Hounds salvage series finale with two in ninth

CMI staff

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Finally, the Eastern New Mexico University baseball team came out on the long end of a last-at-bat win on Sunday.

Coming off three tough losses to Angelo State, all decided in walkoff fashion, the Greyhounds pushed over two runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth on Sunday for a 7-5 win, salvaging the finale of the four-game Lone Star Conference series.

ENMU (16-16, 6-14 LSC) had taken a two-run lead in the top of the ninth on Friday on a home run by Blake Cooper, only to see the Rams (20-13, 10-10) rally for three in the bottom half for a 9-8 win. Then on Saturday, in two games scheduled for seven innings, the Rams scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh in the opener to win 2-1, then rallied twice in extra innings to pull out a 9-8 win in the 12th.

Senior second baseman Colton Sims drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth on Sunday to break a 5-5 tie, and another run scored on a balk. Senior right-hander Dylan Montano (1-0), ENMU’s fifth pitcher of the day, tossed a 1-2-3 eighth before pitching around a one-out single in the ninth to nail down the win.

Sims finished 3-for-4 for the Hounds, who outhit ASU 13-6, while junior center fielder Matthew Burks, senior third baseman Sam Hedrick and senior first baseman Rafael Romo all had two hits. Burks hit the first pitch of the game for a double and eventually scored, then launched his fourth home run of the season with two out in the third.

Dillon Becker went eight innings for the Rams, allowing 11 hits and five runs, before three pitchers worked the ninth.

Sunday

Lone Star Conference

ENMU 7, Angelo State 5

ENMU 101 001 022 — 7 13 1

Angelo State 130 000 100 — 5 8 1

Keigan Basso, Sheldono Mobley (2), Jorge Quezada (5), Aaron Anderson (7), Dylan Montano (8) and Chad Highberger; Dillon Becker, Erik Monson, Jamei MacLean 9), Miles Gully (9) and Cameron Massengill. W — Montano (1-0). L — Monson (1-1). DP — Eastern New Mexico 1, Angelo State 1. LOB — Eastern New Mexico 9, Angelo State 8. 2B — Eastern New Mexico: Matthew Burks, Sam Hedrick. 3B — Eastern New Mexico: Angelo State: J.P. Zapata. HR — Eastern New Mexico: Matthew Burks (4). T 2:26. A — 310.