NM State Aggies vs WKU Hilltoppers Baseball 5-10-25

“I hope tomorrow’s game is better.” You know how bad the blowout was when even the fans of the winning team were dissatisfied. I’ll go ahead and say upfront that Aggie Baseball was crushed today by WKU. It wasn’t a bad day at the ballpark, though. We’ll go ahead and breakdown this penultimate Aggie home game.

We’ll do a quick review of how we got to this point. Aggie Softball’s season ended this week. They were a mid-seed going into the C-USA Tournament, but were eliminated on the first day after two losses. No word on if Coach Rodolph is planning on retiring. Aggie Baseball was coming into this weekend on a four-game losing streak. They’d dropped mid-week games to Arizona and Texas Tech, as well as two losses to conference foe, Kennesaw State. (One game was canceled.)

Coming into this weekend, Western Kentucky has the second-best ERA in the country and has been in the Top 25 in the nation. The top player in C-USA is Hilltopper centerfielder, Ryan Wideman. Friday night, I was listening to the radio coverage. WKU put out their best pitcher, Jack Bennett. In the first, Steve Solorzano touched him up with a two-run homer. WKU tied it in the second.

In the bottom of that inning, Solo struck out with the bases loaded. Unfortunately, that was the Aggies’ chance, as it would be 7-2 WKU after the third, on their way to an 11-3 win. There were scouts in attendance for the game for WKU players. One of them was frustrated videoing game, as Wideman kept getting walked. So, this loss could have actually been worse if they’d pitched to him more.

Saturday, my gameday got off on the wrong foot. After spending most of the afternoon with my dad watching a movie, I needed a quick meal before the game and went to 5 Guys for burger. Frankly, it was unsatisfying. I should stick to just getting hot dogs there or going someplace else. (I’ve been eating hot dogs all week though.)

Getting to the University, I ran right into a huge graduation ceremony at the Pan-Am Center. Luckily, I was able to skirt around it. In the baseball parking lot, there was large tailgate set up with a couple of tents. There needs to be more of that. In the bathroom, I met a WKU fan. He mentioned Wideman was a Top 50 college prospect and very fast. He also thought our hitting was good, but our pitching was bad. There’s been a bunch of injuries and the ones that aren’t injured have an ERA of 5 or more (and most, way more). Later, Trey Reese came in with his family and confirmed all that.

It was a glorious day for a ballgame. It was 81-degrees with blue skies and a cool breeze. There was a good crowd at 514. WKU did bring in quite a few fans with them. We were sitting next to one mom that was cheering a lot for her team. There was another fan and his wife behind us that were very friendly. (The dad was responsible for the quote at the beginning.) Aggie Volleyball was represented by Nellie Reese and Ashley Herman, Bella Garcia, and (our sweetheart) Maggie Lightheart all looking glamorous.

These scorecards added up right on the first try. Amazing when it doesn’t matter and I don’t care, it works out. There were a couple of plays I was distracted on that I think I scored correctly, but I don’t care enough to look them up. I also highly question the official scorer on a couple of plays, but they didn’t matter to the outcome.

Connor Wylde started for the Aggies and also began on a wrong foot by giving up a home run to Joe Siervo, the first WKU batter. It got worse with a walk, a balk (more on this later), and another walk and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs. Wylde came back with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to end to the frame. 1-0 WKU.

There were a group of little boys’ head poking up between the stands and field. They’d found a great view there in the gap, but probably not super comfortable. Mitch Namie came up in the bottom of the first and drove one out to the wall. It was a sure double, but bobbled in the outfield by Wideman and Namie took third. The official scorer had it as a triple. (I feel like WKU was getting some protection there.) Solo drove Namie in on a groundout to tie it at 1.

WKU is a pretty big time program. They were a rare visiting team that brought their own radio announcer. I usually only see that at Softball when somebody like Nebraska comes here. Meanwhile, our PA has increased the bounty on foul balls brought back to the booth. For three balls, you get “swag.”

Wylde started off the second with another hit batter, but a flashy double play started by shortstop Brandon Forrester ended the threat. WKU starter, Drew Whalen had a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning.

And “boom” goes the dynamite. The top of the third started with three walks and then a two-run double Ethan Lizama. Wylde got two strikeouts in a row and almost got out of it. Austin Haller then laid down a perfect bunt single to drive in another run. This setup Kyle Hvidsten coming up and blasting a three-run homer. A caught stealing thankfully ended the inning, but not before WKU took a 7-1 lead.

