Southeastern Okla. outslugs Hounds

PORTALES — A pitching duel was breaking out on Sunday at Greyhound Field, and all of a sudden it turned into a slugfest.

Leading 2-1, Southeastern Oklahoma erupted for three homers and eight runs in the top of the fifth and managed to hang on for a 22-12 win over Eastern New Mexico University to gain a split of their four-game Lone Star Conference baseball series.

Junior first baseman Trey Wingo went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs for the Savage Storm (3-7, 3-5 LSC). Southeastern pounded out 28 hits, including eight doubles and five homers.

In the series, ENMU (8-4, 2-2) outscored the Savage Storm 49-48 and the teams combined for 126 hits, with 50 going for extra bases.

Wingo’s two-run homer in the first off Evan Orsak (2-1) held until the fifth, when the first eight Southeastern hitters combined to turn it into a 10-1 game. Wingo blasted a three-run homer, his fourth long ball of the series, with second baseman Scott Hancock and catcher Ryan Bowen adding two-run shots later in the frame.

The Hounds responded with five-run innings in the fifth and eighth, but they couldn’t keep the Savage Storm off the scoreboard long enough to get close.

Bowen, the No. 8 hitter, went 5-for-6 with four RBIs while Hancock finished 4-for-7 and drove in three runs. Shortstop Randall Clay, who relieved Southeastern starter Nathan Johnson (1-1) in the eighth, was 4-for-6 and hit a three-run homer in the eighth.

ENMU collected 17 hits, but none for extra bases over the first six innings. Third baseman Derrick Kennedy went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, center fielder Jonathon Marbury hit a pair of two-run singles and catcher Paden Vendrely was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Johnson threw 138 pitches before coming out after a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth.