NM State Aggies vs Prairie View A&M Panthers Baseball 3-10-24

I probably shouldn’t have gone today.  I’ve actually been sick all week, but it didn’t take me out until Thursday night at work.  I missed work on Friday, though I did listen to Aggie Softball’s game.  Saturday, I was okay, but too wiped out to go outside, much less to a game.  (I hadn’t eaten all of Friday.)  Unfortunately, I was still coughing a bit on Sunday, but I really wanted to get out.  Hopefully, I didn’t pass anything around.    

 

I took some notes Friday night.  I had to choose between listening to either Aggie Baseball or Softball.  I’m not sure why they had both on the radio at the same time (different stations, of course).  I picked softball and figured I’d catch the end of the baseball game.  The good news was that I got to hear all of the game.  The bad news was that I was listening at home instead of at work, because I sick.  I only missed a bit of the game from puking fits. 

 

It was a very tight affair against WKU.  A solo home run by Jillian Taylor turned out to be all of the Aggies’ scoring.  WKU tied it in the sixth and threatened for more, but Krissie Boyd in right field made a diving catch that saved two runs.  The game went two extra innings.  The Hilltoppers took a one-run lead in the ninth.  Jillian threw out a runner at home from center to keep it close, but 2-1 WKU was the final.

 

Jaileen Mancha pitched all nine for the Aggies in a tremendous effort.  Desirae Spearman was playing, in spite of her injury.  She was in left field.  Maybe she’s just not able to pitch.      

 

Anthony Rifenburg from the Chihuahuas called the game.  He was a bit baffled by the softball rules at times, but was enjoying it.  Some fans standing in front of the pressbox got in his way once.  The crowd mic was picking up some people in the box who were scoring the game, which was a conversation I found interesting. 

 

Baseball finished at about the same time, but they only went seven innings.  The Aggies put a smackdown on the Prairie View A&M, 22-4.  I just got to listen to a little.  Trey Meza pitched six of the seven innings and only gave up two runs.

 

I was better the next day, but way too tired to consider going out.  Men’s Basketball played their final home game against FIU and won 77-70.  (They’d led by 26 at one point.)  After their first road win last week, I heard a story on the Aggie Coach’s Show.  The team was on a bus and Coach Hooten had the driver pull over at a Buc-ee’s.  He told the guys to get a drink and snack on him.   

 

Baseball was not on the radio, but Softball was later.  Unfortunately, the game came on an hour before the last scheduled time I’d seen.  I missed most of the game as the Aggies ended it early with a 9-0 run rule.  I found out later on the news that Baseball won their game 10-8.  From talking to Michael at Sunday’s game, he told me that the Aggies had been close to run ruling the game, but a late-innings relief pitching meltdown made it close.

 

This weekend was another cross-up in scheduling between Baseball and Softball.  I was wondering which games I should go to, but that was decided for me on Saturday.  I nearly missed going on Sunday.  There was a time change Saturday night that I only found out about by chance.  I’d checked on the radio before I left for the game to make sure the game hadn’t already started.  If it had, I wouldn’t have bothered. 

It was very nice out.  It was 53-degrees and sunny with no wind.  I’d sort of thought being out in the sun would be good for me.  Unfortunately, I was in the shade for pretty much of the whole game, where it was a bit chilly.  Inside the front gate, I was handed a large clear bag and a little baseball-shaped tub of lip balm (admittedly cute).     

 

It was a really good crowd at 572 considering the early start and time change.  Everyone did seem a little subdued.  Michael said he was surprised at the large crowd on Friday.  It was cold and raining then.  Baseball and Softball were again on dueling stations with a girls starting an hour later.  Adam Young on the baseball call relayed a couple of happy stats about the Aggies.  They’d scored 98 runs over the last six games and Nick Gore was batting a whopping .463.

I was so confident about these scorecards, I did them in ink . . . after I’d done them in pencil and made sure they were probably right.  Actually, I’m tired of my pencil scorecards not scanning well.  Today was a rare day where they added up.  The official scorer did change his mind twice, but I caught those.  (Adam had the call right when it happened.  I think the scorer has an inning to decide on an official call on a play.)

 

Hayden Walker started for the Aggies.  He gave up single in the first without further damage.  The Aggie offense put on their walking shoes in the bottom of the first.  Five walks in the first loaded the bases and forced in two runs.  Austin Corbett then singled in two more to make it 4-0 Aggies. 

 

The Panthers started the second with a double.  After a strikeout, there was a grounder to second.  Edwin Martinez-Pagani was playing there with the infield reshuffled with Steve Solorzano out for a couple of weeks.  (Given that he also pitches, it’s like losing two players.  Maybe there’s a reason there aren’t a lot of two-way players in development.)  EMP made a weak throw to Mitch Namie at first, who then dropped it.  Romeo Ballesteros picked up the defense with a catch on a low liner and then a throw to first for a double play.

 

The Aggies didn’t score in the bottom of the second.  In the top of the third, Romeo did it again.  This time it was a soft liner as part of a hit-and-run.  It was an easy turn for another double play.  About this time, Softball started.  I thought about turning over to listen to it, but some weirdness in the bottom kept me with the baseball.

