, including a shocker to the start the season to Western Michigan (11-12-17).  They hadn't lost on their home court since 2016 in an OT loss to Arizona (12-4-16).  They lost to the NM Lobos in Albuquerque in front of over 5,000 hostile fans and in Las Cruces (12-2-17).  The Lobos brought a bunch of their fans with them for that game, while Aggies fans were sitting outside, tailgating for the big football game.  Even with the disappointing loss, at 101-93, that was one of the best Women's basketball games I'd ever seen. 

The team had a good, grind-it-out win over their other main rival, UTEP next (12-10-17).  Tangentially, I got to see lots of Katerina Zec then and became enamored.  The Aggies went on a long road trip.  They were completely annihilated at Arizona in front of 7,500 fans, mostly screaming kids (12-14-17).  The girls had an inspired win at Pepperdine with their former coach, Mark Trakh in attendance (12-17-18).  

Once again (12-29-17), Aggie Women's Basketball conflicted with a big football game.  While it was extremely gratifying that Aggie Football was playing meaningful games, it was another low-attendance game for the girls.  What followed was a 30-point loss to UC-Santa Barbara.  This might have been the low-point of the girls' season, though Jasmine Cooper did breakout offensively in the game.

After a chippy contest with Western NM (12-31-17), the Aggies began conference play to start 2018.  This was when the girls turned it up and only dropped three games out of 14, all losses on the road.  They got that home court magic back.  With a little help on the last day of the season (3-18-18), they won the regular season championship.  However, there was some stiff competition this season in the WAC tournament and the Aggies ran right into a buzzsaw that was Seattle U's red-hot shooting (3-9-18).

Brooke Salas definitely earned her pre-season POTY award.  She was a good, steady rock for the team.  When she wasn't scoring, Brooke was getting rebounds, blocks, and steals.  Gia Pack was a great compliment in scoring for a one-two punch.  It was very hard for any team to keep both of them from scoring in a game.  Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough support for these two to be able to play with really good opponents.  We hope Monique Mills will step into that role next year.

The program lost a great coach in Mark Trakh, along with a great class of seniors last year.  Coach Brooke Atkinson was still handed a pretty good team for a first-year head coach.  Her first and best decision was not to make any major changes in play philosophy.  I think the first half of the season was a learning one for her.  Given how the team played in the second half, she obviously learned well.  This post-season was also a learning one for her, so we'll hopefully see what she learned next season.  This, of course, depends on repeating this season's success and seeing how well she does in off-season recruiting. 

Cheers to the girls on a good season.  I had a good time with them.  And from Twitter, the girls did make it to Denver in the morning for their flight and still look in good spirits.

                                    

NM State Aggies WAC Basketball Tournament 2018

Full disclosure, I caught a cold this week.  So, my enthusiasm for note-taking and writing, even for this big event, isn't where it should be.  I'm even doing this on a laptop, while watching TV.  I was able to listen to all these games, but I think some quick summaries, with the usual random, incoherent details strung together in an incomprehensible narrative, will be the best I can do.

3-7-18 Aggie Women vs Chicago State Cougars

Before the WAC tournament in Las Vegas, Brooke Salas was named WAC Player of the Year, Gia Pack was named to the First Team All-Conference, Coach Brooke Atkinson was Coach of the Year, and Monique Mills was named Newcomer of the Year.  Since Grand Canyon University is now eligible for the postseason, the Aggies would not be getting a bye in the first round with their #1 seeding.  They'd be playing Chicago State, the #8 seed, who had finally broken their 59-game winless streak this season.  I would have liked to have seen that victory celebration.   

I can likely sum up this game with one stat: Chicago State scored their first points with two minutes left in the first quarter, making the score 17-2 Aggies at the time.  Coach Atkinson was actually emptying the bench before the second quarter.  Boy did Gia Pack have a great half with 20 points.  Monique Mills was also all over it on defense.  42-27 Aggies at the half.

AD Mario Moccia came on with sportscaster Adam Young during halftime.  Mario was pleased with the Aggie crowd for this game.  The Roadrunner Review band and the Cheerleaders were there too.  They were expecting more fans when the Men started playing the next day.  Pep rallies were planned before the games.  Mario also teased Adam for wearing a UTEP-colored tie.

