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Eastern baseball team sweeps doubleheader

SAN ANGELO, Texas — After allowing 49 combined runs in its previous three games — all of them losses — the Eastern New Mexico baseball team rebounded Saturday, beating Lone Star Conference foe Angelo State 9-4 to end their losing streak, then sweeping the doubleheader with an 11-4 rout in the nightcap.

20 total runs was a nice way for the Greyhounds to move past their struggles, and got it started in the first game. Eastern first went ahead in the top of the fourth inning by scoring three runs. Eurick Perez led off with a home run, and later in the inning, Garlind Webster supplied an RBI double and Alex DeLaCruz had an RBI single, putting the Greyhounds ahead 4-2.

Angelo State tied it at 4 in the bottom of the fourth, but ENMU responded with four runs in the top of the fifth, going up to stay. After RBI singles by Malcolm Smith and Nick Ankerman, Webster clouted a two-run triple, giving the Hounds an 8-4 lead.

Webster added an insurance run in the top of the seventh with an RBI single, giving him four RBIs in the opener. He finished the game 3-for-3 with a run scored.

Enrique Perez (5-3) earned the pitching victory, scattering seven hits and striking out three through 5 2/3 innings while overcoming six walks.

Levi Shandrew pitched a perfect 1 1/3 innings of relief, striking out two along the way to earn his fifth save.

In the second game, Eastern had built a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning, four of those runs coming in the third. Endy Villalona put ENMU on the board with a two-run double to left-center, and Eurick Perez followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0.

The Hounds’ fifth run came an inning later on a DeLaCruz RBI single.

Eastern stayed in control, leading 7-3 after five innings, 11-3 after six.

Keenan Dodd (5-3) pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed just three hits during that span. Elijah Cappello knocked out the next 2 2/3 innings, surrendering no hits but allowing one run in the seventh, thanks to a pair of hit-by-pitches, a walk, two wild pitches and a ground out.

Eurick Perez finished the nightcap with two hits, two runs scored, four RBIs and a walk.

Chris Padilla was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk. Villalona went 2-for-3, with three runs scored, two RBIs and two walks.

Webster and DeLaCruz each supplied two hits for the Greyhounds (19-20, 5-14 LSC), who will conclude the Angelo State series today, beginning at noon. It will be their last game until May 1, when they visit Dallas Christian College for a doubleheader.