 

Mitch led off with a drive to left field.  Michael Edwards made a dive for the ball at the wall, but it got down and Mitch made it to third.  A trainer went out to check on Edwards, but he stayed in.  Next, Sheehan O’Connor hit a ball up the middle through the pitcher’s legs without touching them.  The second baseman had a hard time following the ball after that and booted it.  Mitch scored from third with O’Connor safe at second.  (O’Connor was given a hit later with the error sending him to second.)

 

EMP drove O’Connor in with a double, which chased the PV starter out of the game.  The PV shortstop was given a tough error on a grounder by Keith Jones.  It was a difficult catch and throw that drew the first baseman off the bag.  This brought in EMP.  (This was later rescored as a hit and an RBI.)  Surprisingly, KJ was picked off during the next at bat.  It didn’t look like that much of move and throw, but it caught him off guard, even though it was the second attempt.  7-0 Aggies.

 

Walker cruised through the top of the fourth with two strikeouts and a ground out.  Titus Dumitru hit his second double of the game with one out.  Mitch singled him in.  The Aggies loaded the bases with another single and a hit batter, but weren’t able to bring in any more.  8-0 Aggies.

 

There was some loud cheering at Softball.  I flipped over to that game, but never figured out what happened.  Walker worked his last inning.  He gave up two singles and a wild pitch to start.  One run came in on a grounder.  Titus made a good sliding catch in right field for the second out, but Romeo made a bad throw to first that scored another run.  Walker finished his appearance with a strikeout.  8-2 Aggies.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies strung together two walks and two singles to score two more runs.  They still the bases loaded with nobody out.  Victor Mendoza knuckled down for the Panthers and got the next three outs without giving up another run.  10-2 Aggies.

 

Conor Wylde worked a quick top of the sixth, only giving up a walk.  The Panthers brought in Corey Battery for the bottom.  He gave up a walk, two singles, and another walk, which brought in another run.  He was relieved by Leonardo Bravo with the bases loaded and no one out.  (Admittedly, I’m mentioning these pitchers because I like their names.)  Bravo got a double play, which brought in another run, and a flyout to end the inning.  12-2 Aggies.

The Aggies were now eligible for a run rule win.  Aaron Treloar was brought in to close it out in the seventh.  He gave up a single to start, but got a strikeout next.  The next batter pegged the runner at first on a line drive.  He had no chance to avoid it.  That was an out (credited to Mitch at first), dead ball, and the batter was given first.  A flyball ended the game.  Aggies win 12-2 by run rule!

 

I barely took any notes for the game and was not in the mood to do a long write-up.  It’s good this game was short and sweet at two hours and 17 minutes.  The Aggies have a rough schedule coming up, so they were pretty jacked about taking care of business today.  The crowd was a bit quiet.  We were still getting used to Daylight Savings Time (or that’s our excuse).  Most of the good Aggie plays were defensive ones and the game wasn’t close.

 

I have some Gameballs for the Aggies.  Titus Dumitru went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles.  Mitch Namie went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.  (Nick Gore was hitless today, but still had an RBI with a walk.)  No home runs for either team on this still wind day.  I’ll also highlight Aggie pitching.  Hayden Walker went five innings, only giving up 2 runs, and got the win.  Conor Wylde and Aaron Treloar worked two innings of scoreless relief.  Only one walk on the day for Aggie pitching.    

 

I hadn’t heard more than a couple of minutes of the Aggie Softball game during the game.  I knew the Aggies were losing, but didn’t even know the score.  After baseball, I changed stations and started walking over to the next door Softball Complex.  During that five minutes, the Aggies were down to their last out.  I didn’t bother going in, but stood at the fence and watched the end. 

 

It wasn’t the girls’ day, as they lost 11-0 to WKU in the fifth on a run rule.  That one went quick too, at an hour and half.  There were 400 there.  That was one reason I was concerned about these planned Sunday games, instead Saturday double headers.  There’s a pretty good possibility of most of these games being under two hours and not worth showing up for.

 

Back at my truck, I called my dad and asked if he’d like me to bring him some Raising Canes for lunch, since they’d handed out coupon cards at the gate with the win.  Maybe ten minutes later, he got around to saying, “No.”  That was pretty disappointing.  The coupon is still good for a couple of days, so he said he might be interested tomorrow.  I’m not sure if my appetite is all the way back anyway.  I’ll try to be well and more enthusiastic for the next series.   

NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball 3-4-24

First off, I have to apologize for my Saturday and Sunday recaps and for today’s recap in advance.  Honestly, while I enjoyed the hitting barrage and other baseball weirdness, it completely got the better of me in the scoring.  Even the radio call couldn’t help.  I butchered it.  I uncritically corrected my scorecards based on the official scoring.  Any inconsistencies on the scorecards or the written recap are basically because I was mentally done with them and stopped caring.  (And if I’m feeling this bad over just scoring the games, I can’t imagine how the UNC Bears feel having actually played in them.)

 

I got up on time Monday morning and got ready to leave on schedule.  That was my biggest concern of the day.  It should have been staying warm.  It was partly cloudy with a cold breeze.  I wasn’t totally unprepared, but I should have done more.  (I was cold for the rest of the day.)  They were handing out free coffee at the park, but that wasn’t to my tastes unfortunately.

