ALAMOSA, Colo. – New Mexico Highlands athletics will be no stranger to the town of Alamosa, Colo., this weekend as the baseball team (3-7) joins the Highlands track team in the Rocky Mountain State. The Cowboys battle Adams State (2-8) this weekend (Feb. 28-March 2). Friday's game begins at 2 p.m.
This will be the first official Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest for both teams. But, Adams State is coming off having lost a non-conference, three-game series at fellow RMAC member Regis two weeks ago.
"We are coming off a non-conference schedule in which we knew there was going to be some growing pains," head coach
Steve Jones explained. "There are signs we are getting better and hopefully we will have better baseball this weekend."
Redshirt junior
Matthew Chavez continues to pace the Cowboys with a .481 average (13 hits in 27 at-bats) but is hitless in his last three games. Senior
Greg Hansen is 2-1 on the season with a team-best 4.15 ERA among starters.
Both teams have two common opponents on the year in Lubbock Christian and Eastern New Mexico. Highlands lost the first game and won the next two in a three-game set while Adams State won the first game and lost the final two of a three-game series against Lubbock Christian. A week before Highlands faced Eastern New Mexico, Adams State also lost the first three games of a four-game set before winning the series finale.
Scouting Adams State
The Grizzlies come into the weekend with a 2-8 record and were picked to finish seventh in the RMAC. It will be their home opener of the 2014 season.
With Highlands and Adams State having each played seven games against common opponents, the two teams can compare stats against each other in a way that is uncommon for this early in the season. The Cowboys are hitting .284 for the season compared to Adams State's .243. Meanwhile, Adams State may have the edge from the mound as the Grizzlies only give up 6.63 runs per game, compared to 8.29 for the Cowboys.
Two different players for the Grizzlies are hitting above .400 for the season. Marco Garmendia leads the way with eight hits in 19 at-bats for a .421 average. Dillon Bollig is batting .409 with nine hits in 22 at-bats.
Andrew MacMahon (1-1) paces the Grizzlies from the mound with a 1.89 ERA (four earned runs in 19 innings pitched. He won the season-opener with a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win over Lubbock Christian, allowing only four hits while striking out four in seven innings of work.
Next Up
The New Mexico Highlands baseball team returns home for the first time in more than a month when it hosts CSU-Pueblo for a four-game series next weekend.
