Varsity Headlines

-March 13, 2008:  CSW dropped two games to Division II opponent Abilene Christian University 12-1 and 4-0.  Game 1 saw a game that started with a dropped fly ball in center and a total of four errors in the first inning that lead to two runs for the Wildcats.  The Mustangs struggled with the Wildcats pitching and could not muster any offense on the night.  Cody Edwards started on the mound and his defense did not help as he gave up seven runs.  Game 2 saw Freshman left-handed pitcher Garrett Bertola hold the Wildcat hitters to four runs in five innings while scattering 6 hits on the day.  Offensively Martin Adams had a double on the day and the Mustangs were shutout by the Wildcat pitchers.  Next up for the Mustangs is NCAA DII opponent New Mexico Highlands University on March 17-18. 

February 11, 20008-  College of the Southwest struggled from a win loss concept this weekend by dropping 4 games versus DIII oppenent Hardin Simmons University and Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Oklahoma Baptist University.  Day 1 saw starting pitcher Frankie Pena struggle on the mound and after being pulled in the fourth inning the Mustangs went through an array of pitchers who did extremely well and kept the Mustangs within striking distance.  Teddy Prater threw well and did an excellent job out of the bullpen while Lance Hill got ground balls and allowed the defense to work behind him.  Jason Marin led the offensive attack and the Mustangs fell 8-1.  

Game 2 on Friday had starter Juan Steen, senior from Moriarty, NM, not last four innings and the Mustangs offense struggled while losing to the Bison 14-3.  Pitching, which had been a strong point for the Mustangs had a difficult time containing the Bison hitters.  

Game 3 on Saturday saw a rematch with the Bison and the Mustangs came out on fire offensively lead by Jason Marin, Martin Adams with a double, Eric Hellekson and Jacob Courtney.  The Mustangs held an 8-5 lead after five and then the wheels came off with an error to start the next inning and a walk followed by a single to load the bases.  Starting pitcher DJ Gambino did an excellent job of keeping the Bison hitters off-balance and made one mistake which was a three run home run to tie the game.  After holding an 8-7 lead with two outs Teddy Prater walks in the tieing run and a couple of hits later off of reliever Lance Hill the final score was 17-10.  Mustangs are right in it and waiting to put together a complete game.  "We are just not cashing in on the opportunities given to us in each game and a good team will take advantage of that and in the end the score will favor the opponent".  

Game 4 on Saturday saw a tired Mustang team play the host team, Hardin Simmons University, and the final score was 16-4.  Starting pitcher Mike Fernandez saw a tight strike zone force him to pitch over the plate and that was not a good formula for him.  He was relieved by Cody Edwards and the young man from Hobbs, NM did a good job of keeping the game close and made a few mistakes while giving up five runs in the sixth.  Offensively Eric Hellekson had a single along with Jason Marin and Gary Valenzuela also contributed to the offensive output.  The Mustangs are looking for the pitching to get back to what it was able to do to start the year and the offense is coming around.  Opportunities are there for the mustangs and as the season progresses the hitters will see that come conference we will have seen the toughest of pitchers and this will help them when confernce play starts at the end of March.    

-The varsity baseball team has run into a difficult schedule this year as they opened up with a Sooner Athletic opponent in Wayland Baptist University and found themselves in quite a baseball series to open up the season.  The Mustangs went down on the first day 7-2 and 6-1 with the pioneers outplaying the Mustangs in three innings for the day.  Game one saw the pioneers score 4 runs and then 3 in back to back innings and the home team miss out on opportunities early in the game.  Juan Steen started the game for the Mustangs and the senior pitched extremely well and unfortunately took the loss in game 1.  Game two saw junior left-handed pitcher Frankie Pena strike out nine and take the loss in game two.  The second day saw the host team go down 5-4 in game 1 with a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded and no outs.  Pena hit into a 5-2-3 double play and then a fly out to end the game.  Freshman Garrett Bertola, hobbs native, started the game and the lefty had a shaky first inning giving up two runs and then settled into the game and pitched effectively by changing speeds.  Even though it was a disappointing loss it was encouraging to see the Mustangs play with a program that it constantly competing in the regional tournament year in and year out.  The second game on Sunday saw the Mustangs give up the lead with two outs in the top of the seventh with a single off of reliever Cody Edwards and the game ended in a 3-3 tie due to darkness.  Starter Mike Fernandez had a great performance on the mound, a transfer from Albuquerque, NM, by only giving up one earned run on the day while giving way to the bullpen.  The Mustangs next host New Mexico Highlands University an NCAA DII school on February 2-3 for a three game series.  For stats please go to our statistics page and get the play by play for each game thanks in part to Will Roan the statistician for the baseball program.   

-Feb. 2-3:Games versus NMHU

Game 1 saw a great collegiate baseball game in which the home team came up short with a 2-0 loss at the hands of the NMHU Cowboys.  Mustang starter Juan Steen came up with another brilliant performance despite having a wild pitch score the first run for the Cowboys.  Once again, the Mustangs could not muster the hit at the right time with runners in scoring position and had only two hits for game one.  Steen only gave up six hits on the day. 

Game 2 had left-handed pitcher Frankie Pena on the mound and he only lasted three full innings while giving up 5 earned runs on the day.  "His pitch count was at almost 70 through three innings and just did not have the same stuff as last weekend so we went ahead and brought in our bullpen to get us through."  Gabriel Garza came in and gave up two runs in two innings of work and was able to keep us in the game.  Theodore Prater came on to pitch the rest of the game and did a wonderful job in keeping the Cowboy hitters at bay.  Offensively Jason Marin and Martin Adams had a couple hits apiece and the bats came alive for the Mustangs in the bottom of the ninth inning as Jacob Courtney deposited a fastball over the left-field fence for a three run homerun and brought the Mustangs to within one at 8-7 with two outs.  Pinch hitter Cody Kirkpatrick went down swinging and the Mustangs fell to 0-5-1 on the season. 

Game 3 started with a bang as the Cowboys jumped ahead 8-0 after five innings and the bats awoke for the Mustangs as they loaded the bases in the sixth and scored four runs, however leaving the bases loaded.  This proved to be costly as the score was 8-4 the Mustangs responded in the 7th by loading the bases again and scoring three while hitting into a line-drive double play by Frankie Pena.  "We are still waiting for that big hit to come around with the bases loaded that will clear the bases and allow us to keep the big inning going."  As the score stood at 8-7 Jason Marin started the bottom of the ninth with a single and Cody Edwards bunted him over.  Martin Adams, Lubbock Estacado graduate, struck out looking and then Joseph Mata came up with two outs and the tying run on second base.  As the suspense mounted Joseph flew out to right field for the final out of the game.  CSW looks to the Hardin Simmons Tournament on February 8th and 9th with a double header each day versus Hardin Simmons and Oklahoma Baptist.