 

Aggie Football was out on their new practice field nearby.  (It was actually Day 1 of practice for them.)  There was actually a decent crowd of over 300 for baseball, which wasn’t bad for an 11:00am Monday start.  Surprisingly, there were a few kids running around.  I found Michael at his usual spot.  He was talking to an attractive young woman who looked kind of familiar.

It was Xophia Venegas from the Softball team.  Michael said she was Logan Galina’s girlfriend, which explains why she here for the game.  I’d seen Xophia several times and as I told her, mostly from her cute promotional pics last year wearing a cowboy hat.  Seeing her up close and in person, wow, she’s gorgeous!  And she was a real sweetheart.  Logan should be making serious plans to hold on to this girl.

 

I jumped on the opportunity to chit-chat with a Softball player again.  I mentioned working with former catcher Melika Ofoia and Xophia agreed about how nice she is.  (Melika’s apparently left town.)  I’d heard freshman star, Desirae Spearman, was out injured.  Xophia didn’t give a great prognosis for her, but she might be back.  (Amazingly, Desirae had been performing so well with a hairline leg fracture this season.) 

 

The Softball team had had a rough time in Texas last weekend.  I asked about Coach Rodoph’s contract.  Xophia said it was year-to-year currently.  She thought the coach probably would have retired or left a couple of years ago, but for the team’s poor performance over that time.  The coach wants to go out a winner. 

 

Xophia is 6’1” and well-built.  I commented that I thought she should be power hitter.  She said she had been before an elbow injury and was now a slap hitter.  She’s not happy being a bench player and is looking to transfer after this season (and not happy with the coaching either).  She told me to come out this weekend for their games.  There’s baseball and rain in the forecast, but I’ll make an effort.  (I’ll see them sometime this season for sure.)           

 

Back to baseball, Titus Dumitru was not in the lineup, as expected.  From Adam Young on the radio call, thankfully, Titus didn't have anything broken from getting hit yesterday.  Caden Wagner was off his ejection suspension and back in the Bears’ lineup, but his brother Kai was a scratch today.  

 

Xophia was sitting behind me and I only talked to her a couple of times in the game, but I’m blaming her for my lousy scorekeeping.  It surely wasn’t the cold and the weirdness on the field.  It’s always the woman who’s the distraction.  I was having concentration problems for the whole game.  It was probably the early start, which doesn’t bode well for the future Sunday morning games. 

Cade Swenson started for the Aggies.  He looked good getting the first two batters out.  The third batter was a ground out to third, but Steve Solorzano had issues, double clutched, and overthrew first.  The runner ended up on second, where he was driven in by a Garrett Fisher double.  The bases were then loaded with a walk (Preston Godfrey, in for Titus, made a running dive attempt on a foul ball), a hit (which scored a run), and a hit batter.  Thankfully, another grounder finished the inning.  2-0 Bears.  What is up with all of the two-out rallies in this series? 

 

The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the first.  The Bears did so as well in the top of the second with three flyballs.  The centerfield flagpole showed the wind blowing out, but in action, it was knocking the flyballs down.  Fielders were shaded to right, but flies kept going to left field.  In the bottom, the Aggies got a runner on from a dropped liner, but did not score.  There were some souvenir tosses to the crowd by a pretty brunette with long dark hair.  (I wonder if the Hot Pan-Am Girl isn’t working at the stadium anymore.) 

 

Cade hit the first batter of the top of the third, but started a double play with the next batter.  He gave up a hit next, but a strikeout ended the frame.  The Aggie offense got going in the bottom.  Jadon Arakaki led off with a high popup to left.  The ball dodged the defenders and dropped in.  Jadon had stopped at first and was suddenly relieved by Austin Corbett.  Adam speculated that Jadon should have run to second on the play, given how long the ball was in the air, and was pulled for not hustling.      

 

Romeo Ballesteros hit the ball to second.  Jackson Romero made a good dive stop, but threw the ball away trying to get Romeo at first.  A hit batter loaded the bases and another brought in the Aggies’ first run.  Nick Gore came up and painted the right field line for a bases clearing double.  There was another hit batter before the inning ended with the Aggies now up 4-2.

 

Xophia left for a minute.  During that time, Solo began the inning making a “Superman” dive catch at third to prevent a double.  I told her about it when she got back.  (I’d also told her about Keith Jones’ great hitting and fielding over the weekend.)  I mentioned that Jillian Taylor was my favorite on her team, because I’d seen her make a couple of those catches in the centerfield.  We both remembered the TV cameraman unforgivably missing her making one of those plays. 

 

Cade walked the next two batters and there was a passed ball.  Coach Angier had seen enough and brought in Conor Wylde.  He finished out the inning with a fielder’s choice and a strikeout.  That groundout was odd, since Romeo at short was actually shifted to the left of second.  A friend of Michael’s came in wearing an Omaha Storm Chasers hat with their alternate food identity as the logo.  I talked to him for a moment and mentioned Amarillo’s alternate identity, the Calf Fries.  He laughed, because he knew exactly what that was.  (You don’t want to know, if you don’t already.)

