Wednesday, March 25, 2015
PORTALES, N.M. — The Eastern New Mexico University baseball team will head to Stephenville, Texas, Friday, April 3-4, for a four game series with Tarleton State University.
Originally scheduled as a three game series, the two teams agreed to add a fourth game to make up at least one of the games missed earlier in the season between the two teams due to weather restrictions. ENMU (9-19, 5-11 LSC) is 37-60-1 in the overall series with Tarleton State (12-13, 6-9 LSC).
"Tarleton is a really strong, fundamental team. They come out with great energy and intensity every time," said ENMU assistant baseball coach
Brett Merritt. "Their as hot as anyone in our conference and we know it's going to be a competitive weekend."
In 2014 the first meeting between these two teams took place in Stephenville and had the greyhounds walking away taking 1-of-4 games from the Texans. In Portales ENMU swept Tarleton State in a three game series, pushing their overall season record against the Texans to 4-3.
Tarleton finished last season's conference play at 16-18, taking the third seed in the LSC Tournament.
Recap vs Angelo State and Lubbock Christian 3/20 The Eastern New Mexico University baseball team not only took 3-of-4 games from nationally ranked Angelo State University over the weekend, but set a new school record and came close to breaking a second.
While the Greyhounds have had winning series against the Rams in the past, never before has ENMU taken three games from Angelo State in a four game series. Only twice before in the series history have the Greyhounds taken 2-of-3 games.
"ASU is a really good ball club and we showed what we are capable over with almost winning all four games. It comes down to how we play; if we play our game we are tough to beat," said Merritt.
The other closely contested record over the weekend series was for the most strikeouts ever thrown in a game, a record held by Mark Jackson who threw 14 strikeouts in a 12 inning affair against Wayland Baptist in 1993.
James Gray (Sr., St. Petersburg, Fla. / East Carolina University) came within one strikeout of tying the record when he threw 13 strikeouts in the 3-1 victory for the Rams on Saturday in the second game of the doubleheader.
Zach Shank (R-Fr., Gallup, N.M. / Oklahoma Baptist University) also had an incredibly efficient weekend, coming in as a reliever twice pitching 5.2 innings while giving up only four hits and no runs. From the plate
Dylan Nault (R-Jr., Anaheim, Calif. / Cypress College) earned a .462 average against the Rams, going 6-of-13 from the plate and recording three RBIs.
Blake Cooper (R-Sr., Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Wilson High School / Golden West College) also had himself a week from the plate, hitting .333 with four hits and a team leading four RBIs.
Justin Paul was the only other Greyhound with multiple RBIs, recording two during the four game
He Just Throws Strikes Gray etched his name in the ENMU baseball record books over the weekend, fanning a season-high 13 batters against the Angelo State Rams. Of 21 possible outs, Gray K'd over half the outs and now sits at number two on the single game strikeout list behind Mark Jackson, who set the record of 14 strikeouts in 1993 in a 12 inning win against Wayland Baptist.
Gray is ranked No. 11 in both strikeouts per nine innings (13.19) and walks per nine innings (0.67). He now has a 3.99 ERA on the season, throwing 43 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched, giving up 33 hits and 17 earned runs.
For his weekend performance against the Rams, Gray was named the LSC Pitcher of the Week. He is the first pitcher to receive the honor in over a year for the Greyhounds.
ENMU Batting Prowess Justin Paul (Jr., Papillion, Neb. / Highland Community College) leads the Greyhounds with a .322 batting average, followed by
Charles Sandberg Jr. (Jr., Bradenton, Fla. / State College of Fla. Manatee-Sarasota) at .313 and Sanders at .310. Paul and Cooper are tied for the most RBIs on the season with 19 apiece. The two batters are also tied for most hits with 28 each.
Cooper leads the team with four home runs, followed by
Daniel Ward (So., Cleveland, Ohio / Clovis Community College) with three. Ward holds the longest current hitting streak with three consecutive games and
Chris Sanders (
Sr., Murrieta, Calif. / Palomar College) holds the longest streak on the season with nine games with a hit.
The Greyhound Rotation Cody Pope (Sr., Kingman, Ariz. / Williston State College) leads the Greyhounds from the mound with a 4-3 record and an ERA of 4.07. Gray leads the team in strikeouts with 43, followed by Pope with 38 and
Clyde Kendrick (Jr., Vicksburg, Miss. / Holmes Community College) with 31.
Shank has the lowest ERA on the team of pitchers who have pitched more then 10 innings, with a 1.71 ERA. In eight appearances Shank has thrown 21 innings with 14 strikeouts and only four earned runs.
Overall Record and Runs Eastern has lost 14 games this season by three runs or less, with six contests being decided by just one run. In games the Greyhounds have won, they are beating opponents by an average score of 4.5 runs a game.
Greyhounds Defense Eastern's defense is playing superbly well this season, with an average fielding percentage of .953 compared to their opponents .948. The Greyhounds have 43 errors on the season compared to their opponents 51.
Eastern has 13 players on the team with perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Cooper at first base leads the team with 207 catches and 193 put outs while
Keenan Dodd (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M. / Hope Christian Academy) at shortstop leads the team in assists with 44, followed by
Matthew Burks (Sr., Vacaville, Calif. / Diablo Valley College) at second base with 42.
Greyhounds in the Nation In 217.2 innings pitched the Greyhounds have 212 strikeouts, or 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings. This puts the Greyhounds at No. 37 in the country in strikeouts per nine inning.
Gray is ranked No. 11 in both strikeouts per nine innings (13.19) and walks per nine innings (0.67).
