Pre-game for Broncos vs. Aces, Game 4

It's the final game of a four-game series between Alexandria (38-23) and Laredo (29-33).

The Aces are looking for the sweep and will send ace Alexis Sosa (7-2, 4.78 ERA) to the mound.

Right-hander Andy Schon (6-2, 3.95) will be on the mound for the Broncos.

I was able to talk to Broncos Manager Dan Shwam last night. He specifically emphasized two blaring concerns: poor situational hitting and too many walks.

"Our situational hitting is poor," he said. "There's a lot of times we have people in position to score and we do nothing to advance the runner or bring a guy in. Either we're pressing too much or not thinking enough, but when teams take away our home runs, we have to find some other way to manufacture runs.

"The walks have hurt us because meaningless base hits are becoming runs. We start innings off by walking people and it gets us in a jam. Balls with bad hops that get by us are allowing people to score."

The numbers support Shwam's claims.

The Broncos are hitting .281 with runners in scoring position, and .268 with runners in scoring position with two outs. 

Broncos' opponents are hitting .297 and .309, respectively.