Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
It was a great opportunity for the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco baseball team to come away with its first sweep of the season.
NMMI had trailed in Game 3 and Game 4, but it found a way to overcome the adversity to win by the scores of 6-4 and 11-3 over Luna Community College on Sunday afternoon at NMMI Ballpark.
"It was good to find a way to win the games. Starting pitching today obviously wasn't sharp, but they settled in and they didn't give up. Our bullpen pitched well this weekend," said NMMI head coach Chris Cook.
To start Game 3, the Rough Riders took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Milo Behrens drove in Dominic Lucero with a sacrifice fly to right.
Luna rallied for four runs in the fourth to increase its lead to 4-0.
Kobe Carpio tallied an RBI triple to highlight the big inning.
After three scoreless innings, the Broncos began to chip away at the deficit by scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth after a double by B.Y. Choi.
Adrian Rubio then cut Luna's lead in half by scoring after getting caught in a pickle and forcing a bad throw by the Rough Rider catcher in the fifth.
NMMI scored four runs in the sixth to take the 6-4 lead.
Edrien Martinez drove in a run with a single while Rhett Stokes later brought in Martinez with a sacrifice fly to center to tie up the score.
A wild pitch allowed Ryan Flake to score, giving the Broncos a 5-4 lead. Christian Rocha then drove in Choi on a ground out to second.
The Broncos had only five hits.
Rubio finished 1 for 4 with a triple while Choi and Flake went a combined 2 for 4 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored.
Armando Ramirez Jr. hit a single to go 1 for 2.
Megumi Fukuda earned the no decision after striking out seven batters in four innings of work.
Saul Rocha picked up his first win of the season after he didn't allow a single hit in two innings. Rocha also struck out four batters and didn't allow a single run.
Leandro Tamaki notched his second save of the year in one inning of relief as he tallied two strikeouts.
Much like Game 3, the Rough Riders took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first as they used two hits, three walks and a hit by pitch to create a rally.
The Broncos answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of RBI singles by Rubio and Jesh Leckey.
Luna was shut out for the next six innings.
NMMI tied up the game at three-all after Diego Solis scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second. Martinez later hit a clutch solo home run to right field to put the Broncos on top.
The offense began to catch fire as the Broncos rallied for three runs in the third.
Solis and Noah Nunez hit back to back RBI singles while Solis scored on another wild pitch to make the score 7-3.
In the fifth, the Broncos took a five-run lead on a sacrifice fly by Stokes that plated home Nunez.
Trey Starr III delivered a big two RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. Solis later hit an RBI triple to right to extend NMMI's lead to eight runs.
NMMI out hit Luna 13-4.
Rubio went 2 for 3 with a pair of singles and an RBI while Leckey and Starr each finished a combined 4 for 7 with three RBI.
Solis ended up going 3 for 4 with two singles, a triple and two RBI. Nunez went 2 for 4 with two singles and an RBI.
Martinez went 5 for 12 in the four-game series with three home runs and seven RBI.
Jose Cabanillas Jr. improved to 2-0 after throwing five innings of three-hit work with six strikeouts. Julian Lopez and Albert Oliva Velez came out of the bullpen for two innings of one-hit relief with two strikeouts.
After 15 games at home, the Broncos will get their first road series on Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas against Cisco College.
"It'll be a good test finally going on the road against a really good team," Cook added. "All in all, we got some things to clean up, but I'm happy about finding a way to win the games and getting out of this weekend winning all four."
>> UP NEXT: NMMI takes on Cisco College for a doubleheader Tuesday beginning at 12 p.m. CST at Lubbock Christian University's Hays Field.
Game 3
NMMI 6, Luna Community College 4 (7)
LUNA……1003000 — 4 3 2
NMMI…..000114x — 6 5 1
Jacob Limas, Diego Quinones (6). Megumi Fukuda, Saul Rocha (5), Leandro Tamaki (7). W — Rocha. L — Torres. SV — Tamaki. 2B — Luna: Dominic Lucero; NMMI: B.Y. Choi, Ryan Flake. 3B — Luna: Kobe Carpio; NMMI: Adrian Rubio. HR — None.
Game 4
NMMI 11, Luna Community College 3 (7)
LUNA…….3000000 — 3 4 2
NMMI……223013x — 11 13 0
Zachary Moreno, Ashton Luera (4), Kellan Turner (6). Jose Cabanillas Jr., Julian Lopez (6), Albert Oliva Velez (7). W — Cabanillas. L — Moreno. 2B — NMMI: Trey Starr III, Rhett Stokes. 3B — NMMI: Diego Solis. HR — NMMI: Edrien Martinez.
Records — Luna Community College (2-13); NMMI (11-4).