Cowboys drop doubleheader to No. 10 West Texas A&M

LAS VEGAS, N.M. --- The New Mexico Highlands baseball team dropped both games to No. 10 West Texas A&M on Saturday, 16-6 and 10-3, at Brandt Field.
 
In the first game, the Cowboys (0-4) fell behind 4-0 in the top of the first before a Gaylan Young hit an RBI triple to cut the Buffaloes' (4-0) lead to 4-1. WTAMU scored another four runs in the top of the second before NMHU cut the lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-run single by Young and an RBI groundout by Aidan McNichol.
 
But that's as close as the Cowboys would come as the Buffs scored three more in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh for the 10-run victory.
 
Young paced the Cowboys at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs while Joe Cilladi went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs. Gavin Baker picked up the loss, giving up eight runs (five earned) on six hits with a strikeout and two walks.
 
In game two, the Buffaloes used a six-run second inning to take a large early lead and eventually defeated the Cowboys 10-3. NMHU scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning on a Carlos Ramirez sacrifice fly and on a wild pitch and added another in the seventh on Jared Brown RBI groundout after Travis Spruiell led off the inning with a triple.
 
Auggie Francis went 2-for-4 with a run for the Cowboys while Brown went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Tyler Winkler picked up the loss, going 2.1 innings and giving up eight runs on seven hits with a strikeout and two walks.
 
The Cowboys hit the road next week as they travel to take on Fort Hays State for a four-game series starting Friday.