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Greyhound baseball team splits pair with Falcons

ODESSA, Texas — It was quite the mixed bag for Eastern New Mexico’s baseball team Saturday, as the Greyhounds imploded in the first game of a doubleheader against UT-Permian Basin and lost 12-6, then rebounded nicely in the second game and whipped the Falcons 9-2 at Permian Basin’s Roden Field.

First game — Despite holding a substantial lead in the opener’s middle innings, Eastern surrendered 10 runs across two innings and lost the 12-6.

ENMU had built a 6-2 lead, mainly with a four-run third inning that included a solo Alex DeLaCruz homer; a run from Julian Heredia on a wild pitch; and an RBI triple from Reynaldo Guillen, who came in to score on the play due to a throwing error.

At that point it was 5-2 Greyhounds, and they added a run in the top of the fourth when a bases-loaded walk issued to Guillen forced Zach Shank home.

But the UT-Permian Basin bats started lighting up in the bottom of the fourth, as the Falcons plated three that inning, all on a Cooper Coe homer, and a whopping seven more in the next. The tying and go-ahead runs in the fifth came on Skyler Palermo’s two-run double.

Palermo finished with those two RBIs, Coe with the three runs his homer delivered. Alex Wixson also drove in three for Permian Basin, which won for only the third time in 22 tries.

DeLaCruz wound up 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. He also walked three times.

Nick Bartley (1-2), the Falcons’ fifth pitcher of the game, earned the win by going just 1/3 of an inning and walking one.

Blake Frye (0-1), the third pitcher to throw for ENMU, absorbed the loss. Eastern used eight pitchers in all.

Second game — In a starkly contrasting nightcap, ENMU’s Keenan Dodd tossed a two-hit complete-game gem that included 10 strikeouts, as the Greyhounds salvaged the day by splitting the twinbill.

Offensively, Eastern jumped out 1-0 on a Heredia solo shot in the top of the second, and added three more in the third on RBI singles from Guillen and Garlind Webster following an Endy Villalona run on a wild pitch, building a 4-0 lead.

After letting Permian Basin draw within 4-2 on Coe’s two-run homer the bottom of the fourth, ENMU added a pair of fifth-inning insurance runs courtesy of Jesse Becton’s bases-loaded walk and Malcolm Smith’s RBI single.

The Hounds tacked on three more in the top of the seventh, on a sacrifice fly from Smith and a two-run double by DeLaCruz.

Guillen finished the game 4-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.

Heredia wound up 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. DeLaCruz had two hits, two RBIs and a run scored.

Coe and Palermo collected the only Falcon hits off Dodd (2-1), who matched a career-high with those 10 strikeouts.

Ivan Thomas (0-2) took the loss for Permian Basin (3-20).

Eastern (11-6) will conclude its weekend series against the Falcons today, with a game beginning at noon. Next Friday, the Greyhounds will begin a four-game set at West Texas A&M.

 
 
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