Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
When all three phases of the game of baseball come together, the New Mexico Military Institute Broncos can be a competitive squad and tough to beat.
On Sunday, the Broncos proved that by winning two games over the Western Nebraska Community College Cougars by the scores of 8-2 and 14-5 at NMMI Ballpark.
NMMI won three out of four games over the Cougars.
"We continue to pitch pretty well. We have our little things that we can improve (in) on the mound. Offensively, we did a little bit better job with two strikes," said NMMI head coach Chris Cook. "We've been pretty consistent defensively, really did a good job this weekend of making some throws from the outfield. It's a good weekend to build off of."
In Game 3, Bronco starting pitcher Jorge Garcia had a solid outing, tossing a three-hitter with seven strikeouts in six innings of work.
NMMI took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with back to back singles by Trey Starr III and Diego Solis.
The Broncos then extended their lead to 5-0 in the third when Owen Alsup and Christian Rocha tallied back to back singles.
Garcia retired his first 14 batters in a row before Drew Book hit a single in the top of the fifth.
NMMI tacked on three more runs in the sixth when Solis scored on an error by the pitcher. Adrian Rubio then hit an RBI triple to center to drive in Rhett Stokes.
Julian Lopez later hit an RBI double to make the score 8-0.
The Cougars ended the shutout in the top of the seventh with a two RBI single by Dawson Hurford.
NMMI out hit Western Nebraska 12-5. Rubio and Lopez went a combined 6 for 8 with two doubles, a triple and two RBI.
Alsup finished 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and two RBI.
The offense stayed hot for the Broncos in Game 4.
NMMI began with a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Jesh Leckey hit a clutch two RBI double while Starr brought in Leckey with a double to left.
Ryan Flake then hit an RBI single to highlight the rally.
With one swing of the bat, the Cougars trailed by one run in the top of the second after a three-run home run by Maxime Adam.
The Broncos answered in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly by Lopez that drove in Rubio.
NMMI got some more insurance runs in the third when Albert Oliva Velez smacked a two-run home run to left to make the score 7-3.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lopez scored on a wild pitch to increase NMMI's lead to five.
The Cougars cut the deficit in half when Dillon Fabricus drove in Sergio Tarango on a ground out to third during the top of the fifth.
NMMI increased its lead to 10-4 in the bottom of sixth after Rubio scored on a wild pitch and Lopez drove in Stokes on a grounder to short.
The Broncos rallied for four runs in the seventh to win courtesy of the 10-run rule. Ramirez drove in two runs with a single to left while Stokes plated home Flake with a single.
Trotter Boston later brought in Velez on a fielder's choice.
Jose Cabanillas Jr. allowed three earned runs on five hits while tallying four strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Henrique Date relieved for 2.1 innings as he allowed one hit and one earned run.
Stokes, Rubio, Leckey and Starr went a combined 8 for 11 with four RBI.
Velez finished 1 for 3 with two RBI while Ramirez went 1 for 1 with a pair of RBI.
"We just got to believe in what we're good at and trust it," Cook added. "We've been in every game with Megumi (Fukuda), (Drew) Price is throwing really well, Garcia's been really good lately, Caba's gotten better. Our bullpen's been pretty consistent.
"We're just trying to build everything and have everything going and working when we get into conference."
>> UP NEXT: NMMI hosts Luna Community College for a four-game series beginning Saturday at 12 p.m.
Game 3
NMMI 8, Western Nebraska 2
WESTE……0000002 — 2 5 2
NMMI…….023003x — 8 12 0
Corbin Kirk, Eli Hernandez (3), J.J. Garza (5), Caden Eymann (6). Jorge Garcia, Jackson Peters (7). W — Garcia. L — Kirk. 2B — NMMI: Julian Lopez (2). 3B — NMMI: Adrian Rubio. HR — None.
Game 4
NMMI 14, Western Nebraska 5 (7)
WESTE…….0300101 — 5 6 1
NMMI……..4121024 — 14 14 2
Will Potter, Thibault Mercadier (4), Archer Blumenschein (6), Aiden Schultz (7). Jose Cabanillas Jr., Henrique Date (5). W — Cabanillas. L — Potter. 2B — Western Nebraska: Jack Jones (2); NMMI: Jesh Leckey, Adrian Rubio, Trey Starr III. 3B — None. HR — Western Nebraska: Maxime Adam; NMMI: Albert Oliva Velez.
Records — Western Nebraska (1-3); NMMI (7-4).