Lakewood, Colorado - The 2026 season came to a close on Saturday for New Mexico Highlands as the Cowboys dropped both ends of a high-scoring doubleheader at All Star Park to Colorado Christian University.
The Cougars took the opener 16-14 in a back-and-forth slug fest before edging the nightcap 7-6. New Mexico Highlands finishes the year 12-38 overall and 7-25 in RMAC play, while Colorado Christian ends its season at 15-35 overall and 10-22 in conference action.
Game 1: Colorado Christian 16, New Mexico Highlands 14
A wild opener featured 30 combined runs and multiple momentum swings, but a big middle innings surge from Colorado Christian proved to be the difference.
New Mexico Highlands struck first with a two-run second inning, highlighted by RBIs from
Tamden Webb-Tate and
Lubby Marrujo. After trailing 5-2, the Cowboys chipped away and pulled within a run at 5-4 in the fifth.
The game turned in the bottom half of that inning when the Cougars erupted for eight runs, building a 13-4 advantage. Despite the deficit, the Cowboys refused to go quietly.
New Mexico Highlands mounted a massive rally in the seventh, scoring seven runs to cut the lead to 15-11.
Alex Galvan's two-run home run sparked the inning, while
Taiga Sato delivered a two-run double and Marrujo continued his strong day at the plate with an RBI knock.
The Cowboys kept the pressure on in the eighth, adding three more runs to pull within one at 15-14. Marrujo's two-run single capped the comeback effort, but Colorado Christian answered with an insurance run in the bottom of the inning and closed the door late.
Marrujo led the offense, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Sato added two hits and two RBIs. Galvan drove in three, and Webb-Tate contributed a pair of RBIs.
Game 2: Colorado Christian 7, New Mexico Highlands 6
The finale followed a similar script, with both teams trading blows throughout before the Cougars walked it off in the seventh.
Webb-Tate got the Cowboys on the board early with a solo home run in the second inning. After Colorado Christian answered to tie it,
Adrian Castenada delivered an RBI single in the fifth to give New Mexico Highlands a 2-1 lead.
The Cougars responded again, plating four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take control at 5-2.
New Mexico Highlands answered with resilience in the sixth.
Johnathan Davis launched a solo home run, Sato added an RBI double, and Marrujo tied the game with an RBI single to even the score at 5-5.
Colorado Christian regained the lead on a solo homer in the bottom half, but the Cowboys responded once more in the seventh as
Ryan Rodriguez delivered a clutch RBI single to tie the game at 6-6.
In the bottom of the inning, the Cougars used a two-out RBI single to push across the winning run and complete the sweep.
Castenada and Davis each had two hits to lead the offense, while Webb-Tate reached base three times and scored twice.
