Friday, February 26, 2016

PORTALES, N.M. — Junior shortstop Susannah Chandler batted .714 and cracked her second homerun of the season, as The Eastern New Mexico University softball team (7-9; LSC 0-2) opened Lone Star Conference play on Friday afternoon. Midwestern State (14-8; LSC 2-0) won the first game of the doubleheader, 13-4, and claimed the nightcap by a score of 14-5, at Greyhound Field.

"I am not pleased," said head coach Katie Welborn. "We are stronger than what we showed today."

After grounding in a double play early in the first game, Chandler registered singles in her final two at bats of the contest. She missed the cycle by a triple in the nightcap, to finish five-for-seven on the day. When asked as to how she approaches at-bats, Chandler responded "By slowing the game down." "When I step up to the box, I own the box, I make it mine," she added.

The Eastern New Mexico University softball team will play a second doubleheader against Midwestern State, on Saturday at noon. "It's a mental shift," said Welborn. We have to make the adjustments that we didn't make today.

Game 1
ENMU starter worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning, but the Mustangs struck first with a second-inning leadoff run from Erin Knox. Midwestern State tacked on single runs in the third and fourth innings for a 3-0 lead, before ENMU got on track offensively.

Errika Burke drew a one-out walk in the Greyhound fourth, followed by singles from Chandler and Morgan Green. Burke scored on an error, and Kyra Sirag followed with a squeeze bunt to trim the deficit to 3-2. Simone Laurenz plated Green with the game-tying run with a ground out to second base.

The Mustangs immediately responded with a Katelyn Vinson three-run homer to seize a 6-3 lead. Eastern pulled within two runs on Chandler's RBI single in the fifth, but came no closer as MSU pulled away for the win.

Audrey Velasquez doubled for ENMU, while Mariah Rodriguez added a single. Vinson hit three-for-five for Midwestern State, with two doubles, a homer, and six RBIs.

Game 2
The Mustangs got off to an early start in the second game as well, sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the first, and charged to a 4-0 lead. Velasquez drew a leadoff walk in the Greyhound first, and Chandler followed with a one-out, two-run blast. Marleyna Piñon followed with a solo homer in the second inning to pull the Hounds within one run.

MSU plated three more runs in the third inning and took a 7-2 lead on a two-run double from Misty Muniz. Kyra Sirag scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning and Velasquez came home on a Chandler single in the fifth, but the Mustangs pulled away with a five-run seventh inning.

With a fourth-inning single, Sirag extended her hit streak to seven games, to match Velasquez for the longest of the season. Chandler hit three-for-four in the game and drove in three runs. Vinson led MSU with a three-for-five performance, a homerun, and three RBIs.