Fan Michael has said before that the PA should play more Mexican music to intimidate the visiting players. I looked into the WKU dugout and a couple of guys were Salsa dancing the music. So much for that. A great play at third by Hilltopper Carlos Vasquez on a liner got the first out in the bottom of the third. Forrester singled next, but was thrown out stealing.

Fan Michael knows everyone at the ballpark. This paid off for him today. After talking to a couple of fans from the Diamond Club, he left and came back with a plate of brisket, a chicken drumstick, and a couple of rolls. Oh, it smelled good, too. That was hard sit next to.

Aggie Camden Kaufman in center almost made a great running catch in the top of the fourth on a Wideman hit. He caught the ball, but lost it hitting the wall. This went for a triple. Kyle Hayes followed that with a shot that hit the top of the outfield wall and then bounced back on to the field. It was another triple and it scored a run. Lizama came up and bunted one back to Wylde, but he fumbled the ball and couldn’t pick it up. Wylde got it back together one last time and got a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning. It was a character-building day for him. 8-1 WKU.

One of the scouts walked by. I couldn’t identify what team he was with, but he was wearing this giant ring on his hand. The gems on it sparkled blindingly in the light. I’m sure it was a World Series ring. Solo had a walk in the bottom of the fourth, but the Aggies couldn’t do anything with it.

Jake Carvajal came in to pitch for the Aggies in the fifth. He loaded the bases on three straight singles. Wideman hit a powerful liner to right. Austin Corbett jumped up and grabbed it and limited the damage to one run driven in. 9-1 WKU.

The Reese family was having an interesting conversation behind me with the WKU couple. There was a slightly disturbing, but cool revelation that Robin Reese’s dad is a sniper. He apparently uses that skill to keep interlopers off his property. However, most of the talk was about baseball and also fraternity hazing. (I contributed to that conversation.) Trey and the WKU dad commiserated about going to games at Texas A&M this season. It’s a rough crowd for visitors.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies finally mounted some offense. Kaufman led off with a home run. Two Aggies got on afterward with two outs, but couldn’t be driven in. 9-2 WKU. Carvajal had a 1-2-3 top of the sixth. He was helped out by Corbett making a great catch at the wall. Dawson Hall relieved Whalen in the bottom of the sixth. The Aggies got two on again, but didn’t score.

The top of the seventh started with Forrester making a great slide, catch, and throw to get the first out. There were two walks and then a flyball second out. And then the Apocalypse. Wideman singled in a run and Hayes hit a three-run homer. Lizama singled and then was balked over to second.

Okay, counting yesterday, this was the third balk called on a third different pitcher. In the MLB, there was this one ump nicknamed, “Balkin’ Bob,” for his propensity for calling balks. Obviously, we’ve got another one on the crew this weekend.

Where was I? Coach Angier gave Carvajal a talk telling him that it was his inning. After two more singles, a wild pitch, and another run, the coach changed his mind and Colton Sneddon was brought in. Sneddon promptly gave up a three-run homer to Hall. Hvidsten was up next and absolutely vaporized a ball. I completely lost it after it left his bat. It might have hit a lightstand beyond the outfield wall. The estimated distance given was 444’. The fielders didn’t even turn around to watch it. Boston Vest at third slapped his mitt on his thigh. I thought he might go full Tanner from the Bad News Bears and slam his mitt down.

Vest then had an error at third. The coach left him in. Two more singles drove in another run. A strikeout finally finished the inning. 19-3 WKU. That was 10 runs all scored with two outs.

Between innings, the ump was given some water. He washed his face and neck absolutely exhausted and sweltering. He’d traded words with Coach Angier earlier over the strikezone, but I felt bad for him here. The Aggies got a couple on in the bottom of the seventh and Solorzano drove in a run, but that was all. WKU wins 19-3 in a run rule.

Today’s edition of Gameballs is hurtful. The Aggies get one. Brandon Forrester at least had good day going 3 for 4, along with a couple of great plays in the field. (Austin Corbett also made a couple of good plays in right field.)

