Easter New Mexico Baseball | 04.23.2016 | David Norton
KINGSVILLE, Texas — The Eastern New Mexico baseball team dropped two close contests against No. 26 Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday, falling 5-3 and 8-6 and continuing a recent streak of late game defeats.
The two losses moved ENMU to 10-34 overall and 3-26 in the Lone Star Conference. The Javelinas are now 30-13, with a 20-9 conference record.
Daniel Ward led the team from the plate, having one of his more productive outings of the season – finishing the day 5-for-9 with three RBIs. His two multi-hit games Saturday gives the junior 12 total on the season. Dylan Nault finished the matchup against the Javelinas with three hits and one RBI – the only other Greyhound with multiple hits.
Game one of the doubleheader had ENMU go up by a score of 1-0 in the first inning, but a big four run inning by Kingsville would force the Greyhounds to play catchup the entire contest. While Eastern would end up making the game a close affair, Kingsville would ultimately walk away 5-3.
Daniel Schiller threw two innings in relief during game one, allowing only one hit and no runs while striking out one batter. While only two Greyhound pitchers threw in game one, game two would see Eastern go deep into its bullpen with some reasonable success.
Jarron Hill highlighted the effort, going three full innings from the rubber while fanning three batters and allowing only two hits with no runs. Enrique Perez made an appearance on the mound as well, throwing two-thirds of an inning while allowing only a single hit.
The second contest would see the Greyhounds playing from behind as soon as the bottom of the first inning, when the Javelinas put three scores on the board. Their lead would grow to 5-0 before the Hounds eventually scored, with a one run fifth inning followed by a huge five run sixth.
Mike McNicholl was a large part of the Eastern scoring drive, hitting a double with the bases loaded and scoring three runs. A rare non-start for McNicholl, the sophomore was put in to pinch with two outs on the board – making the feat even more impressive and giving the Hounds a 6-5 lead.
Despite the giant offensive output for the Hounds and the lead, Kingsville would score another three run inning in the bottom of the eighth, ultimately winning the game.
The team will now head back to Portales to prepare for their final road series of the season against the West Texas A&M Buffs. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (MT) in Canyon, Texas.
