Baseball 2/6/2020 3:50:00 PM Zac Alfers
Baseball Hosts TAMIU In 2020 Home Opener
Eastern New Mexico baseball welcomes Texas A&M International to Greyhound Baseball Field this weekend as the Hounds open their 2020 home schedule. First pitch of game one is scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m.
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS
Texas A&M International will be making the transition into the Lone Star Conference this season after competing in the Heartland Conference since the baseball program’s inception in 2008. The Dustdevils enter the weekend series after suffering a three-game sweep to UAFS last weekend. TAMIU was outscored 29-10 in their season opener.
The Dustdevils graduated eight seniors from a season ago but are returning a strong and deep junior class that includes 18 players from the 2019 squad. Highlighting the returners is infielder Andrew Holsey who finished last year being named to the All-HC Second Team. Holsey led the squad with 36 runs and eight stolen bases and ranked third with a .305 batting average last year. Holsey tallied 50 hits, 14 extra base hits, four home runs and 20 RBIs.
Despite being swept last week, the Dustdevils field three players who are currently hitting above .500 including catcher Paris Johnson who put up monster numbers against UAFS. In 11 at bats, Johnson is hitting .636 and leads the team with seven hits and two RBIs while also adding a pair of runs. Infielder Luis Flores ranks second on the team with a .556 batting average and paces the team with three runs scored in nine trips to the plate. First baseman Nate Campos is hitting .500 in a smaller sample size but has recorded two hits, scored a run and tallied an RBI in four at bats.
TRANSFER WIRE
In his first series donning the Green and Silver, Angelo State transfer Trevor Moses proved to be exactly what first year Head Coach Riley Price was looking for when he recruited Moses to the Greyhound baseball team. Moses recorded hits in all three games last weekend including a double and a run scored in game two. In the field the redshirt junior is just as reliable as he is at the plate and recorded seven putouts and leads the team with six assists while posting an unscathed 1.000 fielding percentage.
REVAMPED LINEUP
Eastern returns 21 players from the 2019 squad including nine seniors with the addition of eight transfers and 14 freshmen who will be joining the Greyhounds this spring. Amongst the fresh faces the Hounds boast a brand new coaching staff. Joining Price will be Assistant Coach Jake Gaul and Graduate Assistant Chris Browning who will look to revitalize the team and usher in a new era. The Greyhound baseball program also features a refurbished locker room and new fences along the bullpen. Price and his staff will also look to renovate the dugouts at the end of the season.
HOUNDS ON THE MOUND
After serving as one of the team’s best relief pitchers in 2019, redshirt sophomore Ethan Coombes is looking to transition to a starting pitcher this year. Coombes certainly possesses the ability, featuring a blistering fastball that has been clocked at 95 MPH which he complements with well-placed offspeed pitches. Coombes was handed the first start of the year in the series opener against Angelo State and struck out six batters in 3.2 innings pitched.
Coming in to relieve Coombes in that game was junior Liam Sabiston who dominated the opposing batters for 3.1 scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and two walks. Sabiston is the only Greyhound pitcher to have pitched at least one full inning without allowing a run.
