ODESSA, Texas – The bus ride back to Portales is a happy one for the Greyhounds as Eastern New Mexico took care of business this weekend and swept the University of Texas Permian Basin. The final two games Sunday afternoon included a low-scoring 3-2 win and a five-inning run-rule victory, 9-1.
Game 1
ENMU and UTPB began the first game of the doubleheader in a tight, defensive-first battle as no score came until the third inning.
In that frame,
Mikenzey Patterson got on base with a two-out bunt and scored three pitches later as
Ashley Nickerson doubled to left center.
ENMU added another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from
Valeria Contreras allowing
Aylene Lucero enough time to cross home plate.
Trailing 2-0, UTPB cut the deficit in half on a solo shot to deep center field. The homerun was the team's 21st on the season.
Azalea Martinez led the sixth inning hitting the ball over the fence in center and giving ENMU a 3-1 advantage. Going into the bottom half of the frame, UTPB looked to find an answer.
The Falcons got off to a great start in the sixth with two-straight singles. Then, the runners advanced to scoring position on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt. UT Permian Basin loaded the bases five pitches later on a walk.
The next batter for UTPB stayed steady at the plate and rolled a shot to left field to earn an RBI-single and get the game within one run with one out and the bases still loaded.
After going 2.0 innings for the Hounds,
Marissa Rodriguez was replaced by senior
Brook Leger. Despite coming in with loaded bases and the advantage creeping into the sights of the Falcons, Leger sent the final two batters to the dugout by way of strikeouts.
"My thought process with bases loaded was to stay relaxed and let my defense work," said Leger after the win. "I knew how I threw yesterday and wanted to build off of that to finish the game."
The Falcons did manage to get two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, but the Greyhounds stayed controlled on defense and came away with the 3-2 victory.
Game 2
If opposites truly attract, the second game definitely plays to the saying as ENMU came away with a 9-1 five-inning victory in game two of the doubleheader.
The Greyhounds scored two runs in the first inning after five runners reached base safely in the frame and Eastern found a way to take the early lead.
Emma Southerland got the start for the Hounds and things did not get going the way she would have hoped with two lengthy battles ending with walks. With runners on first and second with no outs she managed to get the next two hitters out and only allow the base runners to advance one base each.
UTPB loaded the bases after a batter was hit by a pitch and their six-hole hitter singled to third to score the team's lone run of the contest. From that point on, Southerland forced the Falcons to leave six runners on base over the final four frames.
"I felt very confident in my defense," said Southerland after picking up her fifth win of the season. "With a tighter zone, my goal was to spin the ball the best I could to get the defense the easiest outs I could."
Despite getting two runners on base in both the second and third innings, ENMU was unable to score.
Instead, the fourth inning proved to be the deciding factor in the game as the Hounds turned three errors by UTPB into four runs.
The first two batters,
Mackenzie Shaw and
Mikenzey Patterson, reached base safely via a pair of errors by UT Permian Basin's pitcher.
Ashley Nickerson flew out to center field giving Shaw enough room to score from third and for Patterson to advance to third.
Then,
Alondra Vasquez came up with an RBI-double to right center giving ENMU the 4-1 lead.
Emily Muth came into the game to pinch run for Vasquez, but she didn't need to sprint the base paths as
Azalea Martinez sent a no-doubter over the center field fence for her second homerun in two games. The two-RBI slam is her sixteenth homer of her career.
"I just wanted to produce for my team to win this series. I was in my zone at the plate and I made contact with pitches I knew I could handle," said Martinez on her at-bats Sunday. "Being able to help my team win was one of the best feelings for me this weekend."
Up 6-1, the game moved into the bottom half of the inning and quickly moved to the fifth where the Greyhounds opened the door for a run-rule.
Two-straight walks for
Valeria Contreras and
Kianna Galindo set up a prime opportunity to add more runs in the fifth.
Raegan Chioino came into the contest to pinch run for Galindo and the Greyhounds were in business as both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch.
Then, a Patterson single scored a run and put runners on the corners with no outs.
A five-pitch walk to Nickerson loaded the bases for
Alondra Vasquez who had hit a double in her last plate appearance. This time, she was out on a fielder's choice to the shortstop, but that allowed the runners all to advance and scored Chioino from 60-feet away.
The same exact scenario played for Martinez who earned an RBI with Patterson scoring on the play and giving her team the 9-1 advantage.
This opened the door for a potential run-rule win entering the bottom of the fifth.
All Southerland needed to do was get three outs and that is exactly what she did to get her team the win and most notably the program's first three-game series sweep since 2019 when the Hounds took three contests against UTPB in Portales.
"It's a great feeling going on the road and sweeping for the first time this year. We need to keep the mindset of taking care of us and handling what we can control," said head coach
Amanda Fefel after the doubleheader. "I am very proud of how our pitching staff worked to get the wins and how our hitters were able to capitalize on some missed pitches and errors that UTPB made. Execution is huge in any conference game and we were able to produce throughout to get on the board early."
The Greyhounds now face a tough test in Portales next weekend. ENMU welcomes in a top-five ranked foe in UT Tyler to Greyhound Softball Field. The series begins March 31 and continues with a "Bark in the Park" game on April 1.
