The Eastern New Mexico baseball team exploded for a season-high 11 runs its home opener as the Greyhounds took down Cameron 11-8 on Friday night.
On top of the Hounds (6-4, 1-0 Lone Star Conference) playing their first home game of the season, it was also the conference opener for both teams as the Aggies (6-9, 0-1 LSC) have now dropped five of their last six with the loss.
In the offensive onslaught, the Hounds were the first to crack open the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Following a Malcolm Smith walk and a Malcolm Boehm single, Eurick Perez hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Smith after he stole third to make it a 1-0 Hounds edge.
The Aggies broke ahead in the top of the third inning as they were able to capitalize off a pair of Hounds errors to score three runs to make it 3-1 Aggies advantage. Eastern was able to cut into that Cameron lead in the bottom of the fourth when Blake Frye smashed a triple to left center field to score Perez and make it a one-run game.
Cameron got the run back in the top of the fifth, before Eastern responded with a big rally in the bottom of the frame.
After the Aggies retired the first two Greyhound batters, the Hounds would send eight more batters to the plate before Cameron could record the final out. Following a Joel Paulino double and a Boehm infield single, Paulino scored on a wild pitch to make it a 4-3 deficit. Following the errant pitch, Perez drew a walk and Joseph Zubia also reached on an infield single to short, setting up a bases loaded situation for Bryan Waltemath. The Miami, Fla. product drove in a pair after slapping a single up the middle to score Boehm and Perez to reclaim a 5-4 Hounds edge.
Blake Frye was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat to load the bases for Nicolas Ankerman, who drove in two more on a single to center to make it a 7-4 Hounds advantage.
The Aggies trimmed the deficit to 7-5 in the top of the sixth after taking advantage of another ENMU error, but relief pitcher Tyler Cobb settled down to strike out three straight batters to end the inning and limit the damage.
Despite giving up a run, Eastern added some strong insurance in the bottom of the sixth. The Greyhounds loaded the bases on a Smith triple followed by Paulino getting hit by a pitch and Boehm reaching on a fielder’s choice. Perez notched his second sacrifice fly RBI in the following at-bat before a Zubia triple down the right field line plated two more to make it a 10-5 game. The Hounds added one more in the inning on a Frye sacrifice fly to give Eastern a six-run edge.
The Aggies mounted one more rally by notching a few more runs to make it 11-7 and put together a major threat by loading the bases in the top of the ninth. The Hounds closer Ethan Coombes came in and struck out the Aggies hottest bat this season in Dillon Turney, but Izrael Travino was able to draw a walk in the following at-bat to score a run. Coombes ended the game in the next at-bat, forcing Hayden Jaco to flyout to left field to stop the CU comeback in its tracks.
The Hounds ended the game with 11 runs on 11 hits with four errors while Cameron tallied its eight runs on eight hits without committing an error.
Boehm, Zubia, and Waltemath led the ENMU bats with two hits apiece, while five guys in Ankerman, Frye, Perez, Waltemath, and Zubia each recorded two RBIs. There were also five Greyhounds that recorded two runs with the entire top half of the lineup in Smith, Paulino, Boehm, Perez, and Zubia crossing the plate twice.
Fernando Burgos picked up his second win of the season on the mound, throwing five innings and giving up four runs, two earned on three hits, four walks, and five strikeouts. Cobb and Elijah Cappello each threw 1.2 innings of relief before Coombes closed out with his second save of the season in two-thirds of an inning with a walk and strikeout.
The Greyhounds will continue the series on Saturday as Eastern will play Cameron in a doubleheader. The first game of the doubleheader is slated to start at 1 p.m. with the second game starting approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.