Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Eastern New Mexico baserunner Paul Tapia is able to slide around the tag attempt from Angelo State shortstop Nic Novak in the third inning of Sunday's opener at Greyhound Field. Tapia scored later in the inning on a Joel Paulino single.
PORTALES - Angelo State bats produced 29 hits on Sunday, and the No. 3 Rams left town with a four-game series sweep despite a late charge from Eastern New Mexico Sunday afternoon.
Sunday's 15-2 and 15-10 victories pushed Angelo State (34-7) to a Lone Star Conference best 14-2 mark, and moved its winning streak to nine games.
The Greyhounds, outscored 56-15 in the series, dropped to 13-32 overall. Eastern New Mexico, currently on an eight-game skid, remained a game behind sixth place Tarleton State (12-26, 2-10) in conference play.
Left fielder Jacob Finke posted a dominant first game, going 3-for-5 with 7 RBIs, including a three-run shot that blew things open in a five-run fourth inning. Finke also had a solo shot in the nightcap.
The Rams took an early 3-0 lead in the opener with a three-run second. The Greyhounds conceded the first run in order to complete a 4-6-3 double play against Jason Williams, then the Rams scored a pair of two-out runs on a Nic Novak double and Josh Elvir single.
Finke added a two-run double in Angelo's four-run seventh.
Josh Barnett (4-1) picked up the win in 4 1/3 innings of work, scattering six hits while allowing an earned run. He struck out six. Reliever Klay Houston recorded all of his outs via strikeout in relief, punching out eight of the 12 batters he faced.
Enrique Perez fell to 4-3 after allowing nine runs on 10 hits in four innings of work.
The Greyhounds were much better offensively in the series finale, but didn't seriously threaten after Angelo pulled away from a 6-6 tie with four runs in the fifth. Jackson Hardy and Novak each had two-run hits in the inning.
Four Greyhounds had three-hit games in the finale, led by leftfielder Chris Padilla's 3-for-3 effort with two runs scored. First baseman Bryan Waltemath was also 3-for-3 with a run, whiel Nichola Ankerman and Joel Paulino each went 3-for-6. Ankerman had RBI singles in the second, fourth and seventh.
Reliever Andrew Croucher improved to 4-0 with the win, allowing three runs in 3 1/3 innings on six hits. Starter Fernando Burgos (3-4) took the loss for the Greyhounds, allowing nine runs on nine hits.
The Easter weekend means the Greyhounds will start this week's four-game series early. They'll visit Cameron to play 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by a Friday doubleheader and noon Saturday series finale.
