Rams rally for win in error-laden game

PORTALES — Despite only recording four hits, the Portales baseball team held on to pull off a 7-6 comeback win over Lovington Tuesday night.

The Wildcats (3-11) didn’t fare any better from the field, recording only three hits all night. Both teams racked up a large amount of errors, with Portales (10-4) committing six and Lovington seven.

“I don’t know what it was, to be honest,” Rams coach Dusty Nusser said. “We threw Joe Ortega again and he pitched really well, but we just didn’t play any defense behind him.”

The Rams recorded five of their errors in the second and third innings to help the Wildcats post an early 6-3 advantage. Portales inched closer with a run in the fifth, and seemed poised to rally in the sixth with bases loaded and no outs.

It wasn’t meant to be, however. Lovington got a popup, followed by a second out via the infield fly rule. A Wildcat fielder dropped the ball on that play, and caught a Ram baserunner off of second to end the inning.

Portales’ Alex Galvan led off the seventh with a solo shot, and the Rams got doubles from Josiah Lucero and Joel Legarda to knot things up.

“It started with a really good at bat from Galvan,” Nusser said. “He hit that home run on a 3-1 pitch and that really got everyone going.”

Lovington made a pair of crucial errors to help end the game — first when the Rams bunted to move the runner to third, and second when a blooper was dropped at short.

Portales will take a short break before returning to the field 6 p.m. Friday against Hope Christian. The solo game will be followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 1:30 p.m.