Hounds' Seema takes first in 800 at LSC indoor meet

LUBBOCK — Senior Malethabo Seema took first place in the women’s 800 on Saturday’s final day of competition in the Lone Star Conference indoor track meet, hosted by Lubbock Christian, to help ENMU’s women to a sixth-place team finish with 37 points.

Meantime, the ENMU men were ninth in team standings with seven points.

Seema, who ran a time of 2 minutes, 16.12 seconds, won the LSC outdoor championship in the event last spring and placed third in the indoor version in 2020 before COVID-19 wiped out the spring campaign.

The Hounds claimed a 3-6 finish in the 5,000 with senior Aminata Kenyawani (18:08.24) and sophomore Dorcas Kosgei (19:01.82). They were third in the distance medley (12:40.03) with junior Lethabo Seema, freshman Alisha Hayde and sophomores Kaylyn DeLaRosa and Marta Pascoa.

Other scoring places were notched by junior Arianna Hayde, fifth in long jump (18 feet, 0-1/4 inch) and sixth in triple jump (37-5 3/4); the 1,600 relay, seventh in 4:04.04 with Lethabo Seema, freshman Alisha Hayde, DeLaRosa and Pascoa, and sophomore Tamia Smith, eighth in shot put (40-10 1/2).

Men’s placers were juniors Kelvin Kipkemboi, sixth in the 5,000 (15.19.28), and Japhet Toroitch, seventh in the 400 (49.00 seconds), and the distance medley relay team of junior Devin Cheruiyot, sophomore Mohamed Megeno, freshman Dan Hurren and Toroitch, seventh in 11:00.97.

West Texas A&M swept both team titles, the Lady Buffs winning their ninth in a row with 215 1/2 points to 115 for Angelo State and 76 1/3 for Texas A&M-Commerce. Meantime, the WT men finished with 206 points to 120 for Commerce and 85 for Angelo.

Softball — To say that Lubbock Christian has dominated ENMU in their 13-year history might be a bit of an understatement.

The Greyhounds did play somewhat competitively, though, in a Sunday non-league doubleheader at Lubbock, dropping the opener 8-0 and the nightcap 5-1 to extend their losing streak to six games.

Since the teams first met in 2010, the Lady Chaps have won all 37 meetings, outscoring ENMU in that time 369-105. The Hounds, though, have lost five games in the series by one run and another by two.

After getting blanked on three hits by LCU senior right-hander Taylor Franco in the opener, the Hounds (7-9) scratched out a run in the top of the fourth in Game 2 for a 1-0 lead when designated player Bella Mendoza delivered a two-out single to drive in Lizette Urquidez, who led off the frame with a double.

The Lady Chaps (14-2), who have won 14 in a row, tied it in the bottom of the inning, then scored three off ENMU sophomore Brook Leger (6-3) in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Brooke Makemson and RBI singles from catcher Tyla Lee and second baseman Skylar Herrera.

Leger went five innings, allowing seven hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. Meantime, Franco (8-0) got the final out of the fifth to strand runners in scoring position and finished the contest for her second win of the day.

Urquidez and Mendoza were both 2-for-3 for ENMU, which had six hits.

In the opener, LCU jumped out to a 5-0 lead through three innings. Urquidez relieved starter Taylor Harrison (1-4) with one out in the first and ENMU nearly avoided the eight-run rule, but the Lady Chaps got consecutive two-out RBI singles from designated player Angela Donaldson, right fielder Athena Muniz and left fielder Kamryn Gibbs in the bottom of the sixth.

Shortstop Brooke Makemson led the Lady Chaps’ 11-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. First baseman Kasey Flores led off the third for LCU with her fifth home run of the campaign.

A pair of non-league tilts between the teams at Greyhound Softball Field on Friday was canceled due to the chilly weather. The Hounds and Lady Chaps play their LSC doubleheader on March 13 at Lubbock.

ENMU opens LSC action at home this weekend, hosting doubleheaders against Texas A&M-Commerce at 2 p.m. on Friday and Texas-Tyler at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Baseball — At Lawton, Okla., ENMU and Cameron were only able to get two Monday games in of a scheduled four-game LSC series due to an ice storm that hit the Lawton, Okla., area last week. It didn’t go well for the Greyhounds as they absorbed 3-1 and 10-0 losses to the Aggies.

In the opener, two-out error in the third led to three unearned runs against ENMU right-hander Damian Acosta, who struck out eight and allowed five hits over five innings. The Hounds (2-10, 1-9) broke through in the top of the seventh in the seven inning contest on designated hitter Nyles Duran’s run-scoring triple.

Kalen Haynes (3-1), a 6-foot-7 left-hander, allowed two hits over four innings for the win.

The Aggies (6-8, 6-8) belted three home runs in the nightcap, erupting for five runs in the first and ending it on the 10-run rule with three in the bottom of the eighth.

Second baseman Beau Williams led off the first with a home run, and first baseman Ryan Allen capped it with a three-run shot off ENMU starter Tommy Perez (0-1). Third baseman Jayce Clem added a solo homer in the third.

Clayton McClennan (1-1), the second of three Aggies pitchers, worked three innings for the win. Texico sophomore Dalton Thatcher went the middle three innings on the hill for ENMU, allowing two hits and a run with two strikeouts.

ENMU hosts Texas-Permian Basin in a four-game series this weekend, starting with a 4 p.m. single tilt on Friday.