Box Score PORTALES, N.M. - The Cowboys racked up nine runs in the first two innings and did not allow one until the bottom of the ninth as the New Mexico Highlands baseball team (3-4) won the series finale over Eastern New Mexico (6-2) Sunday afternoon (Feb. 16) in the series finale.
Like the Greyhounds did yesterday, the Cowboys put up a five spot in an inning after being down to its final strike in the frame. In the top of the first, redshirt freshman
Matthew Chavez hit an infield single on a 2-2 pitch. Junior
Morgan McCasland followed with an infield single on a 1-2 pitch to keep the inning alive. Juniors
Joe Cervantes and
Nick Gonzales provided back-to-back singles before classmate
Colby Wilmer cleared the bases on a triple to left field on the first pitch he saw.
The two-out lightning continued when senior
Justin Rodriguez added an RBI single to put the visitors up 5-0 before the Greyhounds could even bat.
As timely as the offense was with two outs, the defense came up big in the bottom of the first when Eastern New Mexico loaded the bases with no outs. Toeing the rubber for the Cowboys, senior
Greg Hansen (2-0) got a punch out with the batter looking and a pop out to short left field. A fly ball by Rafael Romo to left field ended the threat as the Cowboys left unscathed.
The top of the second saw Highlands plate four more runs to blow the game open. Senior
Jordan Goliat, junior
EJ Stanton and Chavez all led off the inning with singles. However, the Greyhounds' centerfielder misplayed the ball on Chavez's single to allow the bases to clear. For good measure, McCasland followed with a solo shot to open up a 9-0 lead.
Gonzales paced the team with a 3-for-5 day with an RBI and run scored. Chavez was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. McCasland added his second home run of the season.
That was more than enough for Hansen, who allowed only three hits and faced only 17 batters over the next five innings. He finished the day allowing only four hits and no runs while striking out three over six innings. Senior
Braulio Hernandez was just as dominate in two innings of relief work, allowing only one hit and walk while striking out two in two innings of work.
The Greyhounds finally were able to scratch a run across the plate in the bottom of the ninth off of junior
Cody Brown. With one out, Mark Foley recorded a pinch hit single and advanced to third on a wild pitch and balk. Ryan Forkel added an RBI single before a strikeout and fly out ended the game.
The home team only managed seven singles, led by Forkel's two that also drove in a run. Brett Humphries (0-2) took the mound for the for Eastern New Mexico, allowing 11 hits and nine earned runs while lasting only 1.1 innings.
Baseball returns to action next Friday when it travels to West Texas A&M for a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 2 p.m.