The second half was more of the same.  Jeneva Toilolo had four points for the game, but I was pleased that she scored them by finishing on her shots in the paint.  Tonishia Childress put in a couple of threes.  Sara Lopez was put in to run the point for the Aggies' last possession.  She could have dribbled it out, but instead pulled up and hit a three.  I hope the Cougars weren't offended by that.  The crowd, and myself, let out a cheer.  I think I could hear Adam smiling while he called the shot.

Our final was 84-60 Aggies.  (I forgot to write it down at the time and had to look it up later.  I must have really been out of it.)  Gia Pack finished with 29.  Brooke Salas had 27.  Monique Mills only had 2 points, but was doing it on defense and they didn't need extra offense today.  Tyeshia Bowers for the Cougars had 22.  Chicago State does have some players.  Disturbingly, the Aggies were -15 in rebounds, but made it up being +11 in turnovers.

3-8-18 Aggie Men vs Chicago State Cougars

Okay, same set up here, just different genders.  Coach Chris Jans did win Coach of the Year, and Jermerrio Jones won Player of the Year.  The Aggie guys went on a run early and never looked back.  It was 19-6 early.  Joe Garza came in to run the point for a spell and hit a three.  Sportscaster Jack Nixon offered some constructive criticism of Jemerrio during the half, calling him out for trying to hit a three and for “never making an easy pass.”  It was 45-26 Aggies at the half.  Zach Lofton led with 18.

I took a look at the girls' Twitter feed.  They posted a picture of the team with seats on the floor for this game and looking good.  In the second half, Jack mentioned they got into the action at one point with an out-of-bounds ball landing near Zaire Williams.  (Yeah, I'm sure that was accidental.  No doubt whoever did the inbounds came over and said, “Hey, baby!  Like what you see out here?  What you doin' after the game?”  Okay, that's what I might have done if I were one of these ballplayers.) 

Not much was going on competitively.  Johnny McCants got the Aggie fans going with one of his jams to make it 60-41 Aggies.  Jack did get on to the guys for some “lazy passing” and playing badly.  They must have heard him, as the team put in back-to-back reverse jams and went on a 14-0 run.  97-70 Aggies was the final.  Zach Lofton led with 21 points.  Keyon Jones hit six threes for 18 points.  The stat of the game was that the team forced 20 turnovers.       

3-9-18 Aggie Women vs Seattle U Redhawks

This tilt was an afternoon game.  I flipped on my TV beforehand and suddenly caught the very end of the Mountain West Women's Basketball final between the Boise State Broncos and the Nevada Wolfpack.  They were playing in Las Vegas too, but on the UNLV campus.  Darn, if I'd known this was on, I would have watched.  Time was up in the game.  The refs were deciding if a last second shot counted.  The Boise girls were huddled in a tight circle on the court when the decision came.  Their sub 1-second shot counted and the Broncos were the conference champs.  There was a decent crowd there for the game.  Nevada did win the regular season; they'd be getting an automatic bid to the NIT tournament.  I didn't realize the foreshadowing of that postgame comment until later.

The Aggie game came on the radio a bit later.  The Aggies had lost to the Redhawks in Seattle earlier in the season, but beaten them handily at home (2-18-18).  This matchup was a tossup.  Adam Young sounded serious from the beginning in his game call.  He reported there was good contingent of Aggie fans there.  (If you're there to see the guys, you might as well see the girls.  I know someone who went to the tournament.  I'll ask him about the pricing later.) 

This game unfortunately reminded me of the Chicago State game, but in reverse.  The Aggies went down 8-1 to start the game.  I kept waiting for Brooke Salas to takeover and start a run, but it never happened.  The score kept getting worse.  At 14-5 Redhawks, Coach Atkinson finally called a timeout, though I doubt it mattered.  For the first half, Seattle was shooting 69%.  The Aggies tried playing up tempo in the second quarter, but couldn't keep up with them.  Moreover, the refs were calling nothing.  At one point, Brooke had a staredown with a referee after a no-call while being hit on a shot.  Gia Pack got hammered on a shot with no call. It was 49-22 Redhawks at the half.

Adam, perhaps sensing this wasn't going to be the girls' day, had mentioned in the first quarter that the Aggie Baseball team was beating Alabama 3-0 late in their game.  AD Mario Moccia came on at halftime and Adam mentioned it to him to cheer him up.  Mario threatened Adam with violence if he'd potentially jinxed the team, but the score held and was final.  They'd even won the game, not with their ace, Kyle Bradish, but with Justin Dehn.  (I checked later.  The Aggies lost the night cap, 3-1.  That’s still impressively competitive against a good team.)

