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Goags20172
162UCD exacted some revenge against the bears, who beat them in 3 out of 4 games last year and crushed them 11- 2 and 9- 2.
It was interesting that the Aggies started Erwin in game 1 and Hannah in game 2 instead of Brown and Sasaki, but I won't argue with the results. They also made some additional interesting defensive allignments I didn't see coming. Caleb Van Blake has moved to 3rd. Arenado started both games at second. Briggs was in right for game 1, and first base for game 2. Myers and Alejandro Lara were the other first baseman and right fielder, respectively.
Almost every Aggie position player had at least 1 hit. Briggs, a senior, hit his first career home run in game 2- surprised everyone. Myers had 4 hits. Arenado had three hits and three steals- the Aggies ran the Bears' catchers ragged. They only caught one runner stealing, and that was when Arenado got greedy attempting to steal third after he'd just swiped second. Murray was his usual self. Garrett Kelly had a big day too. His double over the bag at third in game 2 broke a close game open .
He also knocked in the first run in game 1 with a perfect bunt single. Defense was pretty good.
Both Aggie starting pitchers did well. They both struggled a bit with the strike zone but settled down. In game 1 Chase Lyford locked down a 4- inning save. He's a lefty with some zip on his fastball. He retired the first 9 batters, but surrendered the final run in the 9th. Brock Moffit got Hannah out of a 5th inning jam in dramatic fashion. He fell behind 3- 0 to the Bears' big slugger Jack Pauley and then struck him out swinging to end the threat. Moffitt and Tim Weiser held them scoreless the rest of the way.
Humorously Sasaki did make it into the game when the announcer announced he was entering the game at first base for the bears. That's not just looking at the wrong roster; it's a product of not reviewing the rosters thoroughly beforehand to make sure you can say their names properly and not embarrass their families. It should have occurred to her it was absurd before she said it -
ProAggieGuy
10Great start for the Aggies! The UNC starting pitching looked good, but the bullpen is hurting. A problem all too familiar with Aggie fans.. This season looks to bolster a pretty solid bullpen for the Aggies. Starting pitching was sound, bats looked good. Defense was sharp. Lots to look forward to this season. ASU will be a good test to see where the Aggies are at.. GO get ‘em boys!!!!
On a side note, Sasaki is expected to return in the next 4 weeks or so. -
BlueGoldAg
1.3kIt would be exciting to see the Aggies become one of the better baseball programs in the Big West. The women's softball team is off to a good start too so far. It's great to see these sports getting better each year. -
Goags20172
162Good to hear that Sasaki will be back soon. I'm assuming Brown will start today then ? I wonder who will go against Nevada ? My guess would be one of the freshmen, either Spillane or Lemos ? Justin Smith started too in the fall, but I thought he was in the late- inning relief mix. I still have no clue who the closer is. Moffitt and Lyford got the bulk of the relief innings yesterday, but they're left- handers. Wieser closed out game 2, but it was not s save situation. Ouellette has velocity but he hasn't pitched to opposing college hitters yet, except for a few innings during the summer.
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Goags20172
162I always have to temper my enthusiasm when the Aggies win their opening series. They slaughtered Bakersfield the first two games last year + CSUB was a pretty midlling team in the WAC, just like Northern Colorado was. In 2013 the Aggies won 3 of 4 from Washington + only wound up with what, 19 wins ? But then again they won both of their decisions against Texas State to begin 2015, a winning season, so there's that. I'm cautiously optimistic since they won a series from a team that beat them last year.
Interestingly enough CSUB won a close neutral- site game against Cal to open the season. The golden bears did what Wile E. Coyote failed at so many times and absolutely destroyed the roadrunners in a 4- game series last year. I mention that because I saw the Sunday game. It was a huge mismatch.