For the Hilltoppers, Drew Whalen got the win going 5 innings and giving up only 2 runs. Four position players get gameballs for hitting. Ryan Wideman was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s. Kyle Hayes and Austin Haller both had 4 RBI’s and a 3-run homer each. The number 9 hitter in the lineup, catcher Kyle Hvidsten, was 3 for 4 with 4 RBI’s and 2 home runs. Damn. Western Kentucky is a good team. However, even a bad team will take advantage of eight walks and two hit batters.

Properly chastised for my fandom, I retreated directly back home. This was not the way I wanted Aggie Baseball to go out at home for the season. Their pitching corps has been decimated. They just need one win to secure a tournament berth, but I don’t know if they can do against the competition they’re facing. (Next week at LA Tech, may be worse. They’re almost undefeatable at home.) As bad as these last two games have been, it’s really hard to beat the same team three times in a row in a series. We’ll hope for the best tomorrow.

Baseball Journal March/April 2025

3-27-25 Opening Day

I wasn’t sure how much Baseball I’d actually get to see today.    There wasn’t a radio game on during the day to listen to, but when I came into work, there were immediately two extra-inning games on MLB.TV.    (They show the extra innings of any game for free.)    The Royals lost to the INDIANS badly in the tenth and lost the fashion show with their new powder blue uniforms, which look more like pajamas.    The Nationals wasted a 13-strikeout, no walks, no runs, six-inning performance by Mackenzie Gore by losing badly in the tenth to the Phillies.    There was almost another extra innings game with the Pirates, but the Marlins won it in the bottom of the ninth.    (A third extra inning game would have been too lucky.)    More on this game later.

These games finished in time for ESPN Radio's game between the Dodgers and Tigers featuring Tarik Skubal versus Blake Snell, two Cy Young winners.    Skubal gave up a home run in the first, but Snell got ruffed up and lost the lead.    A 3-run homer by Teoscar Hernandez in the fifth would give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.    Shohei Ohtani homered in the seventh, which was good for them, as the Tigers made it interesting in ninth, but lost, 5-4. With a pair of wins already from their Japan series last week, the Dodgers’ undefeated season is starting to look more likely.

Meanwhile on Twitch, DJ Pyka doing an 80's Night.    I was trying to listen to both, but kept turning up the volume on the music and occasionally singing along.    MLB.TV’s scheduled free game was a night cap between the Mariners and the Athletics.    There was a guy with an Aussie accent doing the color commentary for the M's.    I didn’t catch his name, but it was interesting to listen to for ballgame.       

The A's went up 1-0 on a Tyler Soderstrom solo homer.    This held up until the seventh. A passed ball brought in an M's runner from second, but he was called out on replay.    A runner at third scored on a sac fly next anyway to tie it at 1.    Soderstrom homered again in the eighth, but Randy Arozarena homered in the eighth to tie it again.    A 2-run homer by Jorge Polanco off of departed Ranger, Jose Leclerc, gave Seattle the win, 4-2.

In other Opening Day news, the Pirates got a great start from Paul Skenes and former Aggie, Nick Gonzales, hit a two-run home run.    Unfortunately, the Pirates not only didn’t win, Nick fractured his ankle and had one of the most painful-to-watch home run trots ever.    The injury may have occurred in Spring Training, but finally busted on the home run.    He’s going to be out for a while.       

3-28-25

The Chihuahuas won their Opening Night game in El Paso.    I listened to that game over Aggie Softball’s game, which was on a different station.    The MLB.TV free game was a marquee matchup between the Dodgers and Tigers.    Detroit’s games are being carried by Fan Duel, which was previously Bally’s, which was previously Fox Sports Regional.    I would have liked to have watched more of the game with Jason Benetti calling it, but somehow the audio and video were 30 seconds out of sync for most of the game.    There were even complete drops in the coverage.    I wonder how much longer these regional cable sports networks for going to be around.

The Tigers kept it close and nearly took the lead late.    Manuel Margot was tagged out on the foot at the plate trying to score.    There was another replay on a play at the plate that overturned the initial “Safe” call to keep the score close.    The Dodgers won it in the tenth on a home run by Mookie Betts.    Blurgh!    I nearly lost my dinner.      

4-2-25

I got catch an afternoon Rangers game today.    The Rangers won, 1-0, over the Reds.    What was weird was that the Rangers beat the Reds by that same score yesterday.    At work in the evening, I caught a Marlins versus Mets game in Miami, but only because it went for two extra innings.    You could only tell the game was in Florida from seeing the stadium.    Otherwise, the park was full of Mets fans and with the roof open, you could hear jets flying overhead.    The Mets won in a 6-5 heartbreaker for whatever Marlins fans were there.

