News
Road swing tough for Riders
Baseball visits NMMI; softball in El Paso
Win No. 3 proved elusive for both Luna Community College baseball and softball teams this past week as the Rough Riders made treks to play tough opponents on the road.
Luna baseball dropped four games at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, 19-2 and 8-5 on Saturday and 6-4 and 11-3 on Sunday.
In Saturday’s nightcap, the Rough Riders recovered from a tough game one, although they spotted NMMI a three-run lead in the first inning. Luna stayed in striking distance and rallied for two scores in the top of the ninth before running short of outs in an 8-5 final. Bo Kidd twice cut the lead to two – once on a sacrifice fly in the second and then by scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth. Milo Behrens was credited with a double and a triple, and the Rider pitchers combined to hold the Broncos to six hits in the game.
Luna led in both games Sunday but the host Broncos countered with rallies. The Riders struck first when Dominic Lucero scored off Milo Behrens’ sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning. Then Kobe Carpio’s RBI triple highlighted a three-run fourth to give Luna a 4-0 advantage. NMMI chipped away at the lead with runs in the fourth and fifth, overtaking their visitors with a four-run sixth.
Luna began the finale by notching two hits, three walks and one hit-by-pitch reach to score three runs in the top of the first. But NMMI quieted the visitors after that.
The Rough Riders (2-17) are scheduled to play Lamar for a three-game series Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (noon).
Softball
Luna softball lost four at El Paso Community College, 16-0 and 16-11 on Saturday and 7-2 and 14-9 on Sunday.
El Paso got out to a big early lead in the series opener – five runs in the first inning and seven in the second – but Luna made it a battle in game two. The Rough Riders led 3-2 midway through the third and 7-4 midway through the fourth. But the Tejanas rallied from an 11-6 deficit with 10 unanswered runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 16-11 win.
Game three saw Luna pull within 3-2 in the third inning before El Paso added insurance with two runs in each of the next two frames followed by shutout pitching for both sides to close the game in a 7-2 verdict.
Similarly, in game four the Riders made inroads against an early 5-0 deficit and were within 7-5 midway through the fifth inning and 10-8 halfway through the sixth. But the Tejanas finished strongly, adding insurance runs for the 14-9 final.
The Rough Riders (2-8) are slated to host Frank Phillips in a doubleheader 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23.