Farewell, home

PORTALES - Friday marked the end of home games for the Eastern New Mexico softball team, which spent Friday honoring five seniors who were consistent contributors all season.

But nationally-ranked teams tend not to care about things like that. Tarleton State, ranked 21st in Division II, cruised to 13-0 and 4-0 victories in the doubleheader at Greyhound Field. Those wins, combined with Thursday's 6-1 victory, gave the TexAnns a sweep to move their win streak to five and give them an outside chance to claim a high seed in the upcoming Lone Star Conference tournament.

The Greyhounds (12-27, 8-19) managed just one run on 14 hits over the three-game series, while Tarleton State's offense had almost as many extra base hits with six doubles and six homers.

Three came off the bat of Destiny Crumpley, including a pair in Friday's opening win that featured a three-homer, nine-run fifth inning aided by a pair of Greyhound errors.

The Greyhounds scored their lone run of the series in the second inning of Thursday's single contest, with Iliana Mendoza singling home Karina Moreno to tie it at 1. The TexAnns didn't strike again until the sixth inning, when Amanda Conner doubled in a pair and Georgia Cappell cleared the bases with her own double.

Eastern entered the series already eliminated from the postseason tournament. The weekend ended with all six playoff teams decided and the top five seeds still up for grabs.

Three teams - Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M - are tied for the top seed at 21-6, with Cameron (19-8) and Tarleton State (18-9) close behind and Angelo State (17-13) finished with LSC play and locked into the No. 6 seed.

Commerce plays Cameron and WT plays Tarleton State, while Kingsville has the inside track on clinching No. 1 with its final series coming against 3-24 UT Permian Basin.

The Greyhounds close out the season at Midwestern State, with a 2 p.m. MDT Friday doubleheader and an 11 a.m. MDT Saturday season finale in Wichita Falls.