4-8-25

Hunter Greene got a 2-0 win over Giants for the Reds.    He worked 8 2/3 innings and only had two 3-ball counts and that was to his final two batters.    He was still throwing at over 100mph.

4-15-25

Here’s another one for Tim Hagerty’s book of Minor League Baseball oddities, Tales from the Dugout.    The Albuquerque Isotopes scored three runs on the El Paso Chihuahuas on a walk tonight.    Follow this.    The bases were loaded and the batter was walked.    One run is forced in.    The runner who was forced to third saw that the pitcher had his back to the plate and took off for home and made it.    The trailing runner ran to third and the pitcher airmailed the throw, which scored another run.    A couple more errors and the Isotopes could have emptied the bases.    They won 7-2 anyway.   

Tim was uncharacteristically unprepared for the play.    He was writing the walk on his scorecard and heard the crowd erupt.    He called it, “Chaos on the bases!” and had to sort it out in the next inning.    Luckily for me, the Isotopes posted video of the play on their Twitter.    (Yeah, I’ve missed plenty of plays while writing something down.    I guess it even happens to professionals.)

Meanwhile, the Padres and Cubs were playing a high-tension game on the MLB.TV Free Game.    I was working and pretty busy, but caught some of the action.    Both teams had loaded the bases and failed to score early.    Manny Machado had struck out with the pond full of ducks.    His next at bat in the fifth, there was an error on a foul ball and he took advantage by cranking out a solo home run.    The Padres threw out a Cub runner at the plate later, but Chicago did tie it and send it to a tenth inning, where the Cubs won it, 2-1.

Both of these teams are playing well early in the season.    The Padres are even ahead of the Dodgers.    So far the biggest surprise has been the Braves.    Their abysmal record is only have a slightly better than the Rockies and the White Sox.

4-18-25

“Show this to Jerry,” was the text on the above picture sent to my co-workers.    My boss, Eric, was in the Dallas area for a conference and went to a Rangers game afterward.    Meanwhile, we were at a business dinner with a motivational speaker.    I’m sure he got the better of that deal.

Eric was nice enough to bring back souvenirs for the department.    I got this cool team signed ball.    Don’t get too excited; the signatures are printed on and  I can’t read any of them.    I will be putting it in a display cube, anyway.    Actual signed balls are available on the website . . . for $1,200!      

I spoke to the lady from work he went with.    They had just wanted something to do when they were off for the night and this would be the first MLB game for the both of them.    Tickets were $40, but actually $65 with taxes?    Given that they were in decent seats, it was probably cheaper since the Rangers were only playing the Angels.    Both had had a really good time with all of the entertainment around the stadium and the on-field between-innings antics.    There were even cheerleaders there.    (I didn’t know about that.)    Both of them had good meals and got beer from a beer-serving robot.    In short, the Rangers’ stadium is a great place to visit.    (And the Rangers won that game.)     

The Chihuahuas were still in Albuquerque playing the Isotopes that night.    They’d lost a day game yesterday, which started off nice, but finished in howling winds.    We got those winds here in Las Cruces soon after.    The pups had an awesome 10-run, 15-batter inning in the fifth on their way to a 13-6 victory.    I missed the entire barrage, because I was out of my office at the time.   

Interestingly, this wasn’t the only 10-run inning in baseball.    The Diamondbacks put up 10 in the eighth at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, but still lost, 13-11.    The score was 2-1 before the seventh.    During this session of game-time batting practice with the wind blowing out, the teams hit a combined 2 grand slams and 6 home runs.

4-20-25

With a Sunday off from Aggie Sports, I went over to see dad and we watched the final two episodes of Season 3 of Reacher and enjoyed a Whataburger meal.    While watching, I was listening, via earbuds, to a Rangers game.    My reception wasn’t great. At one point, I was wondering why they were talking about Orioles.    I found out later that they had lost, 24-2, to the Reds.    The O’s are having a tough season to this point.

