Buffs eliminate Hounds from LSC baseball tournament

CANYON, Texas — Eastern New Mexico pulled out all of the pitching stops in Thursday night's Lone Star Conference tournament opener, and it secured the Greyhounds the right to face top-seeded West Texas A&M in the second round.

The Buffs had little trouble with the pitching the Greyhounds had left, and moved on to Saturday's championship with a 24-2 victory over ENMU Friday night.

West Texas A&M (39-11) never trailed and scored in seven of the eight innings in which it batted.

Designated hitter Tag Baxter went 4-for-6 with a two-run triple in the third, a two-run single in the fifth and a two-run double in the seventh — a six-spot that saw the Buffs send 10 men to the plate.

The Buffs, ranked No. 5 nationally in Division II, as a team posted a .930 slugging percentage thanks to 10 extra base hits and .589 on-base percentage thanks to 10 walks.

Six WT players had multi-hit games, including shortstop Justice Nakagawa's 3-for-4 day with a double and triple.

No pitcher recorded more than two innings against the Buff offense, which chased starter Keenan Dodd (6-4) in the bottom of the third. Dodd, who picked up the save in Thursday's 7-4 win over Angelo State in his only relief appearance of 2017, was tagged for eight earned runs on eight hits — with all four of the batters he faced eventually scoring.

Joe Corbett improved to 10-2 on the season, allowing two runs on six hits over seven innings with eight punchouts. Of his 99 pitches, 81 were strikes.

Garlind Webster was one of few bright spots for the Greyhounds, going 3-for-4 with a solo homer in the fourth inning. The Greyhounds got their other run in the seventh on a Malcolm Smith RBI single.

Tarleton State won Saturday's championship, taking advantage of a 10-run second inning en route to a 15-7 victory.