The third quarter started with the coverage coming back late from commercial.  I had to be on my way to work anyway.  I decided not to bother taking my portable radio to listen on the way.  (My car radio doesn't work.  I live such a silly life.)  I when I picked up the game again at work, nothing had changed.  84-61 Redhawks was the final.  Beyond Seattle shooting the lights out, the Aggies were -29 in rebounding.  That poor rebounding against Chicago State did come back and hurt them. Brooke Salas and Gia Pack both had 18 points.  It was going to take more than that today. 

Coach Atkinson didn't do an interview after the game.  I saw the postgame press conference with her and Gia and Brooke.  She didn't have any answers on how they could have stopped Seattle's offensive onslaught.  Gia was at a loss to explain too.  She would make the All-Tournament Team announced the next day.  Brooke looked kind of devastated.  She did acknowledge that the Redhawks just played better.  Well, the Aggies will get an NIT bid, since they won the conference.  Come on, Brooke.  Get that game-face back on.

Aggie Men vs Seattle U Redhawks

     

It was another identical match up later in the evening.  Much later.  The game started near 10:00 pm our time.  The coverage started with the previous game between Grand Canyon University and Utah Valley still going on.  Jack Nixon resisted for a while, but finally started doing play-by-play of the closing minutes.  Given that he probably hadn't prepped for the game, he did his usual great job, although I have to think he might have violated the other teams' broadcast rights.  Grand Canyon won to advance to the finals.  Frighteningly, from a quick estimation, they might have had as many fans there as the Aggies brought, though there was a record number of tickets sold by NM State for the tournament.

I was encouraged that Zach Lofton hit a three early.  The Aggies ran up an 18-5 lead.  Sidy N'Dir and AJ Harris had a pair of blocks that got gasps from the crowd.  They were loving it.  Then suddenly, it was 21-18 Aggies.  Get your stomach ready for the roller coaster.  Zach hit his fifth three of the half to make it 31-20.  Then it was 36-33 with two minutes left.  Then it was tied at 37.  When the buzzer sounded, it was 48-43 Seattle after a pair of last second shots.

The second half started.  I should mention that the Redhawks have a 7'3” center named Aaron Menzies.  Jemerrio Jones was un-intimidated.  He drove the lane and jammed on him.  “There's a poster coming!” shouted Jack Nixon.  The Aggies retook the lead with a 13-0 run to make it 48-43.  The Redhawks went on a 6-0 run to close it to 50-49 with 11 minutes left. 

At this point, work and illness may have gotten the better of me, and I was only able to listen, not take notes.  Zach and AJ put in a couple of critical threes to keep the Aggies in it.  Menzies fouled out with two minutes left.  With the Aggies ahead with under a minute left, the Redhawks started fouling.  That was a great strategy as the Aggies went 1 for 4 in free throws at one point.  Thankfully, they eventually made a couple and put it away.  84-79 Aggies final.  Zach Lofton put in a jaw-dropping 31 points.  Stay agog as Jemerrio Jones came up with 22 rebounds.  On to the championship round.

3-10-18 Aggie Men vs Grand Canyon University Lopes

Good thing I wasn't playing.  I was exhausted from dealing with my cold the night before.  I tuned into the pregame and heard an interesting/scary conversation with AD Mario Moccia.  Jack Nixon asked him about the status of the WAC.  One school was leaving (Bakersfield), another is being actively courted (Seattle U), and another is probably looking to jump since they're considered valuable (GCU).  Meanwhile, Chicago State's finances are putting their whole university in danger and UMKC is reevaluating having DI athletics.  I guess that's everyone except NM State and Utah Valley with pending plans.  The conference is adding another school, but they’re a DII program making the jump.  This was scary because Mario doesn't seem to have an answer (or is playing things really close to the vest).  He was very intent on making sure they retain Chris Jans as their basketball coach.

The team stat guy (whose name I'm not going to be able to figure out to spell) came on with a comforting stat.  A team with two wins on an opponent in a season were over 70% likely to win a third contest.  That's not my experience, at least from watching the NFL, but with two Aggie wins over GCU this year, it's good to know.  He said that they didn't tell the team about this stat.  In the coach's interview, Jans said he was very happy with the crowd support for the tournament.  The crowd might well have been about equal in rooting for the teams.  Vegas isn't too far from Phoenix after all.