I went back home in the late afternoon and cleaned my car.    The Chihuahuas had a double header on, so I took a portable radio outside to listen to while I worked.    (The twin bill was caused by the Saturday game in Albuquerque getting snowed-out.)    I’d heard a bit of Game 1 earlier, where the pups lost to the Isotopes, 4-3, in extra innings (an eighth inning, since they were playing two 7-inning games).    In Game 2, the Chihuahuas had a cool, 6-5, comeback win with a big sixth inning rally.    Honestly, it was just a nice little suburban domestic moment of doing something with the car outside while listening to a game on the radio.

4-25-25

This was a little hard-to-believe.    In the ninth with two outs, Chihuahuas reliever, Reese Knehr, took a 100+mph line drive off his pitching arm.    He went straight down.    The trainers looked at him and announcer Tim Hagerty was sure Knehr would come out.    Amazingly, Knehr got back up, took a couple of practice pitches and resumed the game.    The El Paso crowd was completely behind him and cheering on every pitch.    Terrifyingly, Knehr got the final out on another comebacker straight at him.    Chihuahuas beat the Rivercats, 9-8.

4-26-25

It was a stinging loss for the Chihuahuas tonight.    After seven scoreless innings, the pups brought in the game’s first run in the eighth on sacrifice fly and went on to score another.    In the top of the ninth with two outs and two strikes, the Rivercats scored two to tie it and went on to win, 4-2, in 10 innings.    I’d give more details, but my reception was awful tonight.    I’m lucky I heard as much as I did.

4-27-25

I went over to dad’s after Aggie Baseball today.    While we were watching a golf tournament, I was listening to a Rangers/Giants game on the radio.    It was 2-2 going into the bottom of the ninth in San Francisco.    Heliot Ramos led off with a grounder and two errors later, he scored the winning rule on what was essentially a Little League home run.    Ouch!    What an embarrassing way to lose!

4-30-25

The Chihuahuas were facing off against a rehabbing Clayton Kershaw again in Oklahoma City.    They’d faced him last year on rehab, as well.    (I’m sure I made a post about it, but I can’t find it.)    Tim Hagerty reported on some fireman outside the stadium watching the game from on top of their firetruck.    Kershaw is so good; he got a strikeout with two strikes.    There might have been a miscount on balls and strikes because of a successful challenge.    We’re still not convinced of the count.    He even threw an eephus pitch, which caused the catcher to run out and talk to him.    Kershaw smiled.    He found it amusing.    

However, a pair of Chihuahua batters homered off Kershaw in the same inning and tied the game up at 3.    Kershaw came out after five innings and the pups piled on late for a 13-4 win.    During a mound visit, the PA there played a Dwight Yoakam song.    Mom would have been so pleased.

Meanwhile, the MLB.TV free game was between the woeful White Sox and the Brewers in Chicago.    It was cold there and the skies looked very threatening.    Thus, there was a small crowd present.    (The White Sox being bad also has something to do with attendance.)    I swear it was mostly Brewers fans in the “crowd.”    They got to cheer on a 6-4 Brewer win.   

NM State Aggies vs Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Baseball 4-27-25

Unlike yesterday’s beautiful day, today’s game was under a severe weather alert for high winds. It was calm and lovely when I left at least, but I had some trepidation. On the way over I drove past a dispensary, which had a live DJ outside playing songs. (He was playing that Tom Petty song about weed.) Is 10:30 Sunday morning a worthwhile time to do this promotion?

At the university, I saw two black semi’s pulling out to get on the freeway. I assume they’d packed up last night’s concert at the Pan-Am Center and were on to their next show. Reportedly, most of the team went to it and it was a sellout. In the baseball parking lot, I saw a little red convertible, a Spider, with the top down. It was gorgeous, but this wasn’t the day to have the top down. (It was gone by the end of the game. Hopefully it was in a garage before the weather hit.)

It was a sort of light crowd at 401. At the usual seats, Fan Michael was chatting with a Middle Tennessee fan. He’s like the mayor of Presley Askew Field; he’s always meeting and greeting. Trey and his family would be along later. His wife and daughter took in the concert. They didn’t seem to be any worse for wear, but what condition they woke up in I don’t know.

Trey reported that the team had had a closed door meeting before this weekend where the players all took accountability for their performances. Well, it resulted in this weekend’s offensive outburst, so that worked. I also found out who Trey worked for. He’s finishing a sabbatical right now, but will still able to come out for the rest of the season. He mentioned that one time he’d been called back from a vacation and went to Ohio State and got to play football with his guys at the Horseshoe. I guess that was worth missing some vacation over. Also, I’d mentioned local MLB umpire, Tony Randazzo, yesterday to him. His wife Robin is coaching his daughter in volleyball right now.

