Baseball | 4/16/2015 1:59:00 PM

Thursday, April 16, 2015

PORTALES, N.M. — The Eastern New Mexico baseball team will look to take on Texas A&M University-Kingsville this weekend, fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive and even jump into the No. 4 spot in the conference.
 
The last series against the Javelinas did not end well for the Greyhounds this season, dropping four games by three runs or less in Kingsville, Texas.  After the series sweep, the Greyhounds started out the LSC at 1-7, putting them in a do or die situation.
 
Well, the Greyhounds decided to do, going 8-8 over the next four conference series and keeping themselves right in the mix for a postseason berth. It's only fitting that they get a home rematch vs. the Javelinas going into the final season stretch.
 
In the first series between the two teams, both Clyde Kendrick (Jr., Vicksburg, Miss. / Holmes Community College) and James Gray (Sr., St. Petersburg, Fla. / East Carolina University) had spectacular outings.  Gray threw seven innings with only one run given up and nine strikeouts, giving him a 0.00 ERA.  Kendrick followed Gray with a five inning outing, 0.00 ERA performance, recording nine strikeouts as well as giving up no runs.
 
Matthew Burks (Sr., Vacaville, Calif. / Diablo Valley College) had his best series of the season, hitting .364 from the plate and drawing to walks as well.  The Greyhounds only recorded 27 hits during the series, but had nine extra base hits, eight of which were doubles. 
 
 
Recap vs West Texas A&M and USW 4/10-4/14
Taking one game vs. West Texas A&M University in a three game series over the weekend, the Eastern New Mexico University baseball team had huge performances from the plate out of Justin Paul (Jr.,  Papillion, Neb. / Highland Community College),  Daniel Ward (So., Cleveland, Ohio / Clovis Community College) and Chris Sanders (Sr., Murrieta, Calif. / Palomar College).


The Greyhounds lost Friday's game 2-1 and the first game of the doubleheader 10-8.  They took the final game 9-2, dominating the Buffs in every way during their final matchup.

Paul led the team on the weekend with a .545 average, recording six hits and a team-high seven RBIs.  Paul's .545 average is the highest of any batter in a single series this season.  Sanders batted an even .500 for the series with five hits and four RBIs.  Sanders went a perfect 4-for-4 in the first game of the doubleheader.

"I got to give a lot of credit to Ward and those guys, especially Sandberg Jr. who had a great day, said ENMU head coach Dave Gomez.  "Those are some guys that have been struggling but came out and had big days today."

Blake Cooper (R-Sr., Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Wilson High School / Golden West College) recorded three hits, all doubles, and a team-high four RBIs in the ENMU's 9-7 win over instate rival University of the Southwest Tuesday.

Cooper came up big for the Greyhounds (13-23, 8-15 LSC) against the Mustangs scoring one run to tie the game in the first inning.  The senior slugger followed that performance up with a double to centerfield in the second inning that gave ENMU the 8-2 lead.
 
He Just Throws Strikes
 
Gray continues his dominating performance from the mound, moving into the top 10 in the national rankings for strikeouts per nine innings.  Gray is now No. 6 in the nation in strikeouts per nine and currently sitting at No. 1 in the ENMU history books for highest K's per nine for a season.
 
Gray now has a 4.54 ERA, a 2-3 record and a team-leading 58 strikeouts in 39.2 innings pitched.
 
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.
 
For his 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
 
Paul leads the Greyhounds with a .357 batting average, followed by Charles Sandberg Jr. (Jr., Bradenton, Fla. / State College of Fla. Manatee-Sarasota) at .326 and Sanders at .313.  Coopers leads the team in RBIs with 28 on the season and Paul is second with 27.  Paul leads the teams with 40 hits as well.
 
Cooper and Ward lead the team with four home runs each.  Paul holds the longest current hitting streak with nine consecutive games and ties Sanders for the longest streak on the season with nine games with a hit.
 
The Greyhound Rotation
 
Pope leads the Greyhounds from the mound with a 5-3 record and an ERA of 4.13.  Gray leads the team in strikeouts with 58, followed by Pope with 45 and Kendrick with 42.
 
Shank has the lowest ERA on the team of pitchers who have pitched more then 10 innings, with a 1.30 ERA.  In 10 appearances Shank has thrown 27.2 innings with 17 strikeouts and only four earned runs.  The pitcher has thrown 13.1 straight shutout innings, proving to be the teams top reliever out of the bullpen.
 
Overall Record and Runs
 
Eastern has lost 16 games this season by three runs or less, with 10 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 .955 compared to their opponents .952.  The Greyhounds have 47 errors on the season compared to their opponents 54. 
 
Eastern has 13 players on the team with perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.  Cooper at first base leads the team with 240 catches and 226 put outs while Keenan Dodd (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M. / Hope Christian Academy) at shortstop leads the team in assists with 57, followed by Matthew Burks at second base with 42. 
 
Greyhounds in the Nation
 
In 284.2 innings pitched the Greyhounds have 279 strikeouts, or 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.  This puts the Greyhounds at No. 20 in the country in strikeouts per nine innings.  Gray is ranked No. 6 in strikeouts per nine innings (13.16).
 
ENMU Standings in the LSC
School                                   Conf      CPct.      Overall  Pct.        Streak   Home    Away     Neutral
Texas A&M-Kingsville         18-8       0.692     24-15    0.615     W4         19-3       4-10      1-2
West Texas A&M                 16-10     0.615    26-14     0.650     W1         12-2       13-10     1-2
Angelo State                      15-11     0.577     27-12     0.692     W2         18-4       9-8          0-0
Tarleton State                   10-13     0.435     16-17     0.485     L1            10-8       4-7          2-2
Eastern New Mexico          8-15       0.348     13-23     0.361     W2         8-8          4-13       1-2
Cameron                             8-18       0.308     15-23     0.395     L4            8-9 6-     14           1-0

The Greyhounds are now one game back from fourth place, trailing Cameron and Tarleton State.  The conference takes the top four teams for the postseason tournament, with the winning team getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Div. II Regionals.