Certainly to start the game, the teams were about equal.  GCU is actually #1 in the nation in defending three's, which was going to crimp the Aggies style a bit.  Johnny McCants did get in a crowd-pleasing jam, but the team went through a four-minute scoring drought with five minutes left.  However, the Lopes only managed a four-point lead during that time.  With three minutes left, Zach Lofton finally got his first points of the game.  This set off an avalanche though.  Steals, layups, and threes happened all at once for the Aggies.  Zach hit a three at the half to make it 33-22 Aggies.  Jemerrio Jones already had a double-double in points and rebounds. 

Jack kept having to correct the bumper announcer.  For some reason, the official intro was missing the word “conference” in it.  During halftime, Jack interviewed an Aggie alum who lives in Vegas and works in a sports book.  He said the busiest time of the year for sports betting was actually the first four days of March Madness.  So many games, so much money, so little brains.

The Aggies came out fouling to start the second half and picked up three quickly.  The Lopes went on a run, prompting a timeout.  However, they were fouling too.  After that last game, my mind was blown as the Aggies went 6 for 6 in free throws.  Ten minutes left and GCU led all of the second half stats, but not the score, 50-42 Aggies.  The Lopes kept fouling.  Unbelievably, the Aggies were 13 of 15 from the nail by this point.  Who were these guys?  Had they been saving these up all season?  Was the coach threatening their families?

GCU never managed a comeback.  For the last 30 seconds, Joe Garza came in and dribbled it out.  Our championship final: Aggies 72, Lopes 58.  Jemerrio Jones was named Tournament MVP.  Jack interviewed him afterward, and we found out AJ Harris' nickname is “Amos” (probably his actual name) and Jemerrio's is “Double J.”  Enough dancing lessons, it's time for the big dance.   

NM State Aggies vs the Harvard Crimson Baseball 3-4-18

Ron was out for this Sunday game to take care of some family members, so I was solo today.  I took advantage of the concessions special and picked up a $1 hot dog for lunch.  It had a stale bun, but at least it was cheap.  I also finally got the Corn in the Cup that I’d been craving.  It was a messy, soupy gumbo swimming in a butter/grease/water concoction.  It was delicious.  I ate the meal while watching the Aggies warm up on field.  Then the “Aggies” retreated to the visiting dugout.  Harvard’s team is called “The Crimson.”  As this implies, they wear crimson, which is the same primary color as the Aggies.  Today, both teams were wearing colored crimson tops and white pants.  I thought that one confused fan from last night’s game was a bit inebriated, but it was probably confusing for everyone at times.          

It was a clear, warm day, somewhat spoiled by a stiff breeze.  At least it wasn’t a cold one and for the fans in the grandstand, it was blowing out and not bothering them.  It was going to be bothering the players during the game however.  This was another TV game with no radio.  Friday night, I’d seen former Aggie pitcher, Matt McHugh, in the booth for the game.  He was here again and was the only guy at the stadium in a suit.  (I’m not sure even play-by-play guy, Adam Young, was as dressed up.)  Matt walked by me on the way to the booth.  I called him by name and told him to call a good game.  He seemed pleased with the recognition.

The Harvard announcer guy from last night was here, but he wasn’t broadcasting.  Once again, I had no opportunity to talk to him to see if he really was broadcasting for them.  The Old Man was there, cheering up a storm as usual.  It was a pretty good crowd.  I noticed a guy in a new Diablos t-shirt.  I think the El Paso Chihuahuas may have undercut their brand by bringing back the old logo and team name. 

A trio of young women sat down in front of me for the game.  Two were pretty attractive and even the other one had a nice hairstyle.  I think they were in the sports medicine program.  They sort of knew the guys in some fashion and were there to support them.  “All my baseball knowledge comes from watching Trouble With the Curve,” said the cute one.  I’ve seen some the movie.  That’s not a bad place to start.  In any case, they were fully engaged in the game and had a good time watching. 

I missed the PA lineup announcement trying to find a trash can for my lunch.  (What happened to the ones at either end of the grandstand?) Thankfully, there was a program today, so I didn’t have any trouble filling out my scorecard.  I finally identified the organ music clip the PA plays.  It was surprisingly Suki Yaki, not a tune I’d expect at a ballpark.  Though a TV game, there was only one lengthy delay for the broadcast at the beginning of the game.  The rest of the breaks were normal.      

