PORTALES, N.M. – After playing the entire month of February on the road, the Eastern New Mexico baseball team is looking forward to its home opener and Lone Star Conference opener against Cameron this weekend.
The Hounds will start the four-game series against the Aggies on Friday night with a 7 p.m. first pitch. ENMU will follow it up with a doubleheader against the Aggies on Saturday with the first game starting at 1 p.m. before closing out the series with a Sunday game slated for a 1 p.m. start.
LAST TIME OUT
The Greyhounds will look to shake a rough end to the month of February as Eastern dropped a 6-5 decision at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Tuesday. The Hounds got off to a strong start in the contest when Joseph Zubia smashed a double in the top of the first to score Malcolm Smith and Malcolm Boehm, grabbing an early 2-0 advantage. The Aggies threatened in the bottom of the second by getting runners to second and third with no outs, but starting pitcher Enrique Perez clamped down by striking out three straight batters to get out of the jam. ENMU added three runs in the top of the seventh on a Boehm RBI double, a Eurick Perez RBI single, and another Zubia RBI double to stretch the advantage to 5-0. However, the Aggies scored six unanswered runs in the final three innings before winning on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.
Zubia led the Eastern bats with a 2-for-5 performance from the plate, knocking in three runs while Smith went 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and three stolen bases. Enrique Perez took a no-decision in the start, throwing six shutout innings and giving up just four hits and one walk while striking out nine.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Cameron enters this weekend’s Lone Star Conference opener with a 6-8 record. Earlier in the week, the Aggies split a pair of games in Oklahoma City, Okla. on Monday, defeating William Jewell 17-7 in eight innings before falling 17-7 in seven innings to Oklahoma Christian.
The CU offense has struggled in non-conference play from the plate, slashing the second-lowest batting average in the Lone Star at .241 as well as scoring the second-fewest runs per game (5.4). The Aggies pitching hasn’t fared much better, giving up the second-highest earned run average in the LSC (6.52 ERA).
Dillon Turney leads the Aggie lineup so far this season, batting for a .372 average in 43 at-bats with a team-leading .426 on-base percentage. Junior infielder Izrael Trevino is second on the team with a .310 average while leading the team in hits (18), extra base hits (6), home runs (2), runs batted in (14), runs (14) and OPS (.912). Junior infielder Pierce Khan has also been one of the hotter bats for the Aggies this season, slashing for a .278 average with four extra base hits and 13 RBIs.
On the mound, the Aggies ace this season has been Devin Castro. The Los Angeles native has made four starts and thrown 24 innings, giving up just a 1.88 ERA and striking out 20 while limiting batters to a 1.29 WHIP on a .226 batting average. Cole Pretorius has made three starts this season for the Aggies, as he currently holds an 11.17 ERA while Andrew Garza leads the team with 22 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched during his six appearances and two starts.
SPLIT SERIES
In the 94 previous meetings, Cameron holds a 57-37 edge over the Hounds in the all-time series. However, the series has been an even one since 2017 with the two teams splitting the last eight games right down the middle. In last year’s four game series, the Hounds dropped a 6-5 decision to the Aggies on March 29 before splitting the Saturday doubleheader with a 4-2 win and a 9-2 loss. Eastern closed out the series on March 30 with a 12-5 victory to even the series.
SUPER STARTERS
Possessing the lowest ERA in the Lone Star, the Eastern New Mexico pitching this season has given up just a 3.98 ERA in nine games. The Hounds starters have been especially prolific this season, giving up just 10 earned runs in 50.1 innings pitched (1.80 ERA). Senior Enrique Perez has been phenomenal in his three starts this season, not giving up a single earned run in 19 innings while holding opponents to the third-lowest batting average in the Lone Star (.179) and striking out the second-most batters in the league (30). Junior starter Joel Torres has also pitched well in his first two starts, recording a 1.50 ERA and holding opponents to a .186 batting average in 12 innings pitched this season.
TURNING THINGS AROUND AT THE TOP
While the Hounds senior leadoff hitter Malcolm Smith got off to a slow start to the season with a .214 batting average through the first eight games, he put together one of his best games of the season on Tuesday against Oklahoma Panhandle State. Despite the Hounds suffering a 6-5 walk-off loss against the Aggies, Smith went 2-for-4 from the plate with a walk and a run scored to go with three stolen bases, giving him 10 on the season. Smith raised his batting average 36 points following the matchup and is currently second on the team in steals only behind Nicholas Ankerman’s NCAA Division II leading 13.
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT
After missing the Huston Tillotson series, junior right fielder Joseph Zubia made the most of his opportunities on Tuesday against Oklahoma Panhandle State. The newcomer from El Paso, Texas hitting in the five-hole led the Greyhounds bats in the 6-5 loss after slashing 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs, including a two RBI double in the top of the first that gave Eastern a 2-0 edge. It was Zubia’s third multi-hit game in just five games this season as he is currently batting .412 in 17 at-bats. When Zubia isn’t hitting extra base hits, he is also a dynamic base stealing threat as he already has six stolen bases.
