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Tough day in Texas for Eastern baseball

CANYON, Texas — An eight-run inning is usually hard to overcome for any team on the business end of it, and that was certainly the case for Eastern New Mexico’s baseball team on Saturday, when the Hounds surrendered eight in the bottom of the second and wound up losing the first game of a doubleheader 13-1 on the road against Lone Star Conference foe West Texas A&M.

A&M plated a run in the bottom of the first before exploding for the eight-spot in the second, putting Eastern in an early 9-0 hole.

The Greyhounds’ lone run came in the top of the fourth, when Julian Heredia scored on a Buffaloes’ throwing error.

A&M pitcher Ryan Larison (4-0) worked six innings, allowing one run and scattering seven hits while striking out five. Drew Mesecher threw an inning of relief, giving up two hits, no walks and no runs.

Keenan Dodd (3-2) took the loss for ENMU.

The Hounds went from first-game blowout to second-game heartbreaker, as they built a 3-1 lead in the nightcap only to fall 4-3.

Luis Amaro fueled the A&M comeback with a two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game at 3.

An inning later, Nick Guaragna gave the Buffaloes their first lead of the night when he scored on Justice Nakagawa’s sacrifice fly, putting A&M up 4-3.

Eastern had jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Alex DeLaCruz’s RBI single that plated Zach Shank.

ENMU stretched its lead to 2-0 in the second inning on Chris Padilla’s solo homer.

In the top of the fourth inning, Amaro’s first home run of the game brought A&M within a run, but Eastern went back up by two in the top of the fifth when Nick Ankerman scored on an error.

DeLaCruz was the only Greyhound with multiple hits, going 2-for-3.

Enrique Perez took the loss for Eastern, which dropped to 14-9 overall, 0-3 in LSC play. The Buffaloes, meanwhile, boosted their record to 21-7 overall, 3-0 against LSC competition.

Eastern concludes its series with the Buffs today with a noon game. The Hounds will be home Thursday for a 7 p.m. game against Cameron.

 
 
Rendered 02/21/2024 16:26