           

Though Harvard got a double play to start off the bottom of the first, Mason Fishback came up next and homered.  It looked like an easy flyball to center, but just kept carrying in the wind.  This would inspire many of the other batters in the game to swing for flyballs.  Not a bad strategy.  A popup by Tristen Carranza next, blew all over the place before the Harvard first baseman caught it and fell down.

In the top of the second, Nick Gonzales made a great play on a dying little blooper to throw out the runner at first.  Jonathan Groff, starting for the Aggies, kept the ball low and got a couple of groundouts to end the inning.  The fielding was good there and I wonder if it was helped by Groff working quickly.  The wind picked up in the bottom.  Aggie batters aimed for the sky, but ended up with three fly outs.

The third featured a souvenir cup giveaway.  I already had one.  One of the girls in front applauded a lead-off base hit by Harvard to start the third.  She immediately realized her mistake and said she was confused by the uniforms.  The bases were loaded on another hit and a walk, but a double play limited the damage to one run.  1-0 Harvard.  Nick started off the bottom.  The Old Man and another fan, perhaps Marcus Still’s dad, told him to “Put it over the wall!”  He responded by sending the ball over the wall to right center.  It was a line drive shot, but the wind may have kept it flying.  We were tied at one.  A couple of attractive girls from the Track and Field team came in and sat down behind me.  They were in shorts and, as you might guess, they had great legs.

For the fourth, a little kid hit the window for the pitching contest.  He got some low-fives from the guys in the dugout.  The wind was blowing for both teams.  Hunter Bigge got one up in the jetstream to right with a runner on and put Harvard up on a homer, 3-1.  Groff got in some more trouble after, but worked out of it.      

The bottom of the fourth started with a bang.  Tristan Carranza hit the outfield wall with a line shot.  However, he only made it to first.  I initially thought it was because he was admiring what seemed like a sure home run, but actually he pulled something on the hit and had to be stretched out by a trainer at first.  He stayed in.  Caleb Henderson singled, then Logan Ehnes hit a popup, which the fielder lost in the sun, allowing him to reach.  This loaded the bases. 

“Hit us a granny!” yelled someone in the crowd to Trey Stine, up next.  He didn’t, but did drive in a run from being hit by a pitch.  The girls in front of me took their second group selfie of the game.  “People ask me, ‘How do you get those fine abs?’  I say, ‘It’s from holding out my phone all the time,’” said the cute one in the group.  Ah, she’s clever too.  On the field, Nick Gonzales hit a fly ball to left.  Between the sun and the wind, the fielder never saw the ball, and it ended up being a two-run double.

Marcus Still’s Dad started repeating the Old Man’s cheers as the Aggies batted around for the frame.  Marcus Still singled in a run.  Joey Ortiz sacrificed in a run.  Fishback and Carranza both doubled in runs.  When the dust cleared, the Aggies were up 9-3.  The PA had to take a minute before announcing the inning totals.  No errors were given out for the untouched fly balls.  Conditions were a bit rough for the players in the field and generally, if nobody touches the ball, it’s not an error.

The girls brought back something vicious-smelling from the concession, like really strong pickles.  Here, I regretted sitting near them.  The Aggies turned a double play for a quick top of the fifth.  Marcus Still drove in another run with a double in the bottom, 10-2.  Patrick Robinson for Harvard made a good diving catch in left field for an out.  In the sixth, I knew the trivia question (or more accurately, I knew to look at the program for the answer).  I would have run to the pressbox if I’d know they were giving away an umbrella.  I’ve destroyed both of mine going to softball and soccer games.  Also, I would have gotten to finally see the female PA voice. 

While the Aggies had been blasting away this game, Jake Suddleson for Harvard got the height and distance medal for a homer today.  His solo shot in the top of the sixth went 400’ to dead center and cleared the 20’ batter’s eye.  This one was definitely wind-aided.  Marcus Still out in center, didn’t even move or look as the ball flew overhead.  10-4 Aggies. 

Then the Aggies sent 16 men to the plate in the bottom of the sixth.  (Deep breath.)  Ortiz walked, Fishback doubled him in.  A hit batter and another walk loaded the bases.  Harvard changed pitchers (a little too late).  The PA ran him off with multiple sound effects and played Pressure by David Bowie and Queen for his replacement.  Ehnes singled in two runs.  Trey Stine then came up and hit a three-run homer.  The right fielder turned around and watched the ball hit one of the pine trees behind the wall.  He flapped his arms in resignation, or perhaps he wanted to fly away.

