The diamond Cowboys squeaked out a 4-3 win over University of Nebraska – Kearney on 5/9 in the first round of the RMAC Baseball Championships in Pueblo, Colo.
Chris Prokupek picked up his seventh win of the season in 7.1 innings of work and seven strikeouts.
Oscar Almeida, who leads the RMAC in saves, earned his 12th on the year, which included fanning two batters.
The Cowboys advance to face the winner between host team CSU-Pueblo and Regis, which takes place on 5/9 at 7 p.m. mst.
Eric Maupin led his team as the only batter on the day with multiple hits including a double in his first at bat. Maupin's two-for-three was broken up him striking out in the seventh inning.
Jordan Falcon's only hit of the day included two RBI's and led to him crossing the plate.
Kyle Davis crossed the plated first for the 'Pokes when
Jordan Falcon was hit by a pitch in the second inning. Then in the fourth inning, Highlands notched another two runs onto the scoreboard with a single RBI from
Jordan Falcon who scored
Thomas King from second. Falcon advanced to third on a double from
Erik Scott. Following the double,
AJ Alexander grounded out to the shortstop, which put Falcon at home.
Highlands then got their go-ahead run in the seventh when
Luis Saenz scored from second on a double from
Chris Pile.
The Lopers made a run for glory in the eighth inning as they scored two runs on two hits but the home team defense stopped the surge and left three on base.
Oscar Almeida started the ninth inning by walking what would be Lopers third run. But, Almeida redeemed himself with two strikeouts to close out the contest and sealed the Cowboys bid to the next round.
View the Complete Stats
HERE.
The Cowboys advance to face the winner between host team CSU-Pueblo and Regis, which takes place on 5/9 at 7 p.m. mst.
GO COWBOYS!!!