Oh boy, did I mess these up. Yesterday, I almost screwed up because I was chatting away with people behind me. Today, I definitely did it. I mis-scored an out and got out-of-order in the batting lineup. Unfortunately, the inning that followed was the fourth, which was rather eventful. I shamefully had to resort to using the official scoring to fix it. I also wasn’t able to keep up with the pitchers’ line scores during the game and just wrote down the official ones. (It is really hard to do a pitcher’s line after the game.)

MTSU was wearing camo tops with bright blue hats. I’m still not sure if I liked the combination. It was bold choice, regardless. Ian Hoslett started for the Aggies. Brandon Forrester was a given a tough error on the first batter of the game. He had to lunge over with a backhand for a ball and couldn’t come up with it in time to make a throw. Thankfully, the official took that error off later (and that I didn’t write that in pen). Dane Woodcook, who was catching, did come up with a great play on the next batter by running back to the dugout to get a foul ball. However, two more Blue Raiders singled to load the bases. Ian got out of it with a strikeout and a groundout.

In addition to Dane greeting the ump before the game, Brandon and Steve Solorzano both shook hands with him before their at bats in the bottom of the first. That was the extent of civility towards the home plate ump for the game. Steve worked a walk for his AB. Bryce Campbell drove him in with a home run. Unlike the rest of the game, there wasn’t any wind, so it was legit. A hit batter, a single, and a walk loaded the bases afterward, but MTSU starter, Will Jenkins, got out of it with a strikeout. 2-0 Aggies.

Trey, who carefully watches what happens between innings, immediately called our attention to a brewing altercation on field. A Blue Raider reliever went after the ump and most of their team was on the field at the time. There was some restraint and the ump was talking back. We didn’t see what started this. There didn’t seem to be any questionable calls. MTSU had a 1-2-3 top of the second. Their catcher, Tyler Minnick, started talking to the ump when he came out between innings. At first, it seemed like an apology, but the conversation kept going. There was some kind of bad blood. In the bottom, the Aggies loaded the bases again thanks to two walks and another hit batter, but all were left stranded.

Michael was complaining about the Concessions. Not only was the beer warm, but so were the sodas. He did say later that the hot dog buns were fresh, at least. I talked to Robin about Volleyball. I asked about Mia Abalos. I thought she looked good playing at the scrimmage. Robin thought so too, but Mia may have gotten homesick and left the team early.

We talked a bit about Coach Jordan. I thought he’d gotten a bit less furious with the players since I’d started watching. She said he was being politically corrected into not yelling as much, but now he was chirping at the girls constantly with criticism and it was almost worse. This seemed to dredge some bad memories of Robin’s playing days bordering on trauma. She encouraged her daughter to play for Coach Jordan, but boy did she still have lingering issues with him.

Where was I? See? These conversations were a major distraction. Ian had a walk in the top of the third, but with no damage. The Aggies got a pair of singles in the bottom. Joey Craig then hit a sharp liner to shortstop Matt Wolfe. Wolfe caught it and stepped on second base for a quick double play.

Okay, now we get into it. It’s probably not a coincidence that the wind started picking and so did the scoring. Ferny Barreda came on in relief in the fourth for the Aggies. This outing did not go well for him, but Coach Angier did stick with him for the whole inning.

The Blue Raiders busted out with 5 runs on 5 hits and included a 2-run homer by Eston Snider. It would have been 6 runs, but DH Kenny McKinley, who was playing in a knee brace, lost it going around the bases and missed third. The Aggie dugout yelled for the guys on the field to make an appeal play at the base and got the first out of the inning. Brandon also made a good play at short. On a groundball, he dropped it, got spun around, lost his hat, but still made a good throw to first. 5-2 MTSU.

The bottom of the fourth was not a good place to screwed up in the lineup, as the Aggies batted around. Cole Torbett had come in for MTSU the previous inning. This inning, he gave up a walk and four straight hits. Those runners all scored. He got Gianni Horvat to a 0-2 count, but one of those strikes was a home run shot to left that just went foul. The Blue Raider coach replaced Torbett mid-at bat, but Horvat got an RBI single anyway.

