The Cougars used a late-inning rally in registering a 6-5 nine-inning win to open the series Sunday, before falling to the Rattlers later that night 6-3. Things were different on Monday as the Cougars pounded out 22 hits in sweeping Otero 10-3 and 8-4 to move into third place in the conference standings.
“We needed to win this series badly so we could come out of fifth place and right now we are sitting in third,” sophomore third-baseman Rudy Soto said. “We just need to stay consistent and we need to keep winning series to make regional playoffs.”
Indeed the Cougars needed a spark to stop a 5-out-of-6 game losing skid and it game in the form of the long ball, including a grandslam from Soto and a 2-run home run in Monday’s first game, followed by home runs by Greg Crowe and Norbert Susini in the second game.
“We played great and played a lot better then we have been this weekend,” Soto said. “Everybody came through from pitching, defense and offense.”
WNCC started Monday off on a hot start, pasting the Rattlers for eight early runs to grab an 8-0 lead. Garcia started things with a 2-run home run in the first inning followed by the grandslam by Soto in the third inning. The Cougars added two more runs in the fifth inning on a 2-RBI double by Rich Miller.
Miller paced the Cougars from the plate, going 3-for-4, followed by Soto going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and Garcia going 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
Jackson Salazar picked up the win going all seven innings in striking out 11 and walking one. Salazar also scattered five hits.
WNCC continued pounding the ball in the second game, and it didn’t take WNCC long to get on the scoreboard as Soto and Susini had back-to-back singles, followed by a Garcia Sacrifice fly to score Soto for the 1-0 lead.
The Cougars opened up the game in the third inning, platting six runs on six hits. Miller had a big 2-RBI single to start the rally and then Greg Crowe capped off the scoring with a monster 2-run home run to put WNCC up 7-0. Susini added the final run with a solo home run in the fourth inning.
Soto finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, followed by Aurelio Monteagudo going 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI.
Jake Vulk picked up the win going 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits three runs. Vulk struck out two and walked two.
WNCC had some hot bats in Sunday’s contests as well, especially in the first game where the Cougars mounted a seventh-inning rally to force extra innings. Down by four runs 5-1, the team exploded from the plate as Rudy Soto launched a 2-run home run and then Susini and Miller each had doubles to force extra innings.
The Cougars won the game in the ninth in thrilling fashion. Chris Hook started things by drawing a walk. A hits-batsman and a walk later, the Cougars found themselves with the bases loaded once again with two outs. This time, WNCC scored the winning run on a fielding error where the Otero third baseman lost a routine fly ball and let the ball drop as Hook raced in with the winning run.
Soto paced the Cougars with a 3-for-4 game with two RBIs, while Garcia and Crowe each had two hits. Marco Jimenez picked up the win pitching two innings in striking out two and not allowing a hit.
In the second game, Otero exploded for five runs in the top of the first inning before WNCC came back to slice the lead to 5-3 with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. The score stayed that way until late when Otero scratched across another run to get the win.
Kyler Edgehouse took the loss on the mound, giving up four hits and five runs in less then an innings work.
WNCC will be back in action Wednesday when they face
First Game
Otero 100 300 100 – 5 7 4
WNCC 010 000 401 – 6 12 2
WP – Jimenez; 2B – Garcia, Crowe, Susini, Miller; 3B – D. Monteagudo; HR – Soto.
Otero 500 100 0 – 6 9 0
WNCC 300 000 0 – 5 4 2
LP – Edgehouse; 2B – A. Monteagudo; HR – Susini.
First Game
Otero 000 030 0 – 3 5 1
WNCC 224 020 x – 10 11 2
WP – Salazar; 2B – A. Monteagudo; Miller; HR – Garcia, Soto
Second Game
Otero 000 000 4 – 4 3 1
WNCC 106 100 x – 8 11 1
WP – Vulk; 2B – Soto, Hook; HR – Crowe, Susini.
Conference Standings
Conf. Overall
NJC 16-6 28-10
Lamar 15-9 20-17
WNCC 11-11 21-20
Otero 11-11 18-26
McCook 4-18 14-30
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