Portales head coach Arturo Ontiveros takes the ball from starting pitcher junior David Rodrigeuz(#15) in the top of the third inning as freshman Zachary Blaeser(#3) comes in for relief in Tuesday's game against Roswell.

Portales senior third baseman James Salgado is greeted at home plate after hitting a solo homer over the center field fence in the bottom of the second inning against Roswell during the first game of the twin bill. The Rams swept Roswell 23-13 and 13-7.

Portales junior first baseman Ryan Schmidt leans away from a high-inside pitch Tuesday at Ram Field on his way to a walk in the bottom of the first inning against Roswell during the first game of the doubleheader.

Even being down 12-1 in the third inning didn’t discourage the Portales Rams Tuesday night.

Portales bounced back with a 12-run fourth to take the lead, then eventually run-ruled Roswell High 23-13 in six innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Ram Field.

Portales also won the second game 13-7, coming from a more modest 3-0 deficit in the third to win.

The Rams (14-10) will host a District 4-3A round-robin on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. when they face Lovington. The Wildcats then meet Ruidoso in the second game before Portales plays the Warriors in the finale.

The Rams hold the district lead at 5-3 to 4-4 for Ruidoso and 3-5 for Lovington, but Saturday’s games count in the standings and will actually determine the district champion.

James Salgado, who homered for Portales’ first run, hit a grand slam iin the fourth-inning rally which staked the Rams to a 13-12 lead in the opener. They added five more each in the fifth and sixth innings.

Rams starter David Rodriguez struggled through three innings, but Zach Blaeser took over and allowed just one run over the final three innings for the win.

In the nightcap, the Rams used a four-run fourth to take a 5-3 lead, then added six in the fifth and two in the sixth. Salgado and Kyle Bonham each had three-run doubles for Portales.

Stephen Sampson pitched the first three innings while Blaeser, who picked up his second win of the day, and Salgado worked two innings apiece to finish it.

Salgado was seeing his first action in two weeks coming off a broken finger which caused him to miss the Rams’ previous two doubleheaders.