Eastern New Mexico Baseball | 05.07.2016 | David Norton | Photo By Adam Pitterman
PORTALES, N.M. — In what turned into one of the most exciting days of the season Saturday, the Eastern New Mexico baseball team said a bittersweet farewell to their four graduating seniors in a doubleheader loss to Cameron University, falling 14-6 and 21-20.
Eastern ends their season with a 10-40 overall record and 3-32 in the Lone Star Conference. The Aggies finished the LSC with an 18-17 record for fourth place and a 30-19 overall record.
The first game of the doubleheader saw Eastern take an early 5-2 lead heading into the top of the fourth inning. It wouldn't last however, as a six run fifth inning followed by a three run sixth and seventh by the Aggies would seal the Greyhound's fate, eventually ending in a final score of 14-6.
Keenan Dodd got the start for Eastern in that game, and while he would eventually be hung with the loss after giving up eight hits and allowing six earned runs, the sophomore pitcher threw one of his better games when he accumulated a season high 10 strikeouts.
No Greyhound would record multiple hits in the first game, although Charles Sandberg Jr. finished the contest going 1-for-3 with a double to centerfield that scored two runs. Eastern would finish the game with seven hits compared to Cameron's 14.
The second matchup of the day with the Aggies would become something special however, with the Hounds making a tremendous comeback in their final game of the season. Finding themselves down 13-0 after the first half inning, everything that could go wrong seemed to do just that.
Yet the team showed its resilience, roaring back with scores in the next five innings to take a 19-15 lead heading into the sixth inning. The comeback effort was due in part to a huge fourth inning where the Greyhounds would score eight runs.
The action continued though, with Cameron scoring three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to take a 21-19 lead back from Eastern. Finally, in the ninth and final inning, the team had their fans on the edge of their seats as they would score one run and have the bases loaded with two outs on the board.
While it would have been a storybook ending to walk off the field and send the seniors out with what would have been the largest comeback win in Eastern history, it was not meant to be as the final at bat would strike out, ending the tremendous contest by both teams.
A staggering six Greyhounds had multiple hits, led by Tregra Williams and Zach Shank with four hits apiece. Williams finished the day 4-for-6 with four RBIs, while Shank also 4-for-6 with two RBIs.
Sandberg completed his final contest as a senior with three hits and two RBIs, while Jacob Cluff went 2-for-5 and Dylan Nault hit an even .500 with his 3-for-6 performance. Nault would also drive in four RBIs.
Eastern finished the game with a season high 23 hits, with all but a few batters recording at least one hit. Daniel Ward, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, moved into first place on the season with 13 multiple hit games.
The Greyhounds will now prepare for the off season, building on their incredibly young but talented team for next year's season. As a final farewell from ENMU baseball team to their fans, please check out the post-game interview with the four seniors by clicking HERE or clicking the story links on the side of this article.
