Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
LOVINGTON — For the second time in a seven-day span, Clovis’ baseball team feasted on Lovington.
Last Tuesday, the Wildcats took care of Lovington 8-4 on the road, just a week after beating the same team at home, 9-2.
A five-spot in the second inning of last Tuesday’s game proved to be all the ’Cats needed, though they did add two more in the top of the fourth and one more in the seventh.
Sophomore pitcher Norbert Archibeque earned his first victory of the season, going the full seven innings, striking out five and walking none while scattering six hits.
Clovis senior Trevon Dickson paced the Wildcats offensively, coming a homer short of the cycle by collecting a triple, double and single.
That second inning proved to be a decisive and intriguing one, as the ’Cats made a stop in Plunk City, which helped them plate two of their five runs in that frame.
“They (Lovington) ended up hitting a few dudes,” Clovis head coach Richard Cruce said.
First, though, Dickson led off the inning with a single, followed by singles from Kaleb Young and Zayvier Hartman to load the bases.
Jeremiah Lucero then clouted a no-out, two-run double that gave the Wildcats a 2-1 edge.
Ian Yruegas was then plunked to re-load the bases. Cade Lantz also endured a little plunkage to force a run home, making it 3-1 while keeping the bases jammed. Matthew Rubio also took one for the team, forcing the fourth Clovis run home while again keeping the bases loaded.
Archibeque then grounded out, bringing a run home and giving Clovis a 5-1 lead.
Not a traditional five-run inning, but Cruce wasn’t complaining.
“We’ll take it any way we can get it,” he said. “Right now, any way we can get confidence back, swinging or pitching, we’ll take.”
When the ’Cats wound up prevailing by four, they improved to 6-10 and snapped a three-game losing streak that occurred during last weekend’s Sal Puentes Invitational. They’re now in the midst of a 10-day break, which ends Friday when they visit Portales (5 p.m.).
“Always a fun rivalry. You’re 20 miles away,” Cruce said. “Dusty (Nusser) does a great job with his kids, getting them ready. It’s always tough stepping down a level to play, but it’s always fun to play.”
