Mustangs 3-game win streak boosts playoff hopes

After going down 1-4 in district play, the Nixon-Smiley Mustangs are back in playoff contention, winning three straight to force a tie at fourth place in District 27-3A with Luling. The Mustangs have outscored their last three opponents 37-6, with a 12-2 victory over Schulenburg, a 16-1 win over UC Randolph and a 9-3 win over Luling.
Nixon-Smiley 16, UC Randolph 1
The bats came alive for the Mustangs as the team piled up 18 runs in five innings of play against UC Randolph. Nixon-Smiley were up 4-0 after three innings before adding 11 in the fourth and one more in the fifth to win 16-1 against UC Randolph.
Ricky Flores got the win, pitching 3 2/3 innings, striking out four batters while giving up one hit and one walk. Santos Pompa pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up an unearned run, one hit and two walks while striking out one batter.
At the plate, five batters had multi-hit games, including Xavier Arias and Ricky Flores who both went 4-for-4 at the plate. Arias was a home run away from the cycle, scoring three times while coming away with three RBIs. Flores was also a home run away from the cycle, score twice, stealing one base and finishing with three RBIs. Colby Newman went 3-for-4 with a triple and a team-leading three stolen bases. The team combined for just four strikeouts in the game.
Nixon-Smiley 9, Luling 3
Despite going down 2-0 in the first, the Mustangs scored six runs in the second, one in the fourth and two in the fifth to knock off the Luling Eagles 9-3 to force a tie fourth place in District 27-3A. Nixon-Smiley previously lost to the Eagles 4-2 at the start of the season.
Ricky Flores came away with the win, pitching six innings, striking out eight batters while giving up three hits and two walks. Xavier Arias closed the game with two strikeouts and one hit.
At the plate, Mustang batters took advantage of 10 total walks while Colby Newman and Xavier Arias both had two hits. Newman went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Arias went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two stolen bases. Jason Yell was the other hitter, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases. Chris Brown went 0-for-1 with three walks, stealing two bases and scoring once.
Both wins propelled the Mustangs back in the playoff picture. Now in the second half of the district season, Nixon-Smiley (4-4) are in the thick of things with the important victory over Luling (4-4). Up top are Hallettsville (8-0), Marion (7-1) and Yoakum (5-3). The bottom three teams, Schulenburg, UC Randolph and Stockdale have combined for four wins in District 27-4A.
The Mustangs are scheduled to take on Stockdale on the road Friday, with first pitch set at 6 p.m. They beat them 6-5 on March 13. Nixon-Smiley then hosts Yoakum on Monday, April 9 to avenge a 3-0 loss they took against the Bulldogs.