The girls, meanwhile, were reviewing some emergency medical procedures, maybe for a test.  Certainly the hemorrhaging on field might have reminded them about it.  Where were we?  Let’s see.  Next up, walk, hit batter, hit batter, grand slam home run.  That last one was courtesy of Joey Ortiz.  He hit the scoreboard in left field.  Fishback then got hit in the head on a fastball.  Given how many batters Harvard hit today (6 in total, 2 in Game 2 yesterday, I don’t know about the other two games), it might have been an accident.  Unfortunately, this one was hard.  Fishy had to come out of the game.  The pitcher was also yanked immediately.  Aggie pitching showed remarkable restraint in not retaliating. 

The Harvard shortstop, Chad Minato, came over to pitch.  Harvard does have close to a full roster, but I guess he was their best option at that moment.  His first batter, Carranza, fouled out to the first baseman.  That was the first out of the inning.  Then another hit batter, a three-run homer by Ehnes, and finally the second and third outs.  13 runs on five hits for the sixth.  23-4 Aggies.

The girls left after that barrage, but there was an Aggie Baseball t-shirt toss to the crowd from the pressbox.  There weren’t many kids there today, so heck yes, I wanted one.  I stood and waved, but came away empty.  “Good effort, Yale! . . . I mean Harvard,” shouted out a fan as they came to bat in the seventh.  That was just cruel (but you shouldn’t have pegged one of our star players).  After three quick groundouts, the game suddenly ended.  The run rule was in effect for this game apparently.  (Why isn’t this rule in effect for every game?)  Our final Aggies 23, Harvard 4. 

Jonathan Groff did a great job pitching in conditions not conducive to good pitching.  Good job by the fielders too.  Offensively, holy crap!  Let’s hand it to Logan Ehnes going 4 for 5 with 5 RBI’s and a homer.  Of course, there were plenty of other great performances hitting today (Joey Ortiz 5 RBI, grand slam HR; Mason Fishback 3 for 4, 3 RBI, HR; Trey Stine 4 RBI, HR).  This was one of those days where the Aggies looked like world-beaters.

Thanks to the truncation, the game ended in under three hours.  I drove by the tennis complex on the way home, since I knew there were matches going on today.  I saw a bunch of people there, but didn’t see the girls playing from the road, so I decided not to stop.  I wouldn’t finally be seeing Eli Arnaudova today.  This was a feel-good win today after yesterday’s loss.  If that strong wind had been blowing into the stands, I might not have felt so good about it.  Okay, no live Aggie sports for this upcoming weekend, but we’re hoping to hear the Men and Women’s Basketball teams playing for the WAC championship on Saturday.              

  

NM State Aggies vs the Harvard Crimson Baseball Game 2, 3-3-18

 

While we were at the Aggie Women’s Basketball game and watching the girls win their regular season championship, Ron kept updating me on Game 1 of this double header with Harvard.  It was a back and forth affair.  The Aggies made a comeback in the ninth to force a tenth inning, which Mason Fishback ended on a two-run walk-off homer, 11-9 Aggies. 

The game was tied in the ninth when the basketball game ended.  Ron may have wanted to leave at that point to try and see the end, but I wanted to stick around and see the girls cut down the net and didn’t think we’d make it over in time.  My bad, but no regrets.  Actually, it would have sort of been a great game to watch all of.  Sort of.  It ran for four hours.  Good thing for the fans there that the Aggies won.  Boy would that have hurt otherwise.

Just to backtrack a little to Friday night’s first game of this series, I was able to watch the end of the game at work, since it was on TV.  Kyle Bradish had another great start.  He let in one run on a wild pitch, while the Aggies built up a five run lead.  Unfortunately in the eighth, Harvard got to the Aggie relievers and scored four to tie it.  But the Aggies came back in a big way in the bottom.  Fishback drove in two and then Trey Stine clobbered a grand slam to put the game out of reach.  Brock Whittlesey shut the door in the ninth for an 11-5 Aggie win.

After the basketball game, Ron wanted a quick lunch.  I had to talk him out of McDonalds by mentioning that nearby Schlotzsky’s also had a drive through.  Since we were eating in Ron’s car in the baseball parking lot waiting for the game, we ended up skipping getting chips and, more importantly, their ice cream.  Still, our sandwiches were great.  Amazingly, Game 2 had not started by the time we went inside the stadium.  There were some complaints from the fans that had been there for Game 1 about the lengthy delay. 