 

The Aggie bats were at it again in the bottom of the fourth.  They chased the starter after he gave up a pair of doubles, which scored another run.  Corbett hit the first double and did foul one back into the stands that dropped in front of us.  The pitching change didn’t help.  There was a walk, then Damone Hale reached on another error by Romero at short.  Edwin Martinez-Pagani came in to hit for Solo.  After his great catch last inning, the trainers had looked at Steve, but he’d stayed in.  Solorzano was likely pulled as a precaution. 

 

EMP hit a grounder to second, which scored Romeo from third.  Hale was out at second, but Romero again made a bad throw and EMP was safe and KJ came around to score.  Brandon Sanchez at second made a great play on a liner next, but a bobbled single to center hit by Godfrey brought Edwin home.  Finally, Mitch Namie drove Godfrey in before the inning ended on a flyball from Corbett, who’d started the inning.  That was five runs and three errors.  Aggies up 9-2.

 

Wylde got the first two out in the fifth and got into trouble with a single and a hit batter.  Carter Monda hit a bomb out to center.  It was maybe ticketed to either go out or hit off the top of the wall.  Corbett jumped up at the wall and brought it back in his mitt!  Wow!  That juiced everyone.  (Arakaki may have lost his job here.)  In the bottom, the Aggies went down in order.

 

Kade Benavidez came in for the top of the sixth.  He gave up a single and a double to start.  There was another difficult popup behind third.  The two closest players never seemed to get a bead on it.  Romeo came out of nowhere to snag it.  However, the two baserunners came in on fielder’s choice and a single to make it 9-4 Aggies.

 

Honestly with the cold wind, I was kind of hoping for another run rule game.  The wind did help with that.  EMP led off the bottom of the sixth.  The wind carried his line drive out.  Gore hit a popup to right field that just kept going and cleared the wall.  11-4 Aggies.  Unfortunately, we lost Xophia.  She was either cold or had to go to class.  She waved goodbye and smiled at us.  On field, there was the seventh hit batter of the game before the final out.

 

Saul Soto came in for the seventh and worked a quick inning.  The Bears also brought in a new pitcher for the seventh.  A pretty girl working for Channel 7 also came in to shoot some footage.  She’s Bea Martinez.  She’s new and I hadn’t seen her before.  Hopefully, we see more of her.  Romeo worked a walk to start the inning.  KJ struck out.  He didn’t have a great day at the plate, but after this weekend, he can have an off day.

 

The UNC coach brought in a new pitcher surprisingly.  Damone was also not having a great day hitting, so Galina came in to pinch hit.  Xophia left too early!  I hope this doesn’t cause trouble between them.  I’d asked about him.  She said he was okay to play after his injuries last year, but wasn’t getting much chance to play.  Before the injury, he’d led the WAC in home runs, I think, so hopefully he’ll get back to form.  Logan worked a walk. 

 

EMP singled and brought in Romeo.  Gore hit a grounder to first, who tried to throw to second to start a double play, and instead threw it away.  Galina scored.  Godfrey grounded out for the second out, but Namie was intentionally walked to load the bases to bring up Sheehan O’Connor.  He didn’t take the bat off his shoulder.  On a 3-0 count, the Aggie dugout was going nuts.  O’Connor took the free pass to bring in the winning run.  Aggies win 14-4 in the seventh on a run rule!

 

Let’s drop the Gameballs.  For the Bears, I’ll highlight Garrett Fisher for going 2 for 4 with 4 RBI’s.  It was a tough luck self-destruction for the Bears today (six errors) that have kept them winless so far this season.  They’re going to Georgia next.  I wish them luck and hope they get a win. 

 

For the Aggies, Nick Gore went 2 for 5 with 5 RBI’s and a home run.  The two subs played well.  Edwin Martinez-Pagani went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s and a home run.  Austin Corbett went 1 for 3, but scored twice and had a highlight reel defensive play.  In pitching, Conor Wylde got the win in relief with a scoreless 1 2/3 inning effort.  Saul Soto also worked a clean final frame.

    

At two hours and 21 minutes, this would have been a nice tidy game, except for the cold.  I was very happy this game didn’t go all the way.  Chik-fil-a was my lunch destination and I went to work early.  I abandoned any thoughts of walking over to the Downtown Mall for some shopping.  Instead, I was looking up stats and telling co-workers about the games.  This was an entertaining home series for the Aggies.  Hopefully, they’ll continue the momentum into this weekend’s games.

NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball 3-3-24

And you thought yesterday was a slugfest.  Now let’s add a 20+mph wind blowing out to the equation.  I didn’t take any chances on when the game would end today and went to the grocery store in the morning.  That was a good decision, though I was a bit tired going into the game.

 

It was warm and sunny in the low 70’s, as long as you were out of the wind.  Thankfully for the fans, they were mostly out of the wind for the game.  (Unfortunately, the balls in play weren’t.)  In the parking lot, there were a couple of RV’s parked and three tailgates going.  This is a good sign for the program.

