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Box Score 2 DENVER – A wise baseball coach once said that you need to win one weekend game on solid pitching and then outslug the opponent in another weekend game.
The Cowboys had both in a double header sweep with Metro State in Denver Friday afternoon (March 14). New Mexico Highlands baseball (9-10, 6-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) won the first game 4-2 before capturing the nightcap 7-6 in eight innings over Metro State (3-9, 2-6 RMAC).
The second game came down to extra innings after an error was the catalyst to Metro State tying the game at five in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, Highlands scored a pair and held on for the one-run victory.
In the first game, junior
Blake Harrison (2-2) allowed only an unearned run and three hits while striking out a season-best 10 batters in seven innings of work. Up 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Cowboys senior
Daniel Clark set the Roadrunners down in order – including a pair of strikeouts – for his first save of 2014.
Home runs in the first game helped propelled the Cowboys to a 4-0 lead as they held on for the two-run victory. In the top of the second, redshirt junior
Matthew Chavez singled with one out. Senior
Javier Ledford followed with his third round tripper of the year, a shot down the right field line on a 1-2 count. Chavez added his own home run (second of 2014) to lead off the sixth, also down the right field line and also on a 1-2 count.
Harrison was the story of the game with the 10 punchouts – none bigger than in the third out of the inning. First with two on and one out, senior catcher
Morgan McCasland threw out a runner trying to steal third for the second out of the frame. After two walks loaded the bases, Harrison got a strikeout to keep the home team off the board.
Clark relieved Harrison, looking for the two-inning save. After giving up a run in the eighth, he retired the side in order in the ninth with a pair of five-pitch strikeouts around a groundout on the first pitch of the at-bat.
Chavez led the Cowboys from the plate in the first game with two singles and a home run in three at-bats with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Juniors
Andrew Ratterman and
Nick Gonzales both had three hits.
Game two actually saw the Roadrunners outhit the Cowboys 9-7, but it was timely hitting that propelled Highlands to the win. After Metro State scored a pair of runs, Highlands put up a four-spot the next half inning. After a walk and two hit by pitches loaded the bases, the Cowboys took the lead on a double off the bat from senior
Jarred Middleton – his only hit of the game. After a steal, Middleton came around to score on a groundout by Gonzalez.
Metro State retied the game, but hustle helped Highlands go up 5-4 with a run in the fifth. With one out, Ratterman – who finished the game 5-for-9 from the plate on the day – singled, stole second and scored on McCasland's two-out hit.
The Cowboys got the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Alex Walker reached on an error and advanced to a second on a walk. An RBI single by Danny Miller tied the game, but Nick Comito was gunned down at third by junior center fielder
Tucker Young.
McCasland led off the top of the eighth with a double and advanced to third when Young reached on an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Two groundouts scored McCasland and advanced Young to third. Senior
Justin Rodriguez provided insurance with a two-out hit. The Cowboys need it as the Roadrunners scored on in the bottom of the eighth and had the tying run on third, but sophomore
Anthony Badalucco got a groundout for his first save of the season.
Junior
Erick McRae, who allowed one unearned run on two hits and a walk with a strikeout pitching the sixth and seventh, got his first win of the season in three decisions.
The Cowboys return to action Saturday (March 15) with a double header beginning at 11 a.m.
