Baseball | 4/14/2016 4:26:00 PM
Eastern New Mexico Baseball | 04.14.2016 | David Norton
PORTALES, N.M. — Heading quickly towards the end of the 2016 season, The Eastern New Mexico baseball team is getting set to host Tarleton State this weekend in their second meeting of the season and the Hound's second to last home series.
The Greyhounds head into the series with a 10-27 overall record and 3-20 in Lone Star Conference play. The Texans are sitting at 15-21, going 9-14 in the LSC.
This season the Texans took the lion's share of the first meeting, winning the first three games of the four game series before the Greyhounds stole one on the road in game four, 4-2. Since 1995, Tarleton leads the overall matchup between the two teams 65-40-1.
Looking at the offensive output for both teams, the Greyhounds and Texans are very similar. With ENMU holding a slight edge in batting average, .275 to .265, across the board many stats are almost identical, with extra base and total hits only being separated by single digits.
The series should turn out to be a competitive one, with the two teams not only sharing similar stats, but also a similar record against common LSC opponents. Both teams are 1-4 against both Cameron University and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
The Hounds will look to their impact players for big weekends, led by Daniel Ward and Justin Paul from the plate. Ward still leads the team in batting average, slugging and on base percentages (.387, .656 and .458). Paul leads the teams in hits with 39 as well as RBIs with 25.
From the mound fans can expect to see starts from James Thomas and Alec Lemmon, two of the emerging reliable arms for the Greyhounds. Lemmon leads the teams in innings pitched, throwing 30.1 on the season with a 6.53 ERA. Closing for ENMU will be Scott Klein, who leads the team statistically from the rubber, heading into the series with the Texans holding a 3.21 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 14 innings of work.
Rolling over into the second half of the conference season, series will now be cut down to three games instead of the customary four, giving teams an extra day of rest as they head towards postseason play. Friday's matchup is scheduled for 6 p.m. (MT) with the doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 and 3:30 p.m. (MT).
