PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico bats came alive following a 40 minute lightning delay, but couldn't quite muster enough runs in the Green Out Weekend series opener against No. 17 West Texas A&M as the Hounds fell 13-3 in eight innings on Friday night.
Making his first collegiate start, redshirt freshman Ethan Coombes got off to a strong start as he faced the minimum in the top of the first after recording a flyout and induced a strikeout and throw out double play following a walk.
After a scoreless first inning, the Buffs (25-8, 4-5 Lone Star Conference) were able to push four runs across in the second. West Texas A&M added five more in the fourth and three more in the fifth to extend its advantage to 12-0 through five.
In Eastern's (13-16, 1-4 LSC) half of the fifth, Ryan Anderson led off with a single to center, but the game would be sent into a delay during Luidinson Hidalgo's at-bat due to lightning strikes in the area.
Upon returning to play, Hidalgo drew a walk but West Texas A&M was able to record three straight outs to end the ENMU threat.
The Greyhounds were able to crack through in the bottom of the sixth when Joel Paulino led off the inning with a triple to the right center field gap and later came around to score on a Malcolm Boehm RBI triple down the right field line to make it a 12-1 game.
The Hounds were able to extend the game in the seventh. Following a Hidalgo leadoff walk and a Nicholas Ankerman double to put both runners in scoring position, Hidalgo crossed home plate after a hard-hit ball by Tapia went through the WTAMU third baseman's legs to bring the game to 12-2. In the following at-bat, Paulino was able to push Ankerman across on an RBI single that slipped through the right side to trim the Buffs' lead to nine.
West Texas A&M was able to push one more run across in the top of the eighth to prevent a Hounds comeback.
The Buffs scored their 13 runs on 11 hits and an error, while the Greyhounds tallied their three runs on six hits and committed four errors.
Paulino recorded half of the Hounds hits after slashing 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Coombes took the loss on the mound after tossing three innings, but one bright spot out of the ENMU pen was Michael Holliday, who threw 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out three.
The Hounds will pursue an upset bid tomorrow as they will return to the field to face the Buffs in a doubleheader. The first game of the day is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
