Hounds rally, win finale from TSU

Staff report

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The Eastern New Mexico University baseball team has been looking for someone to step up and pitch deep into a game.

They found someone on Monday — although it’s unlikely they expected it to be James Thomas.

The sophomore right-hander from Fallbrook, Calif., made his first start and just his third appearance of the spring in the second game of a Lone Star Conference doubleheader against Tarleton State. He pitched six strong innings to keep the Greyhounds in it, and they rallied late for a 4-2 win over the Texans in the finale of a rain-delayed four-game series.

Tarleton won the first three games, sweeping Sunday’s twin bill 14-3 and 10-3 and taking Monday’s opener 7-3.

ENMU (8-14, 1-7 LSC) hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville in a four-game LSC set at Greyhound Field, beginning with a 5 p.m. single game on Friday.

Thomas allowed only Peter McMahon’s two-run homer in the fourth, permitting five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Prior to Monday, he had pitched just 2 2/3 innings this season.

Right-hander Scott Klein (1-1) pitched three hitless innings for the win, although he made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth by issuing two walks and hitting a batter. He retired designated hitter Landon Thompson on a bases-loaded grounder to second to end it.

ENMU broke on top in the fourth when first baseman Wesley Jordan hit a one-out single, took third on catcher Issak Bustamante’s double to left and scored on designated hitter Jacob Cluff’s groundout. Still down 2-1 in the eighth, Hounds first baseman Wesley Jordan greeted reliever Zach Freeman with a leadoff homer to right to tie it.

In the ENMU ninth, Michael McNicholl led off against Austin Drolette (0-1) with a single, took second on Zach Shank’s sacrifice and scored the go-ahead run on a double by freshman center fielder Chris Padilla. Padilla added an insurance run on right fielder Justin Paul’s RBI single to center.

The Hounds outhit TSU 12-5, with Bustamante going 3-for-4, but they stranded nine runners and hit into two double plays.

In the seven-inning opener, second baseman Keenan Dodd broke a scoreless tie with a two-out, three-run double off Callaway Kirkpatrick (2-3) in the fourth inning of the opener, but the Texans (10-10, 4-4) got two back in the bottom half and chased starter Daniel Ward (0-3) with a five-run fifth that included a two-run triple by center fielder Hunter Seales and a two-run single by shortstop Alec Humphreys.

Kirkpatrick went the distance on a seven-hitter, walking two and striking out five. Four of the Texans’ runs were unearned, the result of three ENMU errors.

Sunday — The Texans pounded out 25 hits in the two games. Humphreys and second baseman Landon Merka each drove in four runs in the seven-inning opener, while three pitchers combined to hold ENMU to five hits — including Dodd’s first home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth.

Sophomore right-hander Nick DeArmond (0-1) pitched well for four innings, but gave up a four-spot in the bottom of the fifth as TSU opened a 5-0 lead. Tarleton made it 10-1 with a five-run seventh highlighted by a two-run double from Stacy Heinatz.

Jacob French (1-1) pitched eight innings for the Texans, allowing only an unearned run on five hits. He walked none and struck out seven.