T-Birds Fall Short

Rody Barker rounds the bases for New Mexico Junior College earlier this year. He and the T-Birds put up a big rally to nearly win Wednesday, but a collapse at the end led to a 17-13 loss to Midland College. NEWS-SUN PHOTO

The New Mexico Junior College baseball team fell to visiting Midland College Wednesday afternoon in a nine-inning game, losing 17-3.

The Chaparrals initially did their damage to the Thunderbirds in the fourth inning, jumping all over reliever Ryan Roberson for five runs to put NMJC at a 6-1 deficit. In the bottom half of the inning, the T-Birds responded with two runs to cut that mark in half, but a four-run sixth helped keep Midland ahead.

New Mexico Junior College made things interesting in the bottom of the eighth, though, scoring seven runs to give it an improbable 13-12 lead heading into the final inning. It almost helped the group overcome a five-error day, but Midland went on to post five runs in the top of the ninth to secure the win.

The T-Birds dropped to 27-11 on the year as a result.