On a slightly- related note I did see Sac State play last night (did a triple- header of baseball spectating). North Dakota State beat them 9- 1. The Aggies did well to schedule Sac Stateearly in the season. They look like they're still pretty tentative on offense + figuring out their bullpen roles. For 3+ innings the Bisons' fielders didn't have to move because the Hornets either walked or struck out in every single at- bat. They have a good rotation-three draft- worthy starters- and a good closer, but the rest of the staff is an unknown. The bullpen coughed up six runs last night. The Aggies may face freshman Connor Sparks. He's a pretty big deal, a 6'6, 228 righty from Canada who's already been drafted. Generally speaking Sac State doesn't redshirt many players that are on the roster, unless it's due to injury or transfer rules, so Sparks will probably pitch this year. -
BlueGoldAg
1.3kGreat analysis. I always so impressed with the amount on knowledge you and ProAggieGuy have when it comes to Aggie baseball. I wonder if we'll ever get lights for the Aggie field? That would make for some very nice evening games and would probably increase attendance.
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ProAggieGuy
10Lights are in the works! They have been for a long time, but it is getting close now.. New all weather batting cages going in this Summer.... Word has it that Weiser will start against UNR on Tuesday.. I can’t make it, but will be watching.. Kevin Blue is adamant about bringing the baseball field and facilities up to Big West par... I think the next 5 years will bring many changes for the better.. Go Aggies!!
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BlueGoldAg
1.3kThat's great news! I just saw that the Aggies swept the 3 game series with Northern Colorado winning today 12-0. Wow...what a fast start!
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Goags20172
162What was really interesting was how the Aggies scored their runs today. I remember checking the Gametracker and seeing they were up 8- 0, but with only 7 hits, none of which were homeruns. Aparently N. Colorado gave them a few free runs via the bases loaded walk and hit by pitch.
You can tell I didn't go today because Chris Brown pitched so well. With the exception of his win vs. Irvine last year he typically does not pitch well when I attend. I must jinx him. I think I may have. been a good luck charm for Daniel Descalso though. He hit 3 hr's in the 4 games I attended in 2007, and only 1 the rest of the season. That included his 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 error game against Northridge. Then I met him before a Sacramento + Memphis AAA game + he went 4 for 5, was summoned by St. Louis not long thereafter. Something funny- he told me he didn't know that at the time only 1 UC Davis alumnus (Steve Brown) had ever made it to the major leagues. Now, of course there are five. I'm not old enough to have seen Brown play for UCD, but I've seen the other 4. -
Goags20172
162Thanks ! My knowledge of Aggie baseball is just from seeing a lot of games, whereas ProAggieGuy has a lot of insider knowledge it would seem and he sees a lot of games + practices. If I see as many games as I plan to this year I'll break 200 Aggie games attended (not all at Dobbins Stadium) in early 2020. Add that to all the other games I've seen over the years and I'm over 600 total. If I assign an average value of 2.5 hrs to each game that's over 2 entire months of my life I've spent watching baseball at the ballpark. Food for thought.
Lights would be nice for a reason we haven't really discussed much- the flexibility of practice schedules. I would go to fewer games, unless the night games were only on Tuesdays and Fridays. That's how Santa Clara handles it, with 6 pm games on Fridays, 1 pm on Saturdays, and noon on games on Sundays. I think that's a good arrangement for fans. Even the major leagues have Saturday day games, but the Sacramento River Cats have not gotten the memo. -
Goags20172
162On the subject of fast starts I took a look at Northern Colorado's schedule. The way theirs is set up they might go 0- 13 to start the year. Next they travel to Phoenix for 4 games to play- the University of Washington. Then they host the North Dakota State for 4 and travel to Creighton for 2. Their first win of the year might be against Division II Colorado State- Pueblo. Mercifully their conference schedule opens against Chicago State at home.
North Dakota State was barely above .500 last year, but they looked tough when I saw them. Their shortstop, Bennett Hostetler, hit two homeruns from the leadoff spot on Saturday. He barely hit .220, with 1 HR all of last year- as a regular. Sac State won the other two games 2- 1 and 8- 3. The hornets' bats woke up in game 3. Sac State's weekend rotation is as sharp as ever. For the weekend they only allowed four earned runs (3 of them on Saturday) in 18 innings, with only 3 walks against 27 strikeouts. However, the bullpen surrendered 9 earned runs in 9 innings pitched.
Humorous note:NDSU's second starter is named Max Loven, pronounced in the most humorous way you can imagine. His parents didn't do him any favors though. Good pitcher though- pitched six shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits and a walk.
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