Tarleton takes two from Hounds

Freedom New Mexico

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — First baseman Zane Hensley hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning and Tarleton State went on to a 7-4 victory over Eastern New Mexico University on Friday for a sweep of its Lone Star Conference baseball doubleheader.

In the opener, the Texans (32-10, 20-9 LSC) held on for a 7-6 win. The teams will finish their three-game series with a noon (MDT) single game today.

The Greyhounds (13-36, 8-20) came up short despite outhitting Tarleton in both games. Junior shortstop Alex Schultz pulled ENMU to within 7-6 in the seven-inning opener with a grand slam, his third home run of the season, in the top of the sixth.

But closer Ryan Turner earned the first of his two saves for the day, pitching around two seventh-inning singles to earn his ninth of the year.

That tied the single-season TSU school record held by Nathan Lewis (7-1), who went the first five innings in that game to get the win. Turner then got the record outright in the nightcap with a perfect ninth inning.

ENMU fell behind 7-2 in the fifth inning of the opener when right fielder Chris Cassaza hit his 14th homer with one out and catcher Andrew Capple added his fifth, a two-run shot with two out, off Hounds starter Marcus Drake (2-1).

In the nightcap, ENMU took three one-run leads, going ahead 4-3 in the sixth on a bunt RBI single by Daniel Patching.

Ryan Pruitt (2-3) relieved ENMU starter Tyler Vance in the seventh. He issued a leadoff walk to Capple, who moved to third base on a sacrifice and a groundout before Junior Dishmey tied it with an RBI single to right.

Hensley greeted Smith with his sixth homer of the season, a shot to right field to make it 7-4.

The Hounds loaded the bases with no one out in the eighth, but Brandyn Greer (5-0) got Brandon Devries to bounce into a 5-2-3 double play — the third of the game for Tarleton — and then retired Patching on a grounder to third.