Texarkana, Texas — Southwest hit the road for a key Red River Athletic Conference series against Texas A&M Texarkana, ultimately dropping all three contests despite some strong individual performances.
In Saturday's opener, a seven-inning game, Southwest rallied but fell short, losing 4-3. The Mustangs plated two runs in the fourth and added another in the seventh but couldn't overcome early mistakes. Brian Ledezma drove in a run, while David Amaya, Mark Gonzales, and Vyncent Chavez each contributed a hit. Miguel Olivas took the loss despite working through five innings on the mound.
In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, Southwest showed resilience with a late comeback, scoring three runs in the eighth to pull close, but fell 7-5. Hayden Woods had a standout day at the plate, launching a home run and finishing with three hits and two runs scored. David Amaya added a triple and two RBIs, while Carson Miller and Tim Sedillo each delivered big at-bats late. Josh Martin started on the mound and took the loss.
Sunday's finale saw Southwest struggle to contain the Texarkana bats, falling 13-3. Alex Montiel provided a bright spot, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Southwest managed only five hits and committed three errors, making it difficult to mount a comeback. Angel Rios took the loss after giving up five runs in 3.1 innings of work.
After the series, Head Coach Steve Appel shared his thoughts on the weekend:
"Things just didn't go our way this last weekend. I thought they did a good job keeping us off balance and we weren't able to take advantage of situations when we had them. In the first two games we just didn't execute well with runners in scoring position and less than two outs. You just cannot do that when you are on the road.
We have to refocus and get ready for the tournament. We know that anything can happen and I believe our guys will be ready to go. We have to stay disciplined while we don't have the luxury of others and sleeping in our own beds for the next handful of days. We will take tomorrow off, regroup, and focus on some things such as finishing our school work. We have a good group of guys and they will be eager to finish this leg of the road trip when we depart for Sterlington Tuesday."
Despite the tough series, several players put up strong performances. Hayden Woods finished the weekend hitting .500 with a homer and four runs scored, and Alex Montiel added three hits across the series. The Mustangs now turn their attention to preparing for postseason play.
