Buffs rally for split against Hounds

Staff report

CANYON, Texas — Right fielder Ryan March drove in three runs, two with a go-ahead two-run triple in West Texas A&M’s four-run fifth, and the Buffaloes held on for a 9-8 win over Eastern New Mexico University on Saturday and a split of their Lone Star Conference baseball twin bill.

Senior right-hander Cody Pope threw a seven-inning complete game and first baseman Blake Cooper’s three-run homer capped a tie-breaking seven-run sixth in ENMU’s 9-2 first-game victory.

The Greyhounds (5-9, 1-2 LSC) will look for a four-game series split in today’s noon (MDT) single-game finale.

ENMU erased a 5-3 deficit in the nightcap with four runs on six hits in the top of the fifth, only to see the Buffs (11-8, 3-4) come back in the bottom half.

The Hounds closed to within a run when Charles Sandberg Jr. scored on a wild pitch by Paul Lujan in the sixth, but Lujan closed for his second save in the series and third of the season.

Catcher Chad Highberger was 3-for-3 with three RBIs for the Hounds. Reliever Nick DeArmond (0-2) took the loss.

IN the opener, ENMU scored twice in the second only to see the Buffs pull even with single runs in the second and fourth. In the sixth, the Hounds used four hits and three WT errors to take control of the game.

Pope (3-1) finished with a six-hitter, one walk and two strikeouts. He retired 10 of the final 11 WT batters.

ENMU had eight hits off three Buffs hurlers, led by designated hitter Chris Sanders with 2-for-4, two runs scored and an RBI.