PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico baseball team struggled to stifle the red-hot Texas A&M-Kingsville bats as the Hounds dropped the opening game of the four game non-conference series 16-4 on Friday afternoon at Greyhound Field.

The Javelinas (13-7) opened the game with a big six-run first inning, but the Hounds (8-9) were able to tally a run back in the bottom of the frame to close the gap to 6-1.

Kingsville got the run back in the top of the second, but the Greyhounds were able to break through in the bottom of the third. After the Javelinas were able to get the first two ENMU batters out, the Hounds loaded the bases on a Joseph Zubia single to left followed by Eurick Perez being hit by a pitch and Nicholas Ankerman drawing a walk. Designated hitter Luidinson Hidalgo followed suit with a big three RBI triple to the left center field gap, clearing the bases to make it a 7-4 game.

However, the Hounds struggled to get the bats going over the next five frames as the Javelinas closed out the game with nine unanswered runs, seven of which came in the seventh and eighth innings.

Kingsville's 16 runs came on 16 hits along with two errors while the Hounds tallied their four runs on eight hits and committed six errors.

Eight different Hounds recorded hits in the contest as Ryan Anderson tallied his first hit of the season.

Fernando Burgos fell to 2-2 on the season in his start, throwing one inning and giving up six runs, just two earned to go with a pair of walks.

The Greyhounds will look to bounce back as Eastern will continue the series with Kingsville in a doubleheader tomorrow. The first game is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch with the second game starting approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.