It was a pretty good crowd.  The Diamond Club area was full.  I’m not sure how many came over from the basketball game, since the tickets for that were being honored here today.  I was the only one wearing an Aggie Women’s Basketball shirt.  Harvard did bring some fans with them, though nothing like Yale’s section-filling contingent from last year (3-5-17).  There was no program up front, but there was a new Kyle Bradish poster.  (Where am I going to find room for all of these posters?)  

In the late afternoon, it still very pleasant out in the high 70’s.  There was only a light breeze.  However, the sun was starting to set.  Thankfully, I’d brought my jacket, just in case we came to this game, but I didn’t bring a hat.  As the game went into the night, I was worried I’d start freezing again, like last weekend, but it never got cold.      

When I mentioned complaining fans earlier, I actually mainly meant one guy.  He was in a Dale Earnhardt Sr jacket, so he’ll be referred to as Senior here as we go along.  I’ve never seen this guy out at the park before, but he certainly knew his baseball and about the Aggie team.  He also knew how to hold his alcohol, which may have been a contributor to his outspokenness.  AD Mario Moccia came in before the game started.  Senior called him over and asked about getting good seats like at the ballpark into the football stadium, as well as some handrails for climbing the stairs.  He may have had some good points.  Mario said he’d bring it up at his next meeting. 

Ron made the impromptu observation that in Game 2, on the second pitch of the game, the batter hit a double.  No, he wasn’t drinking.  That runner did score on a base hit to give Harvard a 1-0 lead.  Bruno Teramoto had another error at second, but there was a great double play turned to end the inning.  Kevin Stone for Harvard worked around two lead-off walks with a double play for a scoreless first.

Harvard tacked on another run in the second with two singles and a walk, 2-0.  David Bellamy did make a great throw to the plate to try and get the runner.  Pitcher Alex Pinedo also made an excellent fake that he was going to cut off the throw.  In this inning, I noticed another voice just underneath Senior’s constant loud chatter.  It was a deep, smooth professional call of the game by an announcer from the Harvard point of view.  He was sitting in the stands only a few rows back, but with Senior in between, I could barely hear him.  I think he was calling the game for them, but I’m not quite sure.  Everyone who talks to me at after seeing me writing stuff down, asks me if I’m with the newspaper, so there’s no telling.  This uncertainty would be more clearly manifest later.  Unfortunately, I never got the chance to talk to him to clarify things and compliment him on his game call. 

The third inning passed without scoring.  There was a mini-football toss into the crowd from the pressbox, and I saw a woman wearing a new throwback Diablos jersey.  In the bottom, Marcus Still did hit Stone on a comebacker, but he recovered well and threw Still out.  They brought a kid out on field in the fourth for the throwing contest at a window pane.  With Senior yelling out advice, he hit it. 

Senior also had some interesting gossip during the inning.  He was telling a Harvard fan that this facility used to be totally primitive, until a donation a couple of years ago by a donor.  Said donor didn’t like the previous coach of the team and pledged the donation if the university fired him.  This is somewhat believable.  The previous coach was very tightly wound.  I could where he might rubbed people the wrong way.  The moment he stopped getting good results on the field, he got canned.  Coach Brian Green had a horrific first season, but he is an NMSU grad and has a much more pleasant personality.  Thankfully, he started getting results the next season and was able to sell the program to recruits with the stadium upgrades.

On the field, the Aggies finally got a run on a strange error.  Joey Ortiz got on from being hit by a pitch and was advanced to third on a hit by Fishback.  I wasn’t even watching what happened next.  The routine thrown in to the infield was muffed and Ortiz took home and Fishback took second.  2-1 Harvard.  During this inning I was also really distracted.  I was still trying to listen to the Harvard announcer.  (“And he lays off the high cheese.  It’s two balls, one strike.”  Ah, it was just musical commentary.)  The Aggie Men’s Basketball game also just started on the radio.  I kept listening in and out on that.

Senior sang along with NSync over the PA in between innings.  Him and the Harvard announcer had a proxy disagreement.  Somehow a football rule came up.  Senior said he was wrong.  The announcer said that someone in the Aggie crowd did not agree with him.  Needless to say, I got a chuckle out of that exchange.  In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggie offense finally got going.  The Aggies tried to use some small ball to score.  Teramoto singled and was bunted over.  Still hit a shallow single.  He ran for second to try and draw a throw to allow Bruno to score, but the throw went home.  Bruno was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice on the next batter.  Enough of that crap.  Joey Ortiz came up and hit a three-run homer.  It didn’t seem to be hit that hard, but it just kept carrying to right center.  The wind probably kept it up.  4-2 Aggies.