 

At the gate, I was handed a Grandy’s coupon.  I’ll give it to my dad, since he goes there.  On the way to the bathroom, I ran into Coach Baarts of the Aggie Soccer team.  I congratulated him on his season.  He said, “Thanks,” but I think I caught him off guard.  Once again, I wasn’t wearing Aggie merch.  I did feel a little outsider-ish at times.

 

In the bathroom, I met broadcaster Adam Young.  He was pretty upbeat.  I gave him a report card on his substitute host yesterday.  He did well under the circumstances.  Adam illuminated that Caden Wagner of the UNC Bears had been ejected for following Keith Jones around the bases after his grand slam and jawing at him.  They also be doing without Caden today as part of that ejection. 

 

Inside the stadium, there was a good crowd at 627.  I sat over by fans Michael and Kent.  (Brandon Sanchez’s Uncle was again sitting next to me as well, so I got plenty of cheering for the Bears.)  Michael cleared up another mystery.  He’d talked to Coach Angier, who admitted that the team’s white uniforms with the hard-to-see outlined numbers were a mistake.  They thought the numbers were going to be solid. 

 

Kent was concerned about the pencil I was using for scorekeeping and brought me a golf pencil and a little sharpener.  How nice of him.  He was also wearing an Iowa sweatshirt.  I asked if he was a fan of Caitlin Clark on their Women’s Basketball team.  He was and told me that he was watching her this morning.  She set the college all-time scoring record in the game.  

 

Xitlaly Hernandez and Loma McNeese from the Aggie Soccer team threw out the first pitches.  That explains why Coach Baarts was here.  X walked by later, or should I say, hobbled.  Her foot was in walking cast contraption.  

  

I credit Adam’s radio call for helping out with today’s scorecards.  I did have trouble keeping up with the Aggies in the sixth inning.  Yesterday, nobody batted around, even though both teams scored a bunch.  Today, there were three 10+ batter innings.

 

Hayden Walker started for the Aggies.  He got the first two batters out to begin the game, but then allowed a single.  Catcher Nick Gore gunned that runner down when he attempted to steal second.  In the bottom, Steve Solorzano came up with a runner on and belted a two-run homer.  It was a line drive that the wind held up and carried out.  2-0 Aggies. 

 

Garrett Fisher, the first Bear batter of the second inning, fouled a ball that ricocheted into his dugout and hit a teammate in the back.  No harm done.  Hayden wouldn’t get off so easy this inning.  Fisher walked.  The next batter hit one down the third base line.  Solo made a dive stop on it to keep it from going for extra bases, but had no play. 

 

The next batter sacrificed the runners over.  Given the wind, Adam was perplexed by this strategy.  It didn’t hurt them, even with a strikeout right after.  After a walk loaded the bases, Jackson Romero singled in two runs.  After another walk reloaded the bases.  Solo then got a grounder deep in the hole at third.  He ran to the bag for the force, but wasn’t in time.  He made a wild throw to first, which didn’t find a mitt.  Three runs came in on the error.  Another run came in on a single.  Hayden finally got the third out, but now it was 6-2 Bears.

 

I was wearing my Texas Rangers hat again.  I saw another one in the crowd.  I think I saw a scout in the crowd for the Diamondbacks.  He was wearing a hat and a team polo shirt.  Mitch Namie homered to start the bottom of the second.  Keith would double in a run later to make it 6-4.  I could tell how this game was going to go today: it wasn’t going to be a pitchers’ duel.           

 

Hayden helped himself out in the third as he picked off a runner to kill a rally.  The Aggies went down in order in the bottom.  Right fielder Austin Bunn made a great jumping over-the-shoulder catch at the wall for the second out of the inning.  This inning was just an interlude before the fireworks.

 

Cho Tofte came in to start the fourth inning for the Aggies.  (Hayden had thrown a lot of pitches.)  He got the first two batters convincingly.  Bunn came up and hit a high flyball to right.  Titus Dumitru never saw the ball and it bounced over the wall for a ground rule double.  A walk and a hit batter then loaded the bases.  Craig Kenny hit a grounder up the middle.  Sheehan O’Connor was able to knock it down, but had no play and a run scored.  Carson Gross then came up and belted a grand slam home run.  Cho finally got the last out, but now the Bears were up, 11-4.

 

I was actually confident that the Aggies would make some sort of comeback before the end of the game, though I didn’t know it would be enough to overcome a 7-run deficit.  I was underestimating them.  In the bottom of the fourth, the Aggies got two on via a walk and a hit batter.  Gross made a great play on a wind-blow popup.  Four fielders converged on it, but Gross made a sliding catch for the second out.

 

KJ took a walk to load the bases.  Damone Hale was hit to force in a run.  Solo then singled to the drive in two runs and drive the Bear starter from the game.  What followed was two more run-scoring singles and a walk to the tenth batter of the inning to reload the bases.  O’Connor then hit a high flyball to right.  The ball just kind of floated away in the wind.  Bunn ran into the wall trying to get it, but it was a grand slam home run!  The Aggie Dugout and the crowd exploded.  The Aggies had started the inning down seven and were now leading by two, 13-11.  All of the runs came with two outs, just like the Bears in the fourth.

