PORTALES, N.M. - The Eastern New Mexico softball team kicks off the 2021 season on the road for a set of doubleheaders this weekend. The Greyhounds face Texas A&M-Commerce on Friday and UT Tyler on Sunday. 

RETURNING TO PLAY

The Eastern New Mexico softball team is eager to return to competition after the 2020 season was cut short after just 19 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Greyhounds have been working hard to prepare for the 2021 season after not having any opportunities to practice as a team this past fall due to ENMU not allowing students on campus. Over the last few months, Eastern has been practicing in pods due to strict protocols set by the state of New Mexico.

RETURNING TO THE CIRCLE

The Greyhounds return three strong arms to the pitching rotation in Jordan Bowman, Tava Boone, and Brook Leger. Last season Leger led the way for the Greyhounds with a 4-1 record and a team-leading 36 strikeouts in 30.0 innings of work.

Bowman paced the Hounds with an ERA of 3.71 and a 2-1 record in 39.2 innings pitched. Boone finished the shortened season with a 2-3 record, 4.15 ERA, and 12 strikeouts in 28.2 innings.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Texas A&M- Commerce
The No. 5 nationally ranked Lions have an overall record of 6-4 heading into Friday's conference opener. On Tuesday, Texas A&M-Commerce defeated No. 16 Rogers State by scores of 5-4 (8 innings) and 8-0 (8 innings).

So far this season, Madison Schaefer leads the way for the Lions with a .452 batting average, 14 hits, four doubles, and nine RBI.

Alyssa LeBlanc paces the team in home runs with three and is second on the team in RBI with seven.

In the circle, LeBlanc has a record of 6-2, an ERA of 1.84, and 55 strikeouts in 38 innings of work.

UT Tyler
No. 10 UT Tyler enters the weekend with an overall record of 6-4. They will face West Texas A&M on Friday before facing the Greyhounds on Sunday. On Feb. 26-28 they hosted the UT Tyler Irwin Classic where they finished 2-2 on the weekend. The Patriots defeated Our Lady of the Lake twice (7-0, 3-0) and then fell to No. 16 Rogers State (2-0) and No. 3 Augustana University (7-5).

Ashley Perez leads the team in batting percentage (.452), doubles (8) and RBI (11). Haleigh Swinney has a team-leading 16 hits, 10 runs, and one triple to go with a .432 batting average.

Erin Hill paces UT Tyler in the circle with a 4-1 record. Hill boasts a 0.93 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 30 innings. Payton Foster has a 2-3 record with 21 strikeouts and a 1.12 ERA in 31.1 innings.