Senior came back from the concessions with a foul ball he’d acquired while over there.  He sang along with Corey Hart’s Sunglasses at Night.  Ron was seething that other people were getting all of these fouls.  Logan Bottrell pinch hit in the sixth and made it to third base on a two-base error from a bad throw by the shortstop.  Stone walked the next batter, precipitating a mound visit by the coach.  The gobbledygook sound bite played over their conversation.  “Another classy sound effect by the Aggies,” said the Harvard announcer.  Unfortunately, Bottrell would be thrown out at the plate on a good play by Stone.  It was a fielder’s choice bunt which was incorrectly, in my opinion, officially scored as a hit.

“Why do I keep rooting for Harvard?” asked Senior in the seventh.  It was true.  He kept accidently cheering for the wrong team.  I thought it was alcohol-related, but from tomorrow’s experience, everyone including myself was vulnerable to some confusion.  Both teams were essentially wearing the same colors.  Harvard might have been wearing very light grays tonight, as they were on TV the night before.  (Or they were wearing whites tonight, in which case they were wearing exactly the same uniform as NMSU.  I can’t remember exactly.)  Anyway, Senior chatted with a Harvard fan and we both learned that Harvard offers no athletic scholarships.  Their players were all volunteers.  The main highlight of the inning was Still making a great catch in deep centerfield to end the top half.  Meanwhile, it was 48-33 Aggies at the half in basketball.  UTRGV ended the half with a 6-0 run.

For the eighth, Senior corrected the Harvard announcer on the inning.  He wasn’t that drunk.  Me and Ron may have been the only ones not drinking at the stadium judging from the general level of banter from the crowd.  Oooh, that lady with the cute cocker spaniel just came in.  It’s so adorable.  Also, there were a bunch of good-looking women at the stadium tonight.  Some may have been Harvard fans.  In any case, they were all seated behind me.  I’d only notice them as they walked in aisles.  In the top, Ortiz made a great play at short on a slow roller to end the frame.  This was Kevin Stone’s last inning pitching.  Ron noted later that his fastball kept getting faster as the game went on.     

For the Aggies in the ninth, Matt Perea came in to close.  It did not go well.  The first two batters reached on singles and were sacrificed into scoring position.  Perea got a strikeout for the second out, but Chad Minato singled both of them in to tie the score.  Ben Skinner then doubled in Minato to give Harvard a 5-4 lead.  In the bottom, David Bellamy hit a blooper that he hustled into a double.  Ortiz walked behind him, but two strikeouts ended the game, 5-4 Harvard.

Well, that was disappointing in a crushing sort of way.  In a slightly broader perspective, the Aggies did win the last two games against Harvard with last inning comebacks.  I suppose expecting three-in-a-row was too much.  Not being able to close out with a two-run lead was a bit more troubling.  At least Aggie Men’s Basketball won their game, 86-71, to finish their regular season.  Shockingly for Aggie Baseball, this game did take under three hours.

Senior suddenly disappeared well before the end of the game.  The Harvard announcer stopped broadcasting in the eighth.  I’d noticed he’d also gotten up and gone to the bathroom and/or concessions during the game a couple of times and missed some of the action.  So, I don’t know if he was really broadcasting or not.  He certainly should have been with his voice and delivery.  He mentioned to another fan that he was Harvard third baseman Hunter Bigge’s father.  I had Hunter in as the ninth inning pitcher, though I wasn’t able to hear his introduction.  At the time, I must have thought I misheard the name, but did write down his number.  When a got a program the next day, he was listed as a pitcher.  Harvard used a couple other players the next day in dual roles. 

Harvard pitcher Kevin Stone gets a gameball for an eight-inning, 5 hit, 2 earned run effort.  Also, credit to the team for some clutch hitting in the ninth.  Aggie pitching with Alex Pinedo and Wyatt Kelly combined for eight innings and only one earned run.  Joey Ortiz had what would have been the play of the game with his big fifth inning three-run homer. 

Ron and I had some ice cream at PQ Treats afterward.  That’s always a good way to sweeten a loss (or celebrate a victory).  At least we saw the Women’s Basketball team win a championship today.  Well, let’s regroup for tomorrow’s noon game.