 

Brady Baltus started the fifth.  He loaded the bases on two hit batters and a single, though he did make a good play on another sacrifice attempt and threw out a runner at second.  (Again, why were they giving up outs?)  Zach Zwaschka was brought in.  He got a medium flyball to left and Sam Pease tagged up at third.  What happened next was the Play of the Game.  Keith threw a one-hop strike to the plate and Gore easily tagged Pease out.  The crowd and the team went wild.  No damage in the inning.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies struck again with two outs.  They strung together three hits and Gore drove in Damone to make it, 14-11 Aggies.  Zach then got the first two outs in the top of the sixth, but then lost the strikezone.  He gave up a walk and a single.  Pease came up and hit a very high chopper to first.  Namie never saw it.  (The sun was brutal on right side of the field.)  The ball got behind him and a run scored to make it 14-12.

 

I’m looking at the scorecard and there’s still three or four innings left in this.  I didn’t even bother looking at the time.  I knew the game was running long.  The wind had kind of died down a bit, but now it was getting colder.  I was planning on getting dinner out afterward and my stomach was rumbling.  On field, I noticed that the kid bat boy was styling in wraparound mirror shades.  I’m sure the players wished they had something that cool on.

 

Namie was up first in the bottom of the sixth and doubled.  While on second, he also pointed out a pitch clock violation by the pitcher.  (The players can see the clock.  The fans can’t.  I’m totally okay with that.)  However, Zach Hose, who started last inning, struck out the next two batters. 

 

Oh, that elusive third out in today’s game.  Romeo Ballesteros came up and singled Namie in.  Keith came up and was at 3-ball count when the UNC Coach came out and motioned KJ to first and brought in a new pitcher.  Damone wrecked that maneuver with a three-run homer.  After two more singles, another pitcher was brought in. 

 

Dumitru was the next batter and was hit on the hand.  He came right out of the game.  I’m afraid something was probably broken there.  This loaded the bases.  A passed ball brought in Solo, who slid under the tag attempt.  A walk followed to reload the bases, and this brought another pitching change. 

 

By this point, a two-run lead was now a six-run lead.  Adam said that the number “20” was posted by the batting cages before the series.  That was the team’s target number to score in a game this weekend.  They’d almost done it yesterday.  They were at 17 and now threatening to run rule if they could get to a 10-run lead.  The Bears obliged by offering a walk and two hit batters to force in three more runs to make it, 22-12.  A position player was finally brought in to get the final out.  Aaron Treloar had a 1-2-3 top of the seven to finish the game.  I wonder if the Bears Coach told them not to score, because they were out of pitching for the day.  22-12 Aggies win!

 

We got some Gameballs here.  For the Bears, Carson Gross had 4 RBI’s with his grand slam.  Congrats to catcher, Jackson Meier, for pitching that final out in the bottom of the sixth.  For the Aggies, Damone Hale went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI’s, Steve Solorzano went 4 for 5 with 4 RBI’s, Sheehan O’Connor hit a grand slam and had 5 RBI’s for the day, and finally, hang a star on Keith Jones for his stellar defensive play.  

 

Thank goodness this ended early, because these six-and-a-half innings took three hours.  I got my dinner at Burger King and inhaled it.  Tomorrow’s finale is a Monday morning affair.  I’m hoping to make it there.  They’re offering free coffee for the game.  I hope maybe they’ll have some hot chocolate or tea for me. 

NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball 3-2-24

Aggie Baseball was back after a disappointing road trip.  They lost all four games to McNeese State.  Three of those games they lost by one run.  Ouch.  They only lost by three in the other game.  

For this first game of the new homestand against Northern Colorado, the Aggies were ready.  They had installed a hot tub and longue in the Student Section.  Well actually, I found out later that the hot tub wasn’t actually ready to be used, but it’s there. 

 

As for Friday’s game, I was listening at work.  Early in the game, the lights flickered in the computer room where I was.  Nothing turned off and everything was okay.  Immediately after this, the lights at the ballpark were reported to have gone out.  (It was a city-wide event.)  This lead to a 20-minute delay.

 

The Aggies put on their hitting shoes in the break and ran up an 11-1 lead by the fourth inning.  The Bears did make a comeback and the final was 11-6.  It was nearly a run-rule game.  Trey Meza pitched 6+ strong innings.   

That brings us to Saturday’s game.  It was sunny and warm with a little cool breeze.  I was wearing my Texas Rangers World Series hat and I finally got to wear my new Captain America t-shirt with the above cover on it.  I’m going to expand the wardrobe this season beyond just Aggie wear.  I left early to go to Jimmie John’s for a sub.  It was great, but the music in the shop was punk and metal, which wasn’t great meal music (except for that one Ramones song that I liked). 

 

There was a good crowd of 684.  Michael was there, as always, and reported that there were scouts in the crowd, though we’re not sure for whom.  There were also quite a few Bears fans there, including the two loudest, who were sitting next to me.  One was an uncle of one of the players, Brandon Sanchez.  (“Let’s go nephew!”)  The team was also in nice bright yellow jerseys. 

 

Adam Young was calling Women’s Basketball today, so we had another sub, Scott Colletti.  He’s a professional announcer and called a pretty good game.  I didn’t catch what his usual job is.  We had a live Anthem performance today and an unexpected flyover by a squadron of birds.  (It was actually impressive.)     