This move didn’t go any better. MTSU got one out, but only from a sacrifice bunt. There was a walk to load the bases and then Joey was hit to bring in another run. Brandon came up again and singled in 2 more runs, though again, the MTSU coach pulled the pitcher mid-at bat with a 1-0 count. Wolfe made a great play at to snatch a grounder to get the second out and Logan Bingham finished the frame with a strikeout. Damage done. The Aggies were back in the lead, 9-5, with this 7-run outburst.

Matthew Yarc came in for the Aggies in the fifth and had a two strikeout inning. Aggie Softball was playing next door and their game was already over. I’d get their score later. Dust was now blowing around the field. It was okay in the stands because the wind was blowing out, which would have been right into the stands at Softball, so it was good they finished quick. Wind was affecting this game in the bottom of the fifth with Boston Vest and Horvat hitting back-to-back solo home runs. They were wind-aided. 11-5 Aggies.

The wind was blowing for MTSU, too. After a hit batter, Wolfe hit out a 2-run homer to make it 11-7 Aggies. After a double, Yarc got it back together with a lineout. He got a strikeout next. Brett Rogers didn’t like the call and went at the ump. The ump was yelling back at him as Rogers went back to the dugout. Brandon made a great play on a hot shot at short to end the frame.

Broadcaster Adam Young came in with his young son and went to the pressbox. He’d just called the Softball game. After this inning, Baseball broadcaster Jeff Matthews, would say, “My scorecard looks like I’ve gone bowling.” The Aggies had another big inning in the bottom of the sixth. After a strikeout, the Aggies rattled off three hits and a walk with Campbell driving in two. Boston got hit on the helmet next by a new MTSU pitcher and wandered around dizzy for a second. He was pulled for Sheehan O’Connor. (He was finally back in a game.) With two outs, Austin Corbett hit a little floater past second base. The wind caught it and it dropped before anyone could get to it. With the runners in motion, three scored. Tack on another 5. Aggies up 16-7 and flirting with another run rule win.

Shockingly, Boston was back in at third for the seventh. Trey had to explain this. If a player is taken out for concussion protocol, then they could come reenter the game if they check out okay. That seems like a terrible NCAA rule.

The wind could now be considered bad with plenty of dust in the air. Horvat lost his hat on a gust. Yarc had another good inning anyway with two more strikeouts. Cole Rogers, who’d come in to play centerfield this inning, made a great dive catch to end it. He came back to the dugout hyped up as everyone congratulated him. Rogers then slipped and went down, but he was okay. In the bottom, the wind or some severe English on a hit by Mitch Namie resulted in a little infield popup that dropped in between the pitcher and shortstop, but that was all of the Aggie offense.

The top of the eighth began with a huge blast of dust across the field that suspended play until it passed. Jaden Davis started the inning. He let on a little traffic, but no one scored. The Aggies went down in order in the bottom, though Boston had to duck under another pitch at this head. Minnick led off the top of the ninth against a new Aggie pitcher, Chris Daniels, with a wind-aided home run, but the infield finished off the game with a double play. Aggies win 16-8!

With 11 free passes for MTSU (walks and hit batters), it’s not surprising they lost. They did put up a good fight today. The Aggies should have run ruled. They left 12 on base, including leaving the bases loaded twice. At 3 hours and 25 minutes, this game made up for yesterday’s 2-hour game.

Gameballs. Blue Raider Matt Wolfe went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and a home run and had some good defense. For the Aggies, Ian Hoslett worked 3 scoreless innings. (If the wind had been blowing when he was pitching, maybe that would have been different.) Gianni Horvat went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI’s and a home run, Austin Corbett was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, and Bryce Campbell was 3 for 6 with 4 RBI’s and a homer.

I ran into Adam and his adorable son on the way out. Adam said the ladies at Softball had won in a run rule, 9-1. It was a double sweep for the Aggies over MTSU this weekend. A couple of softball players had hit home runs in the game, but they would have been hitting them into the wind. The kid will be calling games with his old man next season.

It got downright nasty with the wind right after the game. I’m grateful for that timing. The sky turned brown. I got a weather alert just before I stepped into Burger King for lunch. I was a bit disappointed with the size of the double cheeseburger, but it was fine, especially the fries. I got dad a shake and took it to him and we watched the end of a Women’s golf tournament, which was pretty dramatic. I’ve got a week off from Aggie sports until the final weekend of Aggie Baseball two weeks from now.