Eastern New Mexico Baseball | 03.24.2016 | David Norton | Photo by Claude Vigil
PORTALES, N.M. — Despite an early lead and a strong nine innings, the Eastern New Mexico baseball team couldn't manage to overcome No. 18 West Texas A&M in Thursday's 10-7 loss.
The Greyhounds (9-18, 2-11 LSC) got a solid outing from starting pitcher Nick DeArmond for the first two innings, only giving up two hits and no runs while on offense his teammates put up three runs in the first inning. The Buffs (20-7, 9-4 LSC) would answer resoundingly though, putting up three runs in the third and four runs in the fourth.
"On the mound Nick gave us a good start and did the best he could out there for two or three innings on short rest," said Greyhound head coach David Gomez. "Out of the pen we were pretty good, but we did have a lot of walks. We were in striking distant again, now we just have to go out there and put it all together."
Several wild pitches and nine walks would be the problem for the Hounds in the contest, allowing West Texas to not only get runners on base, but advance them in to scoring position to compound the mistakes. The Buffs finished the game with four errors on the day and equaled the Greyhounds in hits at 12 each.
The Greyhounds would continue on however, scoring one run in each of their next three innings. Unfortunately, the Buffs would keep pace, putting up three of their own runs over the next four innings and finally sealing the contest at 10-7.
The one through seven spots in the Greyhound lineup all recorded at least one hit, led by Dylan Nault who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Justin Paul also recorded two hits and two RBIs, while Isaak Bustamante and Keenan Dodd each recorded two hits apiece.
Gomez said, "We came out firing on all cylinders early, everybody was doing their part moving runners around and driving in runs. We got stale there for a few innings but then started scratching away at their lead again. 1-7 all got hits, so that's something to be real pleased with."
In relief for DeArmond, Chris Miranda-Carr threw two full innings, allowing only three hits and one run. Caleb Amos then pitched one inning before being relieved by Daniel Schiller, who closed the game out strong with two innings of work, fanning two batters and allowing only two hits.
Eastern will continue their home stand against the Buffs Friday with another late game scheduled for 6 p.m. (MT). The series will conclude Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. (MT).
