Red-hot Cowboys down ENMU

PORTALES — Maybe the Eastern New Mexico University baseball team should have played New Mexico Highlands early in the season.

The Greyhounds fared much better against the Cowboys than in their earlier clash, but the result was the same — an 11-7 loss on Tuesday night at Greyhound Field. Two weeks earlier, Highlands pounded ENMU 24-5 at Las Vegas, N.M.

After a 4-11 start, the Cowboys (25-13) have won 21 of their last 23 games.

Second baseman James Mayorga went 5-for- 6 for the Cowboys, whose 17-hit attack included six doubles and two triples.

ENMU (17-24) poked out 19 hits, with first baseman Troy Vaughan going 4-for-5 with a double and a first-inning, two-run homer. But while Highlands’ five pitchers combined for no walks, ENMU’s six hurlers gave up six free passes and two hit batsmen.

Vaughan’s homer gave the Hounds a 3-1 lead after one inning, but the Cowboys scored four runs on three hits, two walks — one with the bases loaded — and a hit batsman to regain the lead in the third. Frank Hernandez highlighted the rally with a two-run double.

The Cowboys, who’ve won 10 in a row, added three in the fifth and two in the sixth for a 10-4 lead and cruised from there.

The Hounds return to Lone Star Conference South Division play this weekend against Tarleton State, hosting doubleheaders against the Texans at 3 p.m. Friday and at noon on Saturday.