The Eastern New Mexico baseball bats came alive in a Military Appreciation Day doubleheader on Saturday as the Hounds split a doubleheader against Tarleton State, dropping the opening game 21-13 before bouncing back with a 9-6 win in game two.
The Hounds (14-29, 2-17 Lone Star Conference) were able to pick up their first win in the month of April, snapping a 14-game losing streak during a brutally tough stretch in their schedule.
It was also a milestone game for Greyhounds starting pitcher Enrique Perez, as he picked up his 13th career win, moving him into a tie for sixth with Keenan Dodd for the most wins in program history. With eight strikeouts, Perez moved up to sixth all-time in career strikeouts with 139, matching him with Jerry Macias who established the mark in 2003.
It was an eventful day for Greyhound nation as prior to the start of the first game, Technical Sergeant Jacob Pearson threw out a ceremonial first pitch and as a part of Super Greyhound Weekend presented by J.P. Stone Community Bank, scholarships were presented to 14 incoming freshman after the completion of the fifth inning.
In the opening game, the Texans (14-31, 4-15 LSC) got off to a fast start by putting up an eight-run first inning to take the early edge.
The Greyhounds were able to battle back with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame, including RBI singles by first baseman Tristan Bowden and left fielder Chris Padilla to cut the deficit to 8-4.
However, the Texans answered right back in the top of the second with a four-run inning that included a three-run home run to stretch the TSU advantage back to 12-4.
Eastern continued to chip away at the Texans lead over the next two innings, getting a run back in the second after Paul Tapia reached on an infield single, later coming around to score after a stolen base and advancing to home on a pair of wild pitches.
In the third inning, the Hounds put up a three-spot with Eurick Perez scoring a run and Tapia driving in two more later in the frame on a two RBI single pushed through the left side to make it a 12-8 game.
Unfortunately, the Texans put the game out of reach with seven unanswered runs over the next two innings to build a 19-8 edge.
The Greyhounds notched three more runs in the fifth on a Malcolm Smith solo home run and a Malcolm Boehm two RBI single to left as well as a pair of runs in the seventh on Lawrence Mirabal two RBI single down the left field line, but the Hounds couldn’t quite muster enough runs for a rally.
Tarleton State finished the contest with 21 runs on 20 hits with two errors while Eastern tallied their 13 runs on 13 hits and committed three errors.
Of the Hounds’ 13 hits, Padilla tallied a trio after slashing 3-for-4 with an RBI. The top of the Greyhounds order was particularly productive with Ankerman going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and team-high three runs while Tapia batted 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and a pair of RBIs. Smith was also able to bust out of a tough slump, going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI on his second home run of the season.
Tarleton once again was able to grab the early edge in the second game after a leadoff triple came around to score to make it a 1-0 Texans edge and Tarleton State put together a major threat by loading the bases with two outs, but Enrique Perez was able to get TSU’s Hunter Thomas to ground out to second to stop the threat.
In the bottom half of the first, the Greyhounds were able to claim their first lead of the series when Eurick Perez drove a ball to the wall in left center for a two RBI double, scoring Ankerman and Boehm to make it a 2-1 Hounds advantage.
The Texans reclaimed the lead in the top of the second with an RBI single to right and an RBI double to right center, but ENMU prevented a second run from scoring on a the double as Ankerman’s relay throw to Eurick Perez at home was right on the money for a tagout at the plate of TSU’s Tyler Fowler to end the inning.
It didn’t take long for the Greyhounds to get the lead back in the bottom half of the second. Smith opened the frame with a leadoff single to center and then advanced to third on a hit-and-run single up the middle by Ankerman to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Eastern pushed across the tying run on Tapia’s safety squeeze to make it 3-3.
The next two batters continued to pour on the runs for the Hounds as third baseman Joel Paulino drove another in on an RBI single to center and Boehm followed suit with his first home run at home this season with a two-run blast that sailed over the left field fence, stretching the Eastern edge to 6-3. ENMU added one more for good measure later in the inning as Bowden pushed through a single up the middle that was just out of the reach of the TSU shortstop, plating Padilla to expand the ENMU lead to four.
In the top of the fifth, Enrique Perez threw a clean 1-2-3 inning that was capped off on a strikeout of Thomas, marking his eighth of the contest and the 139th of his career to move him to sixth all-time in ENMU history.
In the Hounds half of the fifth, Ankerman gave Eastern some much needed insurance, launching a two-run homer over the left field fence to stretch the Eastern advantage to 9-3.
Unfortunately for Enrique Perez, he ran into some tough luck in the sixth as the Texans hit four straight singles to close the gap to 9-4. Tarleton added two more when Hounds closer Liam Sabiston came in in relief, scoring a run on a sac fly to center and another on an ENMU throwing error to shrink the Eastern lead to 9-6 before Greyhounds closer struck out TSU’s John Law to stop the threat.
After giving up a leadoff walk in the seventh, Sabiston was able to close out the game quickly by inducing a 6-4-3 double play and a strikeout of Jake Spence to give Eastern a much needed victory.
The Hounds recorded their nine runs on eight hits and committed two errors while the Texans finished with six runs on 10 hits and made one error.
In Perez’ milestone start, the senior starter improved to 5-4 on the season after throwing 5.1 innings, giving up six runs with only three of which earned on nine hits and five walks to go with his eight punchouts. Sabiston tallied his team-leading fourth save of the season after going 1.2 innings and giving up just one hit and one walk with a pair of strikeouts.
Ankerman had another big bat in the second game, slashing 3-for-4 with three runs and a pair of RBIs on his two-run blast in the fifth. Boehm finished 1-for-3 with a walk, a pair of runs, and a pair of RBIs on his two-run homer while Eurick Perez knocked in a pair after going 1-for-3 with a run.
The Greyhounds will seek a series split tomorrow as Eastern will host its final game of the 2019 season. The Hounds will honor their senior class approximately a half-hour before the start of the 1 p.m. first pitch.