Hounds, Cameron split LSC twin bill

Freedom New Mexico

LAWTON, Okla. — Catcher Paden Vendrely had three hits, including a key two-run double, and right-hander Jerry Manning pitched into the seventh inning as Eastern New Mexico University beat 19th-ranked Cameron 7-3 Friday in the opener of a Lone Star Conference baseball doubleheader.

The Aggies rallied for four runs in the sixth inning of the nightcap to win 5-2 and earn a split. The teams have another twin bill slated for 11 a.m. (MST) today.

Manning (1-0) scattered 11 hits before leaving with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh. Anthony Smith earned his second save of the season by getting Alex Lyons to line into a game-ending, shortstop-to-first base double play.

ENMU (4-4, 4-2 LSC) scored twice in the second on Ryan Pruitt’s sacrifice fly and Matt Nilo’s RBI single. Garrett Cook hit an RBI double in the fifth and Vendrely followed later in the inning with his two-run double for a 5-1 lead.

In the sixth, Luis Quinones hit a sacrifice fly and Nilo stole third and came home on a throwing error by catcher Jake Harris to make it 7-1. Blake Watson hit a two-run triple for the Aggies in the bottom of the inning, but was stranded when Manning retired Joe Halley on a grounder to short.

Cook and Nilo each had two of ENMU’s 12 hits.

In the nine-inning second game, the Hounds had a 2-0 lead on Sean Cruce’s two-out RBI single in the fifth and back-to-back doubles by Vendrely and Wagner in the sixth.

Cameron (4-2, 4-2), held to three hits through five innings by Doug McIntyre (0-1), took advantage of two Hounds errors to plate three unearned runs in the sixth. The Aggies added an insurance run in the eighth on Jake Forsythe’s run-scoring single to center.

Cameron outhit ENMU 11-6 in the contest, but the Hounds kept it close with the help of three double plays — two coming with the bases loaded. Five players had two hits each for the Aggies, while Cruce went 2-for-3 for ENMU.