The Eastern New Mexico softball team will take on Lubbock Christian tomorrow afternoon in a doubleheader set to begin at 3 p.m. at the Greyhound Softball Field.
The non-conference home game will be the first leg of a home and away series that is scheduled between the two programs this season, with the second leg taking place on April 2nd in Lubbock, Texas. Eastern New Mexico will look to take advantage of a break from Lone Star Conference play after dropping three straight weekend series against three of the league’s top programs in Texas A&M-Commerce, Cameron and Texas A&M-Kingsville in consecutive weekends.
The Greyhounds are 4-4 against non-conference opposition so far this season and will look win two games over the Lady Chaps in order to bring the squad’s home record back up to .500 for the season. Eastern New Mexico has never defeated Lubbock Christian in the program’s history as the Lady Chaps have established themselves as a traditional power in the Heartland Conference having won 30 or more games in every season since 2008.
SCOUTING THE LADY CHAPS
Head coach Daren Hays has built Lubbock Christian into a consistent contender in the Heartland Conference and will lead a Lady Chap ball club into Tuesday afternoon’s games that has squared off with multiple Lone Star Conference foes already this season. Lubbock Christian got the better of UT-Permian Basin and Western New Mexico in it’s first tournament of the season at the Taj Hospitality College Softball Kickoff, but fell by a 4-2 final to MSU Texas in the same event. The Lady Chaps have faced off against West Texas A&M three times this season, winning the first meeting between the two clubs by a 8-7 final back on Feb. 10 at the Lubbock Christian Invitational.
Lubbock Christian has dominated offensively so far this season, leading the Heartland Conference with a team batting average of .344 and has three players batting .400 or better on the year in Megan Darling, Lindzi Clemmer and K’leigh Arredondo. The Lady Chaps lead the league in both runs scored (204) and doubles (47) and have also shown great patience at the plate to get runners on base, accumulating the second highest amount of doubles in the conference with 112 on the season.
The Lady Chaps have struggled, especially in the eight losses on the year, to slow down opposing offenses, sporting a team ERA of 4.51, ranking them fifth in the Heartland Conference. Three different pitchers have seen significant time for Lubbock Christian throughout the season, with freshman Taylor Franco possessing the best ERA at 4.22 and the highest number of starts on the season with 14. Junior Jordan Wehr has spotted Franco all season and has put together a record of 7-2 for the season.
HISTORY WITH THE CHAPS
History has not been kind to the Greyhounds when taking on Lubbock Christian as the Lady Chaps have gotten the better of the Greyhounds in all 28 meeting between the two programs dating back to the 2010 season. The Hounds took on Lubbock Christian in a similar format as this year’s home and away series last year, losing by final scores of 21-3, 9-8, 20-2 and 15-7.
FEASTING ON THE NON-CONFERENCE OPPOSITION
The Greyhounds have put up solid numbers over the course of their eight non-conference games this season, securing wins over Adams State and Fort Lewis at the ENMU Softball Classic Kickoff and two wins against New Mexico Highlands. The most memorable win out of those four games was the 28-7 victory over New Mexico Highlands in the most recent non-conference game for the Greyhounds in which Eastern put up a season high in nearly every offensive category.
Senior Kimberly Herron has done her best work in the circle against non-conference opposition as well, giving up just eight earned runs in 23.1 innings of work in her six appearances against teams not in the Lone Star Conference. She has posted a record of 2-2 over the course of those six games and has tossed two complete games as well.
FOLLOW THE LEAD
The Greyhounds current nine game losing streak can be attributed to the combination of nationally-ranked competition combined with a tough stretch of hitting for the Greyhounds. One player that has continued to produce despite the team’s offensive struggles has been junior Elysa Rodriguez, who has posted a batting average of .308 over the course of the last nine games for the Hounds.
Freshman Haleigh Behncke has followed Rodriguez’s lead as of late and has record 5 hits in her last 15 at bats despite appearing in just seven games and starting just five of those contests in the last three series. Those numbers have been good enough for a .333 average at the plate for the Albuquerque, N.M. native, proving that the Greyhounds still have some life in an otherwise struggling lineup.
