AUSTIN, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico baseball team picked up three wins in a four game series at Huston Tillotson in Austin, Texas over the weekend.
After dropping the opening game of the series by a score of 7-6, the Greyhounds bounced back with dominating 8-1, 9-2, and 5-1 wins over the Rams.
In the first game, it was a low scoring affair as both teams could only muster a run through the first five frames before the Hounds’ bats rattled off five runs in the sixth inning on a Joel Paulino sacrifice fly, RBI singles by Bryan Waltemath and Malcolm Smith, and a two-RBI double by Paul Tapia to grab a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning. The Rams knocked in a run in the sixth before coming away with a big five-run seventh inning that was capped off on a game-ending grand slam to steal a 7-6 win from the Hounds.
Tapia led the ENMU bats, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs and walk. Junior starting pitcher Fernando Burgos pitched a solid five innings, giving up just one earned run on two hits, four walks and six strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Ethan Coombes took his first loss of the season, giving up one earned run on one hit on the final batter of the game.
In the second game of the day, Eastern scored early and often before pulling away with the 8-1 victory. The Hounds tallied four runs in the third inning, starting on a Eurick Perez RBI single, followed by a Paulino two-RBI single and a Blake Frye RBI single to make it a 4-0 game. Perez added to it with another two-RBI single in the fourth inning followed by a Miles Hilton two-RBI double to stretch the advantage to 8-0. The Rams managed to push across an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late as Eastern secured the win.
Perez led the Greyhounds batting efforts, slashing 2-for-4 from the plate with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Hilton, Frye, and Malcolm Boehm also tallied a pair of hits in the contest. Joel Torres picked up his first win of the season, pitching a complete seven inning game while giving up one unearned run on two hits, three walks, and six strikeouts.
The Hounds returned for a doubleheader on Saturday, opening the slate of the games with a 9-2 win over HTU. Eastern pushed across three scores in the top of the second with a Nicholas Ankerman two-RBI single and a Frye RBI sac fly to hold a 3-0 edge. The Rams trimmed the lead with a score in the bottom of the fifth before the Hounds bats found life again in the top of the sixth. In the frame, Waltemath and Smith each recorded RBI singles while Hilton tallied an RBI sacrifice fly stretch the edge to 6-1. The Hounds added three more in the seventh inning on RBI singles from Frye and Alex Kuhn as well as a Tristian Bowden sacrifice fly to make it a 9-1 game. The Rams scored one more unearned run in the seventh inning, but could climb no closer.
Kuhn turned in a 3-for-4 performance from the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Ankerman drove in two, going 2-for-2 with a walk and a pair of runs scored. Frye added a pair of RBIs, going 1-for-1 with a run. Senior pitcher Enrique Perez picked up his second victory of the season, throwing a complete seven inning game and giving up two unearned runs on five hits, a walk, and tied a career-high 11 strikeouts for the sixth-most strikeouts in a single game in program history.
In the wrap-up game in the series, the Hounds overcame a slow start from the plate by scoring five late runs to come away with the 5-1 win. The Rams held the early edge after scoring a run in the fourth to take a 1-0 advantage. The Greyhound bats were able to breakthrough in their half of the fifth frame with a Kuhn RBI single followed by a Boehm two-RBI triple take a 3-1 edge. The Hounds added some insurance runs in the seventh inning on an Ankerman sacrifice fly that drove in two runs on a throwing error to come away with the 5-1 win.
Kuhn slashed 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run to lead the Eastern bats while Boehm drove in two, going 1-for-3 from the plate. Braden Delamare picked up his first win of the season, throwing five innings and giving up just one run on three hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. Michael Holliday picked up his first save of the season, throwing two shutout innings and giving up just one walk to go with three strikeouts.
After going 3-1 on the weekend, the Hounds improved to 5-3 on the season as they will now turn their attention toward another non-conference doubleheader at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Feb. 26. That doubleheader will be Eastern’s last dress rehearsal before the home-opening Lone Star Conference series against Cameron on March 1-3
