News
Luna softball finishes series with win
Dual homestands for Rough Riders under way this weekend
By Dave Kavanaugh
Luna Community College
Victoria Gonzales pitched seven complete innings in Sunday’s series finale at Otero Junior College, leading Luna Community College softball to its first conference win in two seasons.
The 9-5 triumph for Luna is the squad’s first road win since March 10, 2020 – shortly before the COVID-19 outbreak shut down that season early for teams across the country. Sunday’s victory put an upbeat finish on a weekend of tough losses peppered by moments of exhilaration – including home runs by Lexi Johnson, Shelby Cordova and Raegan Shackelford.
In the finale, Gonzales shined. “(She threw) with great control and trusted her defense to play behind her,” said Randall Krutsch, first-year head coach of the Rough Riders.
The Rough Riders are 3-19 after a long road swing to start the season. After a twinbill at 16-3 Midland (Texas) on Wednesday, they play their long-awaited home debut Saturday, March 19, against El Paso Community College. El Paso visits Cowgirl Field for a four-game set with doubleheaders both Saturday (11 a.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.).
Also this past weekend, Trinidad State Junior College baseball team swept a three-game series at Luna, 10-0, 13-0 and 13-4.
Bo Kidd drove in two runs and Dominic Lucero plated one in the series finale Sunday; Kidd, M.J. Cepeda and Diego Quinonez were the only Rough Riders to collect hits against the Trojans in that third game. The Luna pitching staff combined for 11 strikeouts – starter Ryan Clark had four in two innings of work – but yielded 11 earned runs in the contest. TSJC had built a 4-0 lead through three innings when Luna scored in the bottom of the third. The Trojans answered with a three-run fourth and a four-run fifth before Luna got within 11-3 and 12-4.
Lucero recorded a base hit in each of the games on Saturday, breaking through against a strong pitching effort from the Trojans.
The Rough Riders (3-26) are scheduled to host Western Nebraska for a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20, at Brandt Park. First pitch both days is set for noon. Western Nebraska was 6-10 going into Tuesday, with five road games on tap before the weekend.