Hounds rout Buffs twice, end at 26-26

CANYON, Texas — It turns out the Eastern New Mexico University baseball team didn’t use up all its runs on Friday after all.

The Greyhounds came back with 29 runs on 29 hits Saturday, including six home runs, and completed a four-game sweep of West Texas A&M with 17-4 and 12-7 wins in the Lone Star Conference and season finales for both teams.

With the victories, ENMU (26-26, 19-21 LSC) finished with its first non-losing record since 2000 (25-21-1).

A day after Derrick Kennedy set a school single-game record with nine RBIs, junior left fielder Clayton Young drove in seven runs in Saturday’s opener. He went 5-for-6 with an RBI single in the first, a grand slam homer in the third, an RBI double in a nine-run sixth, a single in the seventh and an RBI single in the ninth.

Freddy Carmona went 4-for-6 and hit his third homer of the series, a two-run shot the sixth, while Ethan Wagner had a three-run homer and an RBI triple in the sixth inning.

Carmona was 5-for-8 in the doubleheader and set a single-season school record for hits with 81, breaking the previous mark of 80 set in 1995 by current Clovis High coach Shane Shallenberger. Carmona finished the season with a .397.

Thomas Green (6-3) allowed 14 hits but went the distance for the victory. He struck out five and walked one.

In the seven-inning nightcap, ENMU turned a seemingly innocuous first inning — two out and a runner at first — into an eight-run explosion against Buffaloes starter Bart Cannon (2-7). Nine consecutive batters reached base, with Paden Vendrely belting a three-run double and Jonathon Marbury following with a two-run homer to cap it.

Tyler Hayes led off the second with an opposite-field home run down the right field line, making it 9-2. Carmona hit a sacrifice fly and Seth Clabaugh singled home a run in the fourth, and Vendrely led off the seventh with a home run to right field to make the score 12-6.

Evan Orsak (5-5) went six innings, allowing 10 hits and four earned runs. Antwhan Yazzie and Keith Balderaz finished up for the Hounds, with Balderaz retiring Darby Walker on a bases-loaded grounder to short to end it.

For the series, the Hounds collected 67 hits — including 14 home runs — and outscored the Buffs (9-43, 6-37) by a 66-20 margin.