Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
Backed by some solid pitching from starters Drew Price and Jorge Garcia, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco baseball team swept Saturday's doubleheader against Luna Community College by the scores of 19-2 and 8-5 at NMMI Ballpark.
The twin bill featured 19 hits and three home runs by the Broncos. Edrien Martinez finished 3 for 5 with two homers and five RBI for the day.
"Overall pitching, we made pitches when we needed to. The strikeout numbers were pretty good," said NMMI head coach Chris Cook. "Offensively, Edrien Martinez had a great day and squared up some baseballs. So did Dylan Shea in Game 2.
"Most of their opportunities and most of our opportunities were all off of walks, hit by pitches and just the amount of free bases. We got to clean that up."
In Game 1, the Broncos rallied for nine runs in the first inning by scattering six hits and taking advantage of three walks and a hit by pitch.
Ryan Flake took one for the team with the bases loaded to push across the first run. Jesh Leckey then drew a bases-loaded walk.
Armando Ramirez Jr. hit a clutch two RBI triple to make the score 5-0 with no outs. Diego Solis kept the rally going by hitting an RBI single.
Rhett Stokes then drove in two runs with a triple to right to give the Broncos an 8-0 lead. Guillermo Borquez pushed across the final run of the inning with a double to center that brought in Stokes.
The Rough Riders ended the shutout in the top of the third after an RBI ground out by MJ Cepeda.
NMMI scored 10 runs in the fourth by using six hits and five walks.
Solis doubled to right to drive in two runs while Borquez hit a two RBI single.
Martinez highlighted the rally by hitting a two-run home run to right.
Garcia threw a complete game in five innings as he allowed four hits and had six strikeouts. Garcia is 3-1 on the season with a 1.29 ERA and 25 strikeouts.
Five Broncos tallied a multi-hit game. Ramirez hit a pair of triples to go 2 for 2 with two RBI and a walk while Stokes went 2 for 2 with a single, triple and three RBI.
Price tossed a four hitter in five innings in Game 2 with a season-high 10 strikeouts to notch the victory.
NMMI took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first after an error and a two RBI single by Owen Alsup.
The Rough Riders cut the lead to two by scoring on a sacrifice fly by Bo Kidd in the top of the second.
A solo home run by Dylan Shea to left field made the score 4-1 in the fourth.
Luna pushed across a run in the fifth after Kidd scored on a wild pitch to chisel the deficit back to within two runs.
Shea came into the clutch one more time, giving NMMI a four-run lead with a two RBI double in the bottom of the sixth.
Martinez then launched a two-run home run in the seventh to make the score 8-3.
Alsup and Martinez went a combined 2 for 4 with four RBI while Shea finished 2 for 4 with three RBI.
NMMI only had six hits in Game 2.
Jason Maldonado relieved for two innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three batters. Marc Rios pitched the final two innings tallying three strikeouts while giving up two earned runs on three hits.
"I expect to see good arms tomorrow that are going to keep the games close again and we're really gonna have to get after it, battle and try to win the series," Cook added.
>> UP NEXT: NMMI hosts Luna Community College for a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 12 p.m.
Game 1
NMMI 19, Luna Community College 2 (5)
LUNA……00101 — 2 4 1
NMMI….900(10) x — 19 13 1
Kannon Torres, Chisum Rush (1), James Moya (4), Andres Soveranez (4). Jorge Garcia. W — Garcia. L — Torres. 2B — Luna: Juan Avila; NMMI: Guillermo Borquez, Diego Solis. 3B — Luna: Dominic Lucero; NMMI: Armando Ramirez Jr. (2), Rhett Stokes. HR — NMMI: Edrien Martinez.
Game 2
NMMI 8, Luna Community College 5
LUNA…….010010102 — 5 8 2
NMMI……30010220x — 8 6 1
Ryan Clark, Dakota Cummings (6), Kellan Turner (8). Drew Price, Jason Maldonado (6), Marc Rios (8). W — Price. L — Clark. 2B — Luna: Milo Behrens; NMMI: Dylan Shea. 3B — Luna: Milo Behrens. HR — NMMI: Dylan Shea, Edrien Martinez.
Records — Luna Community College (2-11); NMMI (9-4).