NMJC (BB) Sweeps Midland, Moves to 2nd in WJCAC
The Thunderbirds swept Midland College on Saturday to stay alive in the WJCAC race.
Game 3
T-Bird sophomore Julius Ramirez hit a single in the bottom of the third that led to the only run of Game 3 as NMJC squeaked out a 1-0 win over the Chaps.
Donovan Becerra was a stalwart on the mound Saturday throwing a complete-game shutout. The sophomore struck out eight batters in seven innings while allowing just three hits.
DH Julius Ramirez went 2-for-3 in the win. Third baseman Jeter Battles had the only extra base hit going 1-for-1 with a double and a walk. Jorge De Los Santos scored the lone run of the afternoon.
The Thunderbirds ended Game 3 with five hits and one error.
Game 4
The T-Birds defeated Midland College 4-2 in Game 4 to take a one-game lead over the Chaps for second place in the WJCAC standings.
The Thunderbirds scored the first three runs of the game in the first, second, and third innings to hold a 3-0 lead after three innings of play.
Lane Arroyos drove in the first run of the day in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to center. Julius Ramirez hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning to put the T-Birds in front 2-0. Casen Savage made the score 3-0 in the third after scoring on a fielder choice.
Brayan Orrantia threw 6.1 innings with three hits and no runs allowed on five strikeouts. Dominick Maese came in relief allowing a run in the eighth which the T-Birds got back in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by Arroyos.
NMJC went into the top of the ninth ahead 4-1. Midland loaded the bases on a walk, an error, and another walk to start the ninth. A sac fly scored a run for the Chaps to cut the lead to 4-2 NMJC.
Maese struck out the next batter and forced a groundout to end the game. Maese earned his third save of the season striking out five in 2.2 innings of work. Brayan Orrantia picked up his 11th win of the year which is No. 2 in the NJCAA.
DH Julius Ramirez finished with three doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. Ramirez is No. 2 in the NJCAA in RBIs with 88 and No. 3 in home runs with 23.
First baseman Lane Arroyos was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and a walk. Talan Barraza batted 1-for-4 scoring a run and driving in another run.
Starter Brayan Orrantia now is No. 2 in the NJCAA with 11 wins on the year.
The Thunderbirds (26-6) are one game back of Odessa College (27-5) in the WJCAC and one game ahead of Midland College (25-7).
Below are the scenarios for the T-Birds to win the WJCAC. The T-Birds would prevail in a tiebreaker over Midland if they win the final series 3-1 or 4-0 over Odessa.
Odessa would win the WJCAC if they win the series or split 2-2.
The top two seeds in the WJCAC will host a 3-game series starting May 8-10. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds will travel to the north to face the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds.
The T-Birds 36-15 (26-6) will face first place Odessa 35-13 (27-5) Thursday, May 1 at 12 p.m. in Odessa, Texas in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. CDT.
