On Saturday afternoon New Mexico Military Institute split its doubleheader against Amarillo College at the NMMI Ballpark. With a 7-3 win in game one and a 17-14 loss in game two, the Broncos moved to 12-20 in conference play with an overall record of 24-26. With the trio of wins over the weekend, Amarillo improves to 16-16 in conference play with a 22-30 record on the year.
GAME 1
After a quick out to open the game, Seojun Oh tallied his 45th hit of the season to get on base. In the next at bat, Misael Maldonado Baez picked up his 14th double of the year, enough to get the first run on the board for NMMI.
In the top of the second, Yahir Fonseca Ortiz opened up with a leadoff double to get the party started. Sang Woon Jeon belted his 4th homer of the year to give the Broncos a 3-0 lead. After two more runners got on base, Seojun Oh was able to pick up an RBI-sac fly to score the third run of the frame. The Broncos scored their final run of the inning with a fielder's choice that helped Jose Rodriguez Mestre cross home plate and put NMMI ahead 6-0.
In the top of the 4th inning, the Broncos scored a run with the help of an RBI-single by Gianlucas Rivera Gotay – his 7th of the year to give NMMI a seven-run advantage. In the top of the fifth, the Badgers answered with a sacrifice fly out to get a run back.
Down six, Amarillo used a two-out rally to score a pair of runs and make it the eventual 7-3 game-three win for the Broncos.
GAME 2
In the first inning Amarillo was able to score three runs with a home run by David De Hoyos and an RBI-single by Brooks Carter to take an early lead. In the bottom of the second inning the Badgers scored a pair of runs to go ahead 5-0.
In the top of the third, Cinco Holloway crushed his first collegiate home run to get the Broncos on the board. After a walk, Joek Rivera Colon belted his 7th home run of the season to make it a 5-3 ballgame. After back-to-back singles, Ryan Alsup made it three in a row with an RBI-single to trail by one run, 5-4. Following two outs, NMMI loaded the bases and was able to tie the game with a walk. After a scoreless third inning, Gerardo Prado gave Amarillo the lead with a 2-run homer to jump in front 7-5.
The Broncos answered in the top of the fifth. The inning started with a leadoff walk and followed that up with a single to land two runners on base. In the next at bat, Ericson Kim delivered an RBI-single to make it a 7-6 ballgame. In the next at bat, Cinco Holloway smashed his second home run of the game to put the Broncos ahead 9-7. The Broncos scored their 10th run with a fly out by Misael Maldonado Baez.
In the top of the sixth, the Broncos scored a run with an RBI-groundout by Davian Fulton – the first of his collegiate career. However, Amarillo responded by scoring four runs to knot the game at 11-11.
In the top of the 8th inning, the Broncos used back-to-back singles, with two outs, by Gianlucas Rivera Gotay and Sang Woon Jeon to go back on top 12-11. The Badgers used the bottom of the 8th to score six runs and take a commanding 17-12 lead.
The Broncos were able to score a pair of runs in the top of the ninth but the comeback fell short as NMMI grounded out to fall in the final game of the series, 17-14.
NMMI returns to action on Thursday, May 1 as they host Howard College for a four-game series at the NMMI Ballpark. First pitch for Thursday and Friday is scheduled for 12 p.m. MDT.