Cowboys Fall Short in Day 2 Against the Tigers

Hays,KS- The New Mexico Highlands University Baseball team fell to the Fort Hays State University Tigers,10-12. This drops your Cowboys to a 0-5 overall record.

It looked as if the top of the first would have been very ineffective for the Cowboys as their first two batters grounded out. However, this was not the case. Junior Luis Ornelas walked, and Senior Jeremy McCarty was hit by a pitch. With two on, Junior Eduardo Perez stepped up to the plate and blasted a home run ball. This gave the Cowboys an early 3-0 advantage. Freshman pitcher Jacob Padilla sat the first three Tiger batters in order. He also got out of the inning earning a strikeout. 

Junior Danny O'Keefe got the Cowboys going in the top of the second with a double, but they could not get much more going as they would leave O'Keefe stranded on base. The Tigers also got their first run of the day as they hit a solo homer off of Padilla to pull within two runs. Then, they were able to push two more runs across, resulting in a 3-3 tie heading into the third inning.

Perez continued his solid outing as he sent home another ball, also bringing in McCarty with him. The Cowboys could not seem to get the Tigers out in the bottom of the inning however, as they were able to strike for 3 runs. 

The Cowboys continued to have a hot hand at the bats. At the top of the fourth, Sophomore Joseph Cilladi got on base with a single. Then, Junior Codie Simmons slapped a 2 run home run to give his team the lead at 7-6. The Tigers also flexed their muscles in the bottom of the inning as they scored twice more to regain the lead.

The Cowboys bats cooled down in the top of the sixth inning as they were retired in order. After giving up another run, Padilla was relieved by Senior Dylan Norris. Norris got out of the inning, but before doing so, the Tigers got another run across.

McCarty was able to score in the top of the seventh due to a Tigers error, then Senior Brad Blackwell notched a single, allowing Perez to score for the third time on the day. Norris struggled in the bottom of the seventh as the bases were loaded, and the Tigers capitalized by getting 2 more runs across before Norris was pulled for Graduate Student Avery Brandon. Brandon struck out a Tigers batter for the final out of the inning.

Senior Emilio Medina cracked another home run in the top of the eighth for the Cowboys to cut into their deficit. Brandon did a great job of keeping the Tigers quiet as he only allowed one hit in the bottom of the inning, to give the Cowboys a shot in the ninth to win the game.

Ornelas hit a single to start the inning for the Cowboys, but they would go dry after this. McCarty popped up, and Perez hit into a double play to give the Tigers the second game of the series. 

The Cowboys will wrap up their series with the Tigers tomorrow February 12th at 12:00 p.m.

Go Cowboys!