Hounds earn split

CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks ENMU senior Jerry Manning pitches to Southeastern Oklahoma junior Justin Miller during the opener of Friday’s Lone Star Conference baseball doubleheader at Greyhound Field.

Freedom New Mexico

Freshman center fielder Luis Quinones, starting the second game after preseason All-American Jereme Johnson suffered a leg injury in the opener, hit a two-out RBI single to right-center in the bottom of the eighth Friday to lift Eastern New Mexico University to a 14-13 win over Southeastern Oklahoma,

The Savage Storm rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the final three innings to eke out a 6-5 win in the seven-inning opener of as both teams opened Lone Star Conference play at Greyhound Field. The teams complete the four-game set with a 1 p.m. twin bill today.

ENMU (1-3) erased a 5-0 deficit by sending 16 batters to the plate in an 11-run second inning in the second game, capped by senior designated hitter Sean Cruce’s two-out, three-run double.

Southeastern relievers Joel McEntyre and Cullen Pryor then blanked the Hounds through the sixth, and the Savage Storm rallied back to take leads of 12-11 and 13-12. ENMU used two singles, a sacrifice, a hit batsman and a bases-loaded walk to Matt Nilo to tie it in the eighth before Quinones lined his third hit of the game for the lead.

Junior right-hander Anthony Smith, who took the first-game loss, earned the save in Game 2 by working around a one-out single in the ninth.

In the opener, Ethan Wagner blasted a three-run homer in the first and the Hounds added two runs in the fourth for a 5-1 lead.

Catcher Brad Shankle hit a leadoff homer off starter Jerry Manning in a two-run Savage Storm fifth, and Southeastern tied the game in the sixth on a two-run double by designated hitter Brandon Smith.

In the seventh, Justin Miller reached on an infield single, took second on a groundout, stole third and scored for the lead when catcher Ryan Pruitt’s throw sailed into left field.