Box Score LAS VEGAS, N.M. – In a game that featured only 229 combined total pitches, the Cowboys gave up the first two runs of the game and a rally in the eighth and ninth innings fell short as the New Mexico Highlands baseball team (5-9, 2-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell to CSU-Pueblo (6-7, 2-1 RMAC) 2-1 Friday afternoon (March 7) in less than two hours in Las Vegas, N.M.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth, the Cowboys managed to put the tying runs into scoring position with one out. Redshirt junior
Matthew Chavez led off the frame with a single and advanced to second when senior
Justin Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. Senior
Javier Ledford followed with a high chopper to the right side to move both runners over. A groundout cut the deficit in half, but the tying run was left stranded at third when Mike Fabrizio got a strikeout looking to preserve the ThunderWolves lead.
Highlands looked to have something going in the ninth when senior
Jordan Goliat reached on a bunt single back to the pitcher. Junior
Nick Gonzales followed with another bunt to the pitcher, but the pitcher got Goliat out at second by an eye lash. Junior
Morgan McCasland followed with a single when he skied a ball to center field that was lost in the high sky, but a double play ended the ballgame and preserved the Thunderwolves one-run win.
Gonzales paced the Cowboys with a hit in two at-bats with a pair of walks. Junior
Blake Harrison threw a complete game in the loss, falling to 1-2 on the season by allowing two earned runs on 10 hits.
CSU-Pueblo took the lead just four batters into the game. Austin Mascorro led off the game with a double, advanced to third on a fly out and scored on Evan Kenebrew's groundout. In the top of the fourth, the ThunderWolves loaded the bases with no outs before they scored their final run of the game on Eddie William's sacrifice fly.
A strikeout and groundout ended the CSU-Pueblo threat.
Mike Fabrizio (2-1) got the win from the mound for the ThunderWolves, allowing only one hit through six innings. He surrendered only one run on three hits with three walks and five strikeouts in eight innings of work. Mascarro led the ThunderWolves offensively, going 3-for-5 with a run scored.
New Mexico Highlands returns to action for two, seven-inning games tomorrow (March 8) at 11 a.m.
