Friday, April 17, 2015
PORTALES, N.M. — Daniel Ward (So., Cleveland, Ohio / Clovis Community College) hit two homeruns and a triple, resulting in seven RBIs and a 19-9 win Friday, for the Eastern New Mexico University baseball team over Texas A&M University-Kingsville, the No. 1 team in the Lone Star Conference.
Ward now leads the team with six homeruns and has 26 RBIs on the season. His two RBI homerun in the second inning helped the Greyhounds (14-23, 9-15 LSC) take an 8-2 lead over the Javelinas (24-16, 19-4) heading into the third inning. The last time ENMU scored eight runs in in one inning was against University of the Southwest on Feb. 23, 2014, where the Greyhounds also scored 19 runs in the game.
"Phenomenal game from Ward with those homeruns and seven RBIs," said Greyhound head coach
David Gomez. "He's a very special player, very talented, and now he is starting to come into his own and will be a very important player for us down the stretch."
Matthew Burks (Sr., Vacaville, Calif. / Diablo Valley College) also homered in the contest, his first of the season. Burks led the LSC in homeruns in 2014 with 10. Burks finished the game with two hits and four RBIs.
The 19 runs scored by ENMU is the most on the season and with their lineup starting to come alive late in the season, the Greyhounds see good things in their future.
Justin Paul (Jr., Papillion, Neb. / Highland Community College) continued his team-leading 10 game hitting streak Friday, recording three hits, while six other Greyhounds also had multiple hit games.
"This is what we envisioned when we put this team together. These guys work really hard, going to the weight room, hitting batting practice, doing what they're supposed to. We started off so slow, but now we are turning it up a notch and see what this team really is," said Gomez.
Mike Peters (Sr., Columbia, Miss. / Alcorn State University) earned the win, his first of the season, throwing six innings with four strikeouts.
Cody Pope (Sr., Kingman, Ariz. / Williston State College) came in as relief, throwing one inning before the Greyhounds exploded from the plate in the bottom of the seventh to end the game with the 10 run rule.
ENMU will continue their series with TAMUK Saturday, where the Greyhounds will also honor their 13 seniors. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (MST)
