Hounds finish series sweep of Grizzlies

For all the video game-style stats the Eastern New Mexico University offense put up over the weekend, sophomore Ryan Boydstun and junior Kyle Kesmarki made sure the pitching staff was heard from as well.

ENMU compiled 50 runs and 60 hits in a season-opening, four-game sweep of first-year program Adams State at Greyhound Field, but Boydstun made relatively little run support stand up for a 3-0 win in the opener of Sunday's twin bill. Kesmarki earned a save in that game, then worked the final 1 2/3 innings of the nightcap for his second win in relief as the Greyhounds pulled out a 19-12 slugfest with an eight-run eighth.

The 4-0 start is the best for ENMU since the 2007 Hounds opened the season with seven consecutive wins.

Boydstun worked the first six in the seven-inning opener, allowing five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Kesmarki hit the leadoff batter in the seventh, then set down the side with two strikeouts and a fly ball.

Junior second baseman Colton Sims led the offensive assault, going 8-for-9 with five walks, five runs scored, a home run and five RBIs in the four games. Eight players had at least four hits in the series as ENMU batted a robust .472.

Sophomore right-hander Thom Aramovich and junior lefty Austin Rochford kept the Grizzlies in Sunday's first game, allowing a combined two earned runs and eight hits.

ENMU scored in the second inning on a fielder's choice, in the fourth when senior left fielder Derek Crenshaw led off with a triple and came home on a grounder by junior shortstop Brett Ackerman, and in the fifth when senior first baseman Daniel Binz hit a one-out double and eventually scored on an error.

In the second game, Crenshaw went 4-of-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs, finishing off a 6-for-7 day, and the Hounds cranked out 19 runs on 20 hits for the second time in the series. Leadoff man Brooke Brooks was 4-for-6 and scored four times, while five others contributed a pair of hits.

ENMU hitters were plunked five times in the nightcap.

Adams State erased a 9-4 deficit with a five-run seventh before Sims put the Hounds back in front with a two-run homer in the bottom half. The Grizzlies pulled even again with two runs in the eighth, but Sims' two-run single gave ENMU the lead for good 13-11 and six more runs came across before the inning was over.