ENMU falls to Aggies

LAWTON, Okla. — Eastern New Mexico had plenty of evidence that Cameron’s Hayden Jaco was in the conversation as one of the Lone Star Conference’s best catchers.

The Greyhounds found out how good the senior could be on the mound, as well.

Jaco, Cameron’s regular backstop, had by far his best performance on the mound with a no-hitter to help the Aggies defeat ENMU 11-0 and earn a doubleheader sweep.

The Aggies posted a four-game sweep in the series, topping the Greyhounds by a 10-0 count in Thursday’s series opener, 12-4 in Friday’s doubleheader opener and 17-7 in Saturday’s series finale.

The wins moved the host Aggies to 19-22 overall and put them third in the LSC standings at 10-6. The Greyhounds, 13-27 overall, dropped to 1-15 in conference.

Jaco struck out eight, and pitched five 1-2-3 innings against the Greyhounds. Eastern only had three baserunners against Jaco — two in the third on an error and a hit batter, and one in the fifth on another hit batter — but none of them got farther than second base against the Aggie defense.

There wasn’t much evidence to suggest Jaco’s second start of the season would last more than a few innings, let alone become Cameron’s first no-hitter since 2013. He had pitched just 5 2/3 innings over three appearances with six strikeouts and an earned run average of 10.8. One of those efforts came against ENMU in March, where he allowed three runs on a hit and three walks in just two-thirds of an inning.

After his no-no against the Greyhounds, Jaco’s season ERA shrunk to 5.27.

Enrique Perez (4-4) took the loss, allowing nine unearned runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings of work.

Thursday (Cameron 10-0) — The Aggies started the series hot, scoring five in the first and never looking back.

Jaco hit a two-run double to make it 3-0 early, then scored on a Jordan Harrison single.

Drew Henderson (2-1) pitched the shutout, scattering four hits and a walk while striking out four Greyhounds.

Ethan Coombes (0-5) allowed 10 runs, five earned, on 10 hits over his 5 1/3 innings. Nicholas Ankerman was 2-for-3 for the Greyhounds.

Friday opener (Cameron 12-4) — Nate Pecota went 2-for-3 for the Aggies, including a three-run double during Cameron’s five-run first, and Cameron scored the game’s first 12 runs.

Gage Vines improved to 4-1 for Cameron after allowing four hits over six scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out three.

The Greyhounds scored all four of their runs in the seventh, two of them on a Tristan Bowden double.

Joel Torres (3-4) took the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits in three innings.

Shortstop Paul Tapia and leftfielder Joseph Zubia each had multi-hit games with a run scored, with Tapia 2-for-4 and Zubia 2-for-3.

Saturday (Cameron 17-7) — Jaco went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the Aggies’ six-run third.

The Greyhounds took their first lead of the series, when Tapia scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch by starter Chris Hansen. They tacked on another with a Tapia sacrifice fly in the second, but never led after the third.

Eastern scored three times in the fifth, with an RBI double by Perez and a two-run single by Joel Paulino. But Cameron answered with another six-spot that included a two-run Pecota double.

The Hounds put up a pair of seventh-inning runs on a Chris Padilla single and a wild pitch, but Cameron answered with five more in the seventh to invoke the mercy rule. Jaco hit a two-run double, and finished things off by scoring on a bases-loaded walk.

The Greyhounds host Tarleton State (12-29, 2-13) this weekend in a four-game series that will likely decide the sixth and final seed in the LSC postseason tournament. The series will include nine-inning single games 7 p.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Sunday and a 1 p.m. Saturday doubleheader with seven-inning contests.