The University of the Southwest Baseball Team opened their season with a four-game sweep of the Central Christian Tigers out of Kansas. The Mustangs entered the season with a lot of familiar faces from last year's team that won the first conference tournament game for the program in 17 years. A lot of those familiar faces had big weekends as well as some talented newcomers. The Mustangs finished last season at 22-34 overall but were only able to play 8 games at home due to Covid restrictions in the state of New Mexico. They hope to build off of last year and take advantage of being able to play home games at "The Jake."
 
Regarding the weekend, Head Coach Steve Appel said "I was pleased how the guys stuck together all weekend. This has and will always be a group that loves to play together. Opening up on a chilly weekend, you never know what to expect and you know that nothing will be perfect, and to find a way to get the weekend sweep was nice. There were times we gave it away, but ultimately sticking to our roots found ourselves on top each game."
 
Game 1: The Mustangs got a stellar performance from sophomore starter TJ Ruiz in game 1 going 5 innings, allowing only 1 run on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts in earning his first victory of the year. The offense got on the board early scoring 2 runs in the first and adding one more in the 4^th. Central Christian was able to answer back in the top of the  5^th with a run to bring the score to 3-1. In the bottom half of the inning senior Tariq Levesque came to the plate with the bases loaded and belted a ball over the right-field wall for a grand slam to make the score 7-1. The Mustangs didn't look back the rest of the way taking the game by the same score. Bo Sims threw two scoreless innings to close the game out. Kevin Rase went 2 for 4 with two runs scored in the contest and Levesque went 1 for 3 with 5 RBI's in the contest. 
 
Game 2: The second game was a back and forth affair that saw both offenses have some success. Mustangs took the lead 2-0 in the first on a 2 run double from senior Gabriel Perez-Torres. Central Christian answered back with three runs in the top of the second and added one more in the third taking a 4-2 lead. The Mustangs trailed 7-5 heading into the last inning and scored a run on a bases-loaded HBP of Nicholas Palomino to bring the score to 7-6 and bring Tariq Levesque to the plate with the bases loaded once again. Levesque laced a ball into right for the 2 RBI double and the walk-off 8-7 victory for the Mustangs. Jacob Chavarria came out of the bullpen for the Mustangs and tossed 4 2/3 innings allowing 2 earned runs and Jonathan Gamboa came into the game of the top of the 7^th and got a big strikeout with a runner on base to earn the victory in the contest. Kevin Rase went 2 for 3 with three runs scored, Brian Rodriguez went 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI, Gabriel Perez-Torres went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI's, and Levesque went 2 for 4 with the two RBI's on the walk-off. 
 
Game 3: The Mustangs entered game 3 looking for the series victory, but fell down 3-0 by the second inning. They were able to answer back and take the lead 5-3 by the fifth inning. Central Christian responded by tying the game at 5 in the top of the 6^th. The Mustangs responded immediately with four runs in the bottom of the sixth and held on for the 9-5 victory. Reliever Cade Contreras earned the victory by tossing 1 1/3 of scoreless ball. Omar Baldenegro went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored, Kevin Rase went 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored and an RBI, and Levesque went 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI in the contest. 
 
Game 4: The Mustangs entered the contest looking for the sweep of the Tigers in what turned into another thriller. Freshman Rocky Sanchez made his first career start and went 4 1/3 innings allowing 3 earned runs. The Mustangs headed to the bottom of the 6^th down 4-1 before the offense came alive. Andru Sanchez came off the bench to drive in two with a triple. Steven Martinez followed up with a pinch-hit single of his own to drive in Sanchez and tie the game at 4.  Freshman Derrick Martinez followed that up with a double to left to score pinch-runner Hayden Woods from first base to give the Mustangs the 5-4 lead. Last year's team leader in saves, Isaac Baeza, came on for the seventh inning to close things out. He allowed a bloop one-out single but was able to pick up a groundout and a big strikeout with the tying run on third base to end the game. Caden Davis earned the victory with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. 
 
About his Offense, Coach Appel said "We had some big hits and some great small ball from our lineup. There is still plenty of room for growth, but you can see how this lineup can score runs." In regards to his pitching and defense, Appel said "Our defense was good enough and our pitching will improve. We had some freshmen get their 1st experiences out of the way and it was nice to see them actually compete. Our bullpen was tremendous all weekend for the most part."
 
The Mustangs will be back in action this Tuesday against NCAA Division 2 UTPB in Hobbs, first pitch at 1:00 PM MST.