The Eastern New Mexico softball team will close out its 2019 home schedule this week as the Hounds will host No. 21 Tarleton State in a three-game series.
The Hounds will open the series with a Thursday night game slated for a 6 p.m. start before returning on Friday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
The Thursday night game will be Faculty Appreciation Night at Greyhound Softball Field as the team will honor its favorite ENMU faculty and staff members before the start of the series opener.
The Friday doubleheader will be a special day for ENMU Athletics because not only will it be the Senior Day for the five graduating seniors on the Greyhound softball team, but the ENMU women’s athletic programs will be presented with the Lone Star Conference Women’s Academic Excellence Award for finishing with the highest GPA in the LSC during the 2017-18 academic year. The award presentation will take place in-between the two doubleheaders and the Senior Day presentation will start immediately following the conclusion of the second doubleheader.
LAST TIME OUT
After dropping a 4-3 heartbreaker on a walk-off in the eighth inning against Western New Mexico last Friday, the Greyhounds swept the Mustangs in a Saturday doubleheader by scores of 7-5 and 7-2.
The Hounds nearly swept the series after Adriana Carabajal put ENMU in front 3-2 with an RBI double in the sixth inning in game one. However, the Mustangs rallied back in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run with one out, sending it into extras. Western pushed across the winning run on an RBI single in the eighth.
In the second game of the series, Eastern jumped out to a 4-1 lead through five innings of play. Samantha Brockman knocked in three of the four runs on a two RBI single and a sac fly. After the Mustangs trimmed the deficit to two, the Hounds put together a three-run sixth on an RBI double by Lauren Likes and a two-run homer by Emma Gary to stretch the lead to five at 7-2. The Mustangs notched three runs of their own in the sixth to close the gap back to 7-5, but Hanna Gary picked up her first save of the season as she came in to pitch a scoreless seventh.
Eastern was able to get the early momentum in the final game with runs in each of the first three innings. The Mustangs made things interesting in the fifth, pushing across a pair of runs to narrow the ENMU lead to 3-2, but the Hounds added an insurance run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to pull away with the 7-2 victory.
SCOUTING THE TEXANNS
Tarleton State comes into the week as the No. 22 team in the country with a 33-11 record and is currently fifth in the Lone Star with a 15-9 mark. The TexAnns dropped two out of three at home to No. 8 Texas A&M-Commerce last week, winning the Friday game 10-4 before dropping the Saturday doubleheader 8-0 and 8-4. Before taking on the Hounds, the TexAnns played a non-conference doubleheader at home against Texas A&M-International on Tuesday, taking the victory in the sixth inning of both games.
TSU possesses one of the top pitching staffs in the LSC as the TexAnns rank second in the league with a 2.47 ERA while ranking as the fourth-best hitting team in the conference at .312. Leading TSU in the circle is junior Jordan Withrow, who ranks third in the LSC with a 2.16 ERA and possesses a 16-4 record in 28 appearances and 21 starts. Withrow is second in the league with 155 strikeouts while limiting hitters to just a .181 batting average in 136.1 innings of work. The TexAnns also have two of the top four hitters in the LSC in sophomore outfielder Georgia Capell and senior outfielder Tanna Huie. Capell has the third-best batting average in the LSC at .403 with a league-leading 15 home runs and 53 RBIs. Huie is right behind her with a .402 average and team-best .523 on-base percentage.
SENIOR SENDOFF
After the conclusion of play on Friday, Eastern will honor its five seniors playing their final games at Greyhound Field. Twin sisters Emma and Hanna Gary, Kimberly Herron, Lauren Likes, and Karina Moreno have provided immense leadership for the Greyhounds softball program during their careers.
This season, Emma Gary ranks second on the team with a .366 average and 19 RBIs. Her sister Hanna has been a staple in the pitching staff, making 26 appearances and 11 starts while recording 45 strikeouts while also slashing .393 in 28 at-bats this season. Herron has been Eastern’s ace this season after leading the team with 28 appearances and 24 starts while throwing 118 innings. Likes is closing out her career on-fire from the plate, batting 5-for-13 with a homer, four RBIs and three runs in the last four games. Moreno has been a defensive staple for the Hounds this season at second base, recording a .970 fielding percentage and turning 13 double plays.
RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
The WNMU series provided some relief to a tough schedule for the Hounds. In the five weeks prior, ENMU played three ranked opponents and all five opponents they faced currently possess a .650 winning percentage or better. The Hounds snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Mustangs and despite suffering a loss in game one of the series, ENMU has dominated the Mustangs since they joined the LSC, taking eight of the nine matchups. Unfortunately for the Hounds, the series against the Mustangs was only a temporary lull in their tough schedule as Tarleton State will represent the fourth ranked opponent the Greyhounds have faced in the last six weeks.
