PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico baseball bats came alive in the second game of a doubleheader, but the Hounds couldn’t quite keep up with the red hot bats of No. 3 Angelo State as the Rams defeated the Hounds in both games of a doubleheader 15-2, 15-10 on Sunday afternoon.
The Greyhounds (13-23, 1-11 Lone Star Conference) wore pink and white jerseys, pink socks and pink batting helmets to honor breast cancer survivors in their annual Breast Cancer Awareness game.
In the opening game of the doubleheader, the Rams (34-7, 14-2 LSC) got on the board first in the second inning with a three-run frame to take the early lead.
Eastern was able to chip into the deficit in the in the third inning when Joel Paulino knocked in Paul Tapia with a single to right to make it a 3-1 game, but the Rams were able to pull away with 12 unanswered runs over the last four innings.
Angelo State scored its 15 runs on 16 hits with no errors while the Hounds scored their two runs on nine hits and committed three errors.
Malcolm Boehm and Randall Lucero led the Eastern bats as each slashed 2-for-3 while Tristan Bowden and Paulino each recorded the Greyhounds’ RBIs.
Despite Eastern’s offensive struggles in the first three games of the series, the Hounds tested the Rams in the second game of the doubleheader.
After Angelo State scored the first run in the top of the first, the Hounds rallied back with two runs in the bottom of the second on a Malcolm Smith suicide squeeze that scored Lucero to tie the game followed by a Nicholas Ankerman RBI single to right center to grab the 2-1 lead.
ASU reclaimed the advantage with a four-run third inning and added an insurance run in the top of the fourth to make it a 6-2 game.
However, the Hounds were able to battle back with a four-run fourth inning of their own. Eastern scratched across the first run of the frame as Bowden scored from third on a wild pitch before Malcolm Smith’s two RBI double down the left field line plated Lucero and Chris Padilla to close the gap to 6-5. The Greyhounds scored the tying run on Ankerman’s RBI single through the left side, scoring Smith to lock the game up at 6-all.
The Rams took back the lead in the fifth with a four-run frame to set the score at 10-6, but Eastern still had some fight left.
Eastern tallied three more runs in the seventh on a Bryan Waltemath RBI double to the left center field gap, a Smith RBI sac fly, and another Ankerman RBI single to trim the deficit to 10-9. However, Angelo State was able to pull away in the eighth with a five-run frame to put the game out of reach.
Despite the Rams outscoring the Hounds 15-10 in the game, ENMU was able to outhit Angelo by an 18-13 margin while each team finished an error apiece.
Four Greyhounds finished with three hits apiece. Padilla went 3-for-3 with two walks and two runs, Waltemath slashed 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run, Joel Paulino batted 3-for-6 with a run and Ankerman rounded out the three-hit parade after going 3-for-6 with three RBIs. Smith was a big part of the offensive production, batting 1-for-3 with a team-leading four RBIs and a run.
The Greyhounds will return to the road next week for a four-game series at Cameron starting on April 18. The Hounds will be looking for similar success in their second series against the Aggies this season, as Eastern took two of three from Cameron in a non-conference series at home earlier this season.
ENMU will open the series with a Thursday night game starting at 6 p.m. before returning to the field for a Friday doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. The Greyhounds will wrap up the series with a Saturday game scheduled for a noon first pitch.
