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Box Score 2 ALAMOSA, Colo. – Playing a pair of seven-inning contests on Saturday, the New Mexico Highlands baseball team (5-8, 2-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) went .400 from the plate and scored 19 runs in 14 innings as the Cowboys lost 9-6 in game one and won 15-3 in game two over Adams State (3-10, 1-2 RMAC).
Highlands started from the first pitch in game one with three runs in the top of the first. Junior
EJ Stanton led off the game with a single and scored on senior
Jarred Middleton's one-out home run. Junior
Morgan McCasland followed in the next at-bat with a solo shot. McCasland also had a solo shot in the third inning.
McCasland leads the team and the RMAC with five home runs on the season. No one else in the conference has more than two round-trippers and no one on Highlands has more than one home run for the season.
With a 4-1 lead after three, the Cowboys exploded with nine runs over the final four innings. Junior
Tucker Young led off the fourth with a triple before scoring on an RBI single by junior
Mike Sordia. Stanton got in on the home run parade with a two-run blast later in the inning. After a run in the fifth, senior
Javier Ledford and Young had RBI singles while junior
Andrew Ratterman hit a sacrifice fly to put Highlands up 11-4.
The Cowboys capped the scoring in the seventh when junior
Nick Gonzales hit an RBI double and Young contributed a sacrifice fly.
McCasland led the Cowboys from the plate in game two with three hits in as many at-bats, four runs scored and a pair of RBI's. Stanton, Middleton and Young also each drove in a pair of runs. Every Highland's player who had an at-bat had a hit.
Throwing the final 3.2 innings, freshman
Phil Trujillo recorded his first collegiate win, allowing only one hit and one earned run with three walks while striking out one.
Down 7-1 entering the bottom of the fourth, the home team scored a trio of runs to cut the deficit in half. Dillon Bollig homered after a leadoff hit by Marco Garmendia. Drew Wold added a solo shot in the frame, but the home team could not catch Highlands, who scored in 6-of-7 innings in the second game.
Adams State only managed six hits on the day, led by Garmendia's two hits and a run and RBI. J.D. Heredia fell to 0-4 on the season for the Grizzlies, giving up seven hits and seven runs in 3.1 innings pitched.
In game one, Highlands scored the first three runs in the top of the second, but the Grizzles scored nine unanswered over the next two innings and held on for the 9-6 win. With two outs and no one on in the second, Gonzales and Young singled to put men on the corners. Senior
Jonathan Stavinoha doubled in the first run of the game before an error scored Ledford. With men on the corners, Highlands executed a double steal as Stavinoha swiped home.
Senior
Justin Rodriguez led off the sixth with a home run before Stanton added an RBI single.
Down 9-3, the Cowboys scored a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth but did not inch closer. Stavinoha walked to leadoff the fifth, advanced to third on a single and a fielder's choice and scored on McCasland's two-out single.
The Cowboys banged out 10 hits in the game with two each from Stanton, Gonzalez and Ledford. Gonzalez also scored a pair of runs. Senior
Ben Ruff fell to 0-2 on the season, giving up nine runs on 11 hits over 4.1 innings pitched. Sophomore
Anthony Badalucco threw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, surrendering only one hit.
Deven Nelson paced the visitors with three hits in as many at-bats with three RBI's and a run scored. Andrew MacMahon improved to 2-1 on the year, giving up 10 hits and six runs (four earned) with five strikeouts. Luke Bradshaw got his first save on the year, allowing no on to reach in his 1.2 innings of work.
The Cowboys return to action this weekend with their first home game in a month. Highlands battles CSU-Pueblo in a four game series beginning at 3 p.m. Friday (March 7).
