On Sunday afternoon New Mexico Military completed the series sweep over Otero College with a 10-0 win in game three followed by a 15-12 win in the final game of the weekend at the NMMI Ballpark. With the pair of wins, NMMI improves to 13-3 on the year while Otero starts off their season with an 0-8 mark.
GAME 1
Joek Rivera tallied the first hit of the contest for NMMI with a double to left field in the fourth pitch of the at bat. Following a groundout, Missael Maldonado Baez hit an RBI single to score the first run of the afternoon. Kylian Bamberger followed that up with another RBI, this time a double to give the Broncos a 2-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the second inning the runs continued to pile on. With the help of two walks, a hit by pitch and an error, the Broncos were able to load the bases early on. NMMI tallied five runs in the frame as they enjoyed an eight-run lead after two innings.
Eliseo Ramirez got on base with a single in the bottom of the third to continue the offensive rhythm for the Broncos. Following a strikeout, Damwoo Kim recorded an RBI with a double to score the ninth run of the contest.
Up by nine runs the Broncos used the bottom of the sixth to put the run-rule into effect. Damwoo Kim tallied his first triple of the season to get on third base. Following the second out, Seungmin Shin ended the game with an RBI single that gave NMMI the 10-0 run-rule win in game three of the series.
GAME 2
Game four of the series started off with a couple of homers for the Broncos. First, Seungmin Shin tallied his fifth home run of the season, and first of the final game, to right field to give NMMI a one run lead. Following the second out, Alec Guevara smashed his fourth homer of the year, a solo shot, to give NMMI a 2-0 lead. The Rattlers responded with a trio of runs in the top of the third inning to take only their second lead of the series 3-2 with the help of a home run. Again, in the top of the third, Otero was able to score a run off a homer as they enjoyed a 4-2 advantage.
Following a groundout to open the bottom of the third, Seungmin Shin smashed his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot, to cut the deficit to just one run. Otero would grow their one-run lead in the top of the fourth inning as the Rattlers took a 5-3 lead into the fifth inning. In the away half of the fifth inning, Otero scored a trio of runs to grow their lead to five runs.
However, the Broncos earned two runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the help of two walks, the bases were loaded for Alec Guevara, who recorded a sacrifice fly out to earn a run back. With two runners on, Eliseo Ramirez came up with a two-RBI double to score a pair of runs and cut the Otero lead to just two runs. Later in the inning with the bases, Damwoo Kim cleared the bags with a three-RBI double to give NMMI a 10-8 lead after five innings of play.
Showing no quit, Otero tied the game at 10-10 in the top of the sixth inning. The Broncos responded with a run in the home half of the inning. After a double and a pair of walks loaded the bases, the Broncos scored a run on a fielder's choice to retake a 11-10 lead.
In the top of the seventh inning the Rattlers jumped back in front with a pair of runs. The Bronco offense showed up big in the bottom of the seventh as they scored a trio of runs with the help of an error. After holding Otero scoreless in the top of the eighth inning, Joek Rivera added a run of insurance with an RBI double to center field, which gave the Broncos a 15-12 lead. Earning his first win of the season, Tyler Conrad gave up zero hits, runs, or earned runs in his 2.2 innings of work while recording five strikeouts to secure the series sweep for NMMI.
Head Coach Chris Cook on the series win, "the issue with that game was that there were at least three double plays that weren't turned, which should have happened… they scored two runs without getting the ball out of the infield because of walks, hit by pitches, and wild pitches," Cook said. "Getting a four-game sweep is great but I would have liked to play clean there in the final game like we had all weekend," Cook said.
UP NEXT
After a couple of weeks off, the Broncos return to action on Tuesday, March 10 when they host Luna Community College for a doubleheader starting at noon at the NMMI Ballpark.