In spite of all of the scoring today, these would have sort of added up on the first try.  I have many excuses as to why they didn’t.  The main thing is that I think the official scorer changed his mind on a hit and made it an error, but did so well after the play.  There was also a big distraction later in the game during a couple of weird plays.  (No, it wasn’t the Hot Pan-Am Girl.  She wasn’t there today, unfortunately.)  I am seriously surprised that no one batted around in this game. 

 

Oh boy, here we go.  (This may take a little while to recap.)  Josh Sharman started for the Aggies.  He started off giving up a pair of hits.  Kai Wagner had a good battle before singling and driving in the first run.  Kai was picked off first, but was hit by the ball going to second and made it a steal.  Another run came in off a sac fly.  The next batter hit a grounder to Steve Solorzano at third.  He had no play, but ended up making a bad throw to first and another run scored.  After the play, Solo was clearly regretful.  3-0 Bears.

 

I saw a couple of guys wearing St. Louis Cardinal jerseys and hats.  One was in white.  The other was in blue.  The Aggies started off the game with a pair of walks.  Caden Wagner (Kai’s brother) at first made a great play on a line drive and doubled off Damone Hale.  Nick Gore struckout to end the inning.  Strikeouts were rare in this game, as there was a very tight strikezone being called.

 

After getting the first out of the second, Sharman gave up a double, got a groundout, but then gave up a run-scoring double.  He was given a quick hook and Matt Romero came in.  He was helped out by an impressive sliding catch in center by Jadon Arakaki.  4-0 Bears.

 

The Aggies struck back in the bottom of the second.  Titus Dumitru led off with a double.  Mitch Namie hustled to second next off of a lazy throw into the infield.  Sheehan O’Connor grounded then Titus in.  Romeo Ballesteros would drive in Namie.  Keith Jones came up next and hit a popup to No Man’s Land in center.  Three fielders converged on it and the ball appeared to clank off one of their gloves.  It was scored a double.  Another run scored and the Bears’ starter was run.  The next pitcher gave up a run-scoring hit to Damone.  Sanchez at second made a great play on a liner to finally end the inning.  (The Uncle was happy.)  Suddenly, we were tied at 4.

 

On the radio, Scott, much like Lou Romano two weeks ago, thought the scoreboard was off.  The Aggies really need a new scoreboard.  The Bears came right back in the top of the third.  After a hit batter and a single, Jackson Romero hit a two-run single to make it 6-4 Bears. 

 

The Aggies were poised to come back in the bottom of the third with a single by Nick Gore.  Titus came up and hit a DP ball.  Kai at short got the first out, but overthrew first.  Titus started to go to second, but realized the ball didn’t go very far and Caden tagged him out when he tried to get back.  Fan Kent, sitting nearby, asked how to score that.  It’s not error, since nobody made it to base or advanced.

 

By this point, I figured out that this game wasn’t going to be ending early.  Romero quickly got the first outs of the fourth, but then gave up a single and then a two-run homer by Garrett Fisher.  The home plate ump then got pegged on a pitch.  I don’t think this was a statement about the strikezone.  With a little more wildness, the next batter was hit.  Next, on a grounder to third, Solo made a great play with Namie making a big stretch to get the out and end the inning.  (The first base ump may or may not have made the right call, but it looked pretty.)  8-4 Bears.

 

I changed stations on the radio.  The Aggie Men’s Basketball team was playing on the road.  They were up when I listened.  I decided I’d check back later.  The bottom of the fourth started off really well for the Aggies with two walks and double loading the bases with nobody out.  KJ came up and, after a close pitch, started to go to first.  The ump called him back.  Keith argued, along with the coach.  The umps conferenced, but the call stood.

 

This was unfortunate for the Bears.  Keith proceed to crank a grand slam home run to right.  The crowd exploded.  Caden Wagner was ejected for shouting at the ump after the homer.  The UNC manager also argued, but was not ejected.  Nobody knows what started the argument though.  As Scott said, “It can’t be that it wasn’t a home run.  They’re still looking for the ball.”          

 

My scorecard took a downfall after this.  With their starting first baseman out, the Bears shuffled their infield.  I was scrambling on subs for the rest of the game.  Murphy Gienger continued pitching.  He finally got the first out of the inning, but the next batter got on from a shortstop error (after shuffling the infield).  Gienger next took a hard liner to the gut from Gore.  (It looked a bit lower than that.)  He ended up on the ground, seated, and still threw Gore out.  He got a round of applause from all of the crowd.  He stayed in and got a ground ball next, but short and third collided going for the ball and it went for a hit.  Finally, a reliever came in and got a flyout to end the inning.  8-8.

 

Conor Wylde came in for the Aggies to start the fifth.  True to his name, he walked the first batter and advanced him two more bases on a bad pickoff throw.  The batter was brought in on a groundout to give the Bears back the lead, 9-8.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, Kai overthrew first on a grounder by Jadon.  The ball bounced right back to first.  Jadon, unlike Titus, stayed at first and didn’t try to advance.  He nearly scored on a wild throw from third on a Romeo grounder.  The ump sent Jadon back to third, ruling that the ball went out of play.  This brought KJ up again and he sliced a double to left.  The left fielder laid flat out for it, but missed it.  Two runs scored and the Aggies finally had a lead.  Gore would single Keith in to make it, 11-9 Aggies.

 

A lady came in that was friends with Michael.  She’d been at the Women’s Basketball game and reported that they’d lost 60-51 to Jax State.  It was also Senior Day.  Ouch.  Meanwhile down in front, a toddler dumped out a whole tub of popcorn.  Mom was not amused, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

 

Unbelievably, we had a 1-2-3 inning in the top the sixth.  Wylde had settled down.  In the bottom, the Aggies added a run.  O’Connor was hit, advanced on a groundout (Sanchez dive a great dive stop on the play and the Uncle was pleased), and made it to third on a passed ball.  Romeo singled him in.  12-9 Aggies.

 

Saul Soto came in to pitch the top of the seventh.  He loaded the bases on two singles and a walk.  Kai then hit a grounder up the middle.  Romeo made a dive stop of the ball and flipped it to O’Connor, but it was dropped and a run scored.  12-10 Aggies.  Soto actually did strike out the side over the course of the inning.

 

Damone led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run.  It was wind-aided and just went inside the right field pole.  After crossing home plate, he shrugged to the dugout.  UNC got another odd double play.  Solo singled, but was thrown out at second on a grounder by Gore.  Nick appeared to beat the throw to first, but was called out as well, as Solo ruled to have interfered.

 

The Uncle asked me if I was a scout.  No, I’m just an idiot with a scorecard.  Though I was cheering for the Aggies, I remembered I wasn’t wearing my Aggie merch.  At least, the Uncle didn’t bother trying to sell me on his nephew as a prospect.  Hayden Lewis came in to pitch the top of the eighth.  He loaded up the bases, but didn’t give up a run.  By this point, there’d been a couple more UNC defensive changes.  Scott’s lineup card was messed up and screwing up his announcing.  I’d put one player in two different spots and another three different spots, but I think I eventually had it right.

 

In the bottom of the eighth, Men’s Basketball was now in the final minutes of their game.  I decided to start listening to it.  This was unfortunate for my scoring, but it was a tight game.  The Aggies had a double-digit lead, but lost it on an 11-point run by Jax State.  It was tied in the final minute and crowd there was going wild.  It was a drawn-out affair in the final seconds, but the Aggies came out on top 66-64.  They finally won a road game this season.

 

Meanwhile on the baseball field, a very high-bouncing grounder ate up Kai at short and Namie hustled it into a double.  A walk added a second baserunner.  Jadon tried to bunt the runners over, but the catcher managed to throw out Namie at third.  The bases were loaded anyway on a hit batter.  KJ singled to drive in a run.

 

Damone then came up and singled in two runs.  Next, Solo hit a fielder’s choice and KJ attempted to come home and didn’t make it.  He also didn’t give up and tried to get back to the third.  The other runners advanced up, too.  It got very confusing.  I think the ball was tossed six times before KJ was finally tagged out.  Everyone enjoyed the show.  I had no chance of accurately scoring that, especially given that I was listening to the basketball game. 

 

The entertainment wasn’t over.  Austin Corbett, a late Aggie defensive replacement, tripled.  When the ball was bobbled before getting to the infield, he tried to score on it.  He was just barely thrown out at the plate.  The crowd gave him a round of applause for the effort.  Putting up a six-spot was good-enough.  19-10 Aggies.

 

Also during the inning, the lady with the Women’s Basketball result also got me involved in a conversation.  She was wondering about the second lawsuit involving the Men’s Basketball team (not to be confused with the first one, 2-16-23).  This new lawsuit names AD Mario Moccia as a defendant.  Her and Michael want him gone, regardless of the consequences to Aggie Sports.

 

Solo moved from third to the mound for the ninth.  He gave up a single, which was doubled in, but given the lead, there wasn’t much cause for concern.  The Aggies (finally) win 19-11!

 

At three-and-a-half hours, this was not a tidy game, but it was never boring.  The Bears are still winless this season at 0-10.  I remember Ron wanted to take a road trip to watch the Aggies play UNC in Colorado when they used to be a WAC opponent.  I’d heard a couple of games from there.  It’s always cold and very windy.  It’s not a great place to watch a game.

 

Let me hand out a few gameballs.  For the Bears, Jake King went 3 for 6 in the leadoff position and Garrett Fisher hit a two-run homer.  For the Aggies, Keith Jones had a heck of a game going 4 for 5 with 8 RBI’s, including a grand slam!  Damone Hale went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI’s and Nick Gore went 3 for 6 with 4 RBI’s.  Romeo Ballesteros went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s, but scored 4 times.  Pitching-wise, the Aggie middle and late relievers gave up only 3 runs over 5 innings.  That was a difference-maker.

 

By late in the game, the breeze had picked up and was getting cold.  I hadn’t brought a jacket, so I was cold too.  I’d thought before the game, I’d get groceries afterward, but I wasn’t going to make it before sundown, when it would get colder.  I retreated home.  Let’s hope things go